If you don’t think the menopause affects you in any way then please feel free to scroll on. However whether you are a woman or a man, young or old, a work colleague, a son or daughter, mother or father or someone’s partner you are going to directly or indirectly experience this phenomenon at some point in your life.
However we still don’t talk about the menopause in the way we talk about puberty, pregnancy and childbirth. Which is odd when you think about it, not every woman will experience pregnancy or childbirth but we will all experience menopause.
We all joke about menopausal women with their hot flushes and deranged hormones, but there is so much more to it than that. Less talked about is the heightened anxiety, depression and overwhelming fatigue, the joint pains and fuzzy brain. Added to this many of us have teenage children at this time and have to cope with and make allowances for their unreasonable hormonal behaviours whilst fighting our own battles in silence.
I work closely with women undergoing these change as herbal medicine proves to be very effective in treating the symptoms of menopause. And who better placed to understand the ins and outs of this time of life when I’m going through it myself? On the whole I think I cope reasonably well with help from herbs and some positive lifestyle changes. But I definitely have days when I’d rather hide under the duvet than face the world!