Women-midlife-moods-and-madness-the-truth-about-perimenopause

[OtepotiLilliane42]

Just finished reading this very good article about women and the effects of perimenopause, which looks at the research of US neuroscientist Dr Lisa Mosconi, author of “The XX Brain”.

Mosconi is the director of the United States-based The Women’s Brain Initiative and an associate director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. She describes her work as being “at the intersection between neurology and women’s health”.

www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/122294106/women-midlife-moods-and-madness-the-truth-about-perimenopause

It is a fascinating and informative article which explains so much about the complex changes that take place in women's bodies during the whole process of the menopause.

I'm 73, and the menopause is a distant memory now, but I realised after reading this article that I really didn't understand much of what was going on with my own body at the time, which did have a negative effect on my health. It'e good to know that doctors like Lisa Mosconi are doing so much important research in this area of women's health.

Thanks for sharing, this really was worth a read. Very important message: despite issues such as 'brain fog' in menopause, cognitive functioning is not impacted!

Also great that the dodgy 'brain science' of the past gets a mention, which was used to keep women in their place. However, this doesn't mean that one shouldn't study women's brains as part of women's health.

Thank you. I'm slap bang in the mi middle of it and am horrified by how little support and treatment options there are.

Thank you for the recommendation, I found the article interesting and will look out for the book.

Thanks for the rec, will seek out the book.

I had an unexpected and sudden menopause at age 36, which lasted for a couple of years. I didn't know at the time, understandably. It was an incredibly stressful period of my life, and in many ways I felt it was the stress and emotional intensity which brought it on in the first place. I just shut down.

I started having deeply unpleasant episodes of alienation from my body/my life/my immediate surroundings. Very scary! Many times during each day. Accompanied by a strange taste in my mouth and a feeling of sickness. These episodes culminated in a full on epileptic seizure at one point. I later realised that whatIi had been experiencing was in fact temporal lobe seizures ( a form of localised epilepsy).

Apart from that, weight gain around the middle; ankles, knees, joint pain. skin became drier, hair started to fall out Oh and intense hot flushes in public which were embarrassing. My body changed in the way it dealt with heat or with stimulants such as coffee. Instant reaction. Skin now far more sensitive to sun and heat.

It wasn't until quite a bit later I was diagnosed with early menopause. apparently I still had eggs left, I just wasn't releasing them. Sounds about right Haha!

justhadathoughtwhat a frightening experience for you, you must have wondered what on earth was going on. I hope you had support from family and friends, as well as the medical profession.

I was lucky I think that my symptons, with one exception, were relatively mild, though I did get horrible hot flushes which were embarassing as you say if they happened in public. My daughter used to say helpfully "you've gone very red Mum"!

The experience of menopause is unique to every woman of course, but Dr Mosconi was so clear in her explanations for what happens to a woman's body before and during that time that I thought the article worth sharing.

I would be interested to know the effects of HRT?

justhadathoughtwhat a frightening experience for you, you must have wondered what on earth was going on. I hope you had support from family and friends, as well as the medical profession

Unfortunately not! My marriage was at a very low point, and I was having extreme difficulties with my eldest child. I was also in the middle of a very stressful period at work. It was a pretty awful time.

When it was finally discovered that i was undergoing menopause I was offered HRT, but did not want that. I'm 54 now........and am well through it all; almost twenty years ago, but the effects of menopause are quite clear, and they not just down to the ageing process.

I still have issues with my joints, and still put on weight around the middle, although I'm generally fit and healthy. Another thing was a I lost volume & fullness in my lips, and also elasticity in my skin.