I am so sick of hearing about menopause

[haveyouheardthemenopauseisshit]

I get the menopause is a big deal for many women and the symptoms are not nice.

However, do we have to talk about it all the time? I feel like I am hearing about it multiple times a day. We have menopause awareness sessions and e-learning at work. I’m targeted by advertising every time I look at my phone for some new product / vitamin / book etc which is supposed to help with menopause symptoms. I feel like it’s constantly being mentioned on the radio, TV, by people I know.

If someone is forgetful, it’s the menopause. If they’re tired, it’s the menopause. If they’re angry, it’s the menopause. If they’re hot, it’s the menopause.

I’m 39 and I feel bombarded by all of this “THE MENOPAUSE IS COMING SOON AND IT WILL BE SHIT” messaging.

I am also a bit worried that it will make it even harder to be taken seriously as a woman in the workplace, since the prevailing message now seems to be that women over 45 are basically useless because of all the issues caused by their hormones.

I’m guessing I’ll be in the minority here and everyone else will think that the awareness raising is a good thing but I just find it quite depressing!

👏 Excellent!

🎣 10/10

I'm a similar age and I think it's good there's awareness as I feel a bit clueless so it's good to know about it. I agree with you that it can look a bit depressing but it's probably better to be prepared and then find out it's not as bad rather than to be hit with it and not understand.

You're so right, better to just never talk about it ever, and not know what to expect.

I don't believe children should be talked to about puberty, and we shouldn't get information about pregnancy either.

Ignorance is bliss 🤨

I agree. Menopause has been around since humans existed, its a natural stage of life. I'm 45 and have no peri/menopause symptoms. Apparently my family and friends think I'm lying and that I should be definitely going through peri. My younger sister has peri symptoms since she's 40 and takes menopause supplements as well as some gel for vaginal dryness. We are all different.

I am also a bit worried that it will make it even harder to be taken seriously as a woman in the workplace, since the prevailing message now seems to be that women over 45 are basically useless because of all the issues caused by their hormones.

I think you are talking a load of shit and being deliberately goady. It is exactly because people are talking about it that we know women over a certain age are not useless because of their hormones. HRT changes lives. But yeah lets just walk around with our fingers in our ears singing lalalala and pretend it doesn't happen to 50% of the population.

You’ll be glad you know about it once you go through it. Ignorance is not bliss.

So should we never talk about periods or puberty or child birth or pregnancy??

Yeah let's brush it under the carpet 🙄

You wait till you're going through it....
I'd much rather be 39 and only having to listen about it, than be 57 and feel like the bag of shit that I am now...
The more support and information, the better. Because, in my experience, most doctors haven't got a clue and just fob you off with a " Oh well, that's just how it is" kind of shrug.....

Menopause does need a high profile, however a balance is needed. If anyone posts on here about a symptom/s most of the time they get a load of posts saying ‘how old are you, it’s probably perimenopause’ etc.

Maybe it is peri symptom but I do not think women should become complacent and blame everything on perimenopause because otherwise we are looking at a ticking time bomb of misdiagnosis and potentially poorer outcomes for anything that turns out to be serious because someone delays seeking medical advice. And yes, many people don’t exercise common sense over their own health.

Hmmm. Some awareness is needed. The menopause has done awful things to me. All sorts of things happen to people. Forgetful tired hot angry? That’s the tip of the iceberg. Dry eyes, frozen shoulder, tendonitis, all sorts of horrible shit can happen. Massive weight gain. It has really fucked me up. And you say you are 39 - when I was 39 I realised the entire menopause had shot me to shit.
I think overall yabu

I think it's good that it's spoken about and women aren't left to struggle in silence, so in that regard I disagree with you OP. But on the other hand, I think commercially it's become a bit of a bandwagon because marketers have realised that women in their 50s might have a good disposable income. I am fed up with people trying to sell me some sort of loosely menopause branded product or other.

There's a big difference between ignorance and having it shoved down your throat and it being used as an excuse for everything

That worries me too. Assuming symptoms are menopausal.

I agree with the OP. I'm 54 and have gone through it, the final bit when had ovaries removed as part of cancer treatment at 50

I'm grateful for the info, particularly surrounding HRT.
However, I agree that it's the topic du jour and peope are jumping on the bandwagon and profiteering from it in recent years.

I am the same age as you. However I am pleased it's being talked about so that we don't have to go through the same shite our grandmother's did without being supported.

More awareness isn't a bad thing. Let's also remember that there are also women our age who are going through premature menopause and surgical menopause. It's not all just for women in their mid 40's and above. However we can all educate ourselves to help the other women in our lives regardless of whether the policies are right for us or we God forbid have different experiences.

I felt similar and was rather smug in my lack of symptoms until BHAM. A new job exposed deficits in my cognitive functioning, memory etc that weren't a problem 5 years ago when I last had a new job. It was been therefore positive to have a supportive employer through this.

I think, like with any previously ignored group, we're having to catch up and get noticed. I went through the menopause when I was 52 so could potentially spend half my life as a menopausal woman. Hopefully once people have got used to accepting menopause happens, affects us and can be made easier it won't need to be highlighted as much.

You are 100% right, OP.
Of course, everyone's experience is different. But we do women in general a disservice by constantly banging on about it..... for years, employers have been reluctant to employ women of childbearing age, and now they can just extend that reluctance to all middle-aged women.

There is no need to medicalise it across the board, and to make out that all older women are a liability.

Would you also say that pregnancy and reproduction similarly shouldn’t be talked about?
I think there’s a critical wave here in getting menopause from just being talked about to having adequate healthcare provision in the same way we think about pregnancy and reproduction.

I’m 48 and experiencing some symptoms, as are all my friends of a similar age to varying degrees. I have no issue with the better awareness of it now, but I’m sceptical about the way it’s being used as another meaningless EDI tick box at work, and to sell me shit I don’t need (menopause supplements, lotions, shampoos, blah blah).

I suffered far more with my periods than I am with menopause. I wish there was more awareness about that!

I agree - and peri is worse. If you are over 25 and are tired or whatever, posters delight in telling you it’s peri

Exactly this!

I think some women must really suffer from it, so I wouldn’t want to take anything away from them if it’s ruining their life. I never had any symptoms and have no idea even if or when I had peri, which could be due to having a full hysterectomy at 50 (followed by three years on HRT). The surgery was done for cancer prevention reasons not for actual symptoms of anything.