Menopause or Menofreedom?

As young teen girls, we are celebrated when we get our first period, we are now seen as fertile women. However when we experience menopause there is no celebration, instead there is a sense of doom and gloom. We can no longer can have children, no more periods, lower levels of estrogen and welcome to the world of hot flashes, thinning of hair and weight gain. I was not sure which was worse, having monthly periods and cramps or the feeling of getting old?

I was not prepared for this stage in my life, as I was not very educated at all. Every time I heard the word menopause, there was always such a negative connotation around it. In all honesty, when I thought of menopausal women, I always pictured older women in their 50's. Well, was I wrong!

I was 39 when things started to change and I thought peri-menopause would last a while. Not the case. I had some tests done due to my age to ensure I was peri-menopausal while ruling out a tumour on my pituitary gland. Not only did I feel that things were happening too quick considering my age, but I had wished I knew more about this next stage of my female adulthood.

By 42 I was period free and I am not going to complain, no more monthly cramps and messy situations, if you know what I mean. It felt freeing! But the reality was, hot flashes and lots of them and the night sweats not fun either. Slowly I noticed some weight change and a little hair loss. Things have happened slowly and I have learned, if I stay away from red wine of hot drinks the hot flashes are not so bad. Ugh, my one vice, Starbucks! Damn you menopause.

After a few years, I experienced some unexpected spotting, which went on to last a month. Well if you are like me, when in doubt check google. ERROR! I finally got the courage and went to a female doctor, who calmly reassured me it was either hormones because I am still young (so nice to hear) or just my uterine wall thinning which happens. To be safe, I was sent for a battery of tests to ensure it wasn't more serious. During my internal ultrasound, the technician happily shared that she could still see my ovaries. Hello, where did she expect those to go? Once again, I learned with age, our ovaries shrink and our uterine walls thin!

Why don't people tell us this stuff?

So what I have taken away from it all? Watch what I eat, watch what I drink, exercise, slow down and enjoy life. Just because I am no longer fertile, I still have a purpose and so much more living to do. We all have an internal clock and not one is the same as the other. Like ourselves we are all one of a kind and we will all experience menopause at different ages and with different symptoms. Personally I have learned to embrace post menopause and the sooner we all do as women the sooner we can enjoy the feeling of menofreedom!