My Menopause Blog

India is verdant ground for anyone with a camera. Everywhere I turned I saw photo opportunities - so many so that I eventually burnt out and stopped snapping pictures all together.

I have no idea what this woman is selling but there were thousands of people just like her crammed onto side-streets, sidewalks, train station platforms and pretty much any surface that could support a basket, seller and buyer.

About 30% of women in India experience premature menopause. Malnutrition and poverty are believed to be contributing factors to early menopause. Incidence of premature menopause is most common in rural areas, as well as among agricultural workers, women who were illiterate and women who had a low body mass index.

I find it much more difficult to whine about my natural, age appropriate, menopause experience when I extend my thinking about menopause beyond my own little world.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, menopause relief, information on menopause, baby boomer, womens health news, menopause symptoms .

I paid this New Dehli woman for the privledge of taking her photo. It was hard to know who all the children were but she seemed to be in charge of the very excited crew.

One of the growing concerns in India is how the longer life expectancy of today will impact the health of menopausal women. Typically health care in India has been focused on childbearing women. In fact, once women are no longer able to reproduce, they stop being able to qualify for medical assistance.

Can you imagine showing up at your doctors office, with your mood in full swing and be told that you no longer qualify?

I can see the broadway hit now: Menopause the Murder.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, menopause relief, information on menopause, baby boomer, womens health news, menopause symptoms .

As a younger woman, I spent several weeks traveling around India with a friend. Now as I look through my photos, I wonder how the women in this remarkable and chaotic country face menopause.

I was surprised to learn this statistic. The worldwide average for onset menopause is 51. Yet in India, the average menopausal age is 44.3 years.

Perhaps the menopausal grass is greener on my side of the fence.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,menopausal and India,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .

I received this diddy in my in box this morning - author unknown.

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90’s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”

-30-

Remember - the meaning you assign to your age is up to you.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,aging,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .

This is me on the first day of a weeklong safari into the Serengeti.

I was lucky. Besides bringing a few sarongs, one dress and my black, knit yoga pants - I had nothing safari appropriate to wear on my nether regions. My sweet man bailed me out of my somewhat unfortunate situation by lending me his spare pair of chinos.

Our goal was to travel with carry on only for our month long trip. By packing carefully, I had factored much into the few items of clothing I thought I would need, but nothing prepared me for the daily temperature that easily touched 40C.

When I reflect back, Africa’s heat was the perfect training ground for my decent into peri-menopause and the land of hot flash fever. Not only did I learn what hot really meant, but also as you can see by my amply clad butt, my comfort level trumped “does my ass look big in these pants”.

Now, when I feel the telltale burn of the menopause fire fusing up my spine, I think nothing of whipping off what needs to be peeled or wearing what is comfortable – regardless of how it looks.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,hot flash,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .

My menopausal friend was using the tone of voice that comes after a heavy sigh.

“Yes, I know I should be drinking more water. And I’m not really taking very good care of myself. It’s just that, I’m so worried about him,” she offered shoulders slumped.

I pulled her into a firm embrace and rubbed the back of her heart.

Ah yes I thought. The ‘hims’ in our world certainly get a tremendous amount of our well-intended energy through the useless act of worry. Imagine if we released this compulsive behaviour and used that energy in a way that was actually helpful - our lives would be transformed. And I’m betting - so would theirs.

Don’t get me wrong - I worry too. Why just last night I was in a knot about something that sucked up every inch of my being, until I managed to wrestle free and pin the annoying thought to the floor.

“Get the f–k out of my head”, I hollered at no one but myself. That seemed to be enough of a jolt to stop the buzz of the worry bug that danced in my face and give me time to make a get-away.

I put on the kettle and cranked on some tunes. As the music filled my house and the promise of hot tea moved closer, the unsolved ‘problem’ melted away.

Then the menopause advantage kicked in. I forgot what I was worrying about.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,worry,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .

Here’s some interesting news on the wild and wooly menopausal frontier.

The U.S. National Institute on Aging is funding a five-year research project to study how the brain might control the timing of menopause.

Apparently the lions share of menopause research currently conducted is focused on our ovaries. Which leaves me asking - did they really think menopause was a no brainer?

Read the full media release here.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,menopausal brain,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .

Despite the fact that I’m almost always decked out in orange, I am a Purple Woman. Fortunately for me, these two secondary colours look rather striking together.

But what you may wonder is a Purple Woman?

According to the lovely and very energetic Teri Tith, who happens to be the driving force behind the Purple Woman movement, a movement that is cha cha cha-ing through the blogosphere as I type, “a Purple Woman is childfree, despite societal pressures to procreate.”

Notice she did not say child-less. Child-free implies choice. Less suggests loss.

I will not ramble on about my child-freedom simply because I’ve never struggled with my choice and so far have not a shred of regret. It simply wasn’t my gig, my biological alarm clock didn’t ring and I slept in.

I will say that as I careen into menopause, my Purpleness means I’m not grieving the loss of my reproductive ability. In fact, the Purple Bonus Prize is relief that my eggs are done being laid. The hens have retired from the roost. Egg season is over.

If you’re a menopausal Purple Woman, do check out the Purple Woman Blog and their very fun photo contest with a looming deadline. Then mark March 4th on your calendar - officially dedicated as Purple Woman Day.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,purple woman,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, perspective, menopause relief, information on menopause,menopause symptom, baby boomer, womens health news, memory issues, womens health blogmenopause symptoms .