Menopause Costs

[EstebanMendoza]

My wife has just been to see a medical professional and was diagnosed as now starting her menopause. Following the discussion, she says she needs 100,000 pesos (about £100 or €100 or $100) a month extra for medicines and food for a better diet. It is a normal menopause, nothing special. We don´t have a public health system here in Chile. Is this a reasonable amount? And for how long?

For those of you that have been through the menopause, how much did you spend on medicine or better food? Thanks.

My instinct is that this is very excessive. Am I being reasonable?

YABU.

Super weird. You are double checking your wife’s medical bills? Do you think she is lying?

No, I am not double checking the bills. No, I do not think she is lying.

The majority of the cost she is asking for is to increase our food budget.

For those of you that have been through menopause, how much extra did you spend on food in order to get a more healthy diet at that time?

If you and your wife are about the same age you should probably both be eating the same sort of diet to look after your health. Avoid junk food, be careful about refined sugar, eat lots of fruit and vegetables, be aware of any deficiencies in minerals and vitamins.

If this doctor is recommending special branded menopause food then that sounds a bit odd.

What sort of food do you both eat OP? If your wife is deficient in various minerals and vitamins the doctor could have recommended eating more of certain foods. A big budget increase would be expected if your diet at home was previously deficient.

Nobody can answer your question unless you're a lot more specific about what sort of medicine and foods the doctor is recommending and why

I didn't/don't spend any more on food than I did before. I'm not sure what special food she thinks she needs, but even if it's just changing to a healthier diet it shouldn't necessarily cost any more.

Thank you all for your comments.

The doctor is NOT recommending special branded menopause food, it is just that healthy food in general is more expensive in many cases, but there isn´t very specific recommendation.

I won´t mention what I eat since often I either prepare my own food or even if she prefers food for both of us it is often very different.

She eats some meat and some fish but not a lot, she eats salads, sandwiches, rice for example she likes cake (although will likely cut down on this).

I guess it’s difficult for people in different countries to compare food costs due to different circumstances. A good range of all the food groups (taking allergies etc into account) is what everyone needs.