Ladies, what, if anything, did your moms tell you about menopause?
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Anonymous
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My mother (now dead) talked ALL the time about how important passing down medical history is and she would call me every time she went to the dentist to report their findings in her mouth, each time she had routine bloodwork, etc. But I literally never ONCE heard her mention the word menopause! So for all her talk, she never talked.
When I was very young (4? 5?) I recall sitting at the top of the staircase with my grandma and older brother and we said something about her having a baby, and she explained that women don't get their periods forever, and go through menopause which is when it stops, etc. Now I'm 48 and my cycle went from 35 days to 20 or 28 days (alternating months) so I assume that's perimenopause? But other than that, I have no other symptoms. My doctor is VERY vague. If I have no symptoms other than a shorter cycle do I need HRT for any reason? Did your moms tell you anything that can help me? |
Anonymous
| Nothing. I would not do one except absolutely necessary. |
Anonymous
| Nothing. My family is incredibly uptight and many topics are taboo. |
Anonymous
| NOTHING. She’s alive and I’m too afraid to ask her 🤣 we don’t talk about those things. |
Anonymous
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Nothing. And my mom was open about a lot of things. But I have no idea when she went through menopause and she never told me anything about it.
You should do your own research. There's actually quite a bit of information out there and it's getting better all the time. |
Anonymous
My gyn, the internet and DCUM are my sources of information. My dear mother is useless 
HRT is hotly debated on DCUM. I cannot take it since I have a serious history of breast cancer among my female relatives. Don't fix something that isn't broken. One reason your mother may not have told you anything is that she might not have had debilitating symptoms, and the symptoms she had, she might not have associated with menopause. For example, I am suffering from a sharp increase in my insomnia and anxiety. I'm sure that at the time our mothers went into peri, people were not aware this was a frequent symptom. |
Anonymous
| Nothing. I don’t think it was talked about back then. |
Anonymous
| Nothing, although my dad was fond of telling me "her hormones" were why they argued. But please get a better GYN. |
Anonymous
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^ and medicine was much more misogynist than it is now!
If any woman suffered symptoms in her 40s and 50s, unless they were heavy bleeding that gave her anemia and were thus quantifiable... all the mental health issues, mood swings and such were just "women being hysterical". Our mothers may have internalized all this suffering as normal and something to be borne in silence. |
Anonymous
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Nothing except it makes women go crazy.
From research and friends (I’m 46x I have friends in early 40s to 50s) it is a bit vague and everyone deals with it differently. There are doctors that specialise so if you are really struggling then seek one out. |
Anonymous
| Absolutely nothing. Didn't say a word about it. |
Anonymous
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Nothing except an occasional mention in being hot or having a migraine caused by ‘women’s problems’.
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Anonymous
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To answer your last question - do you know all 70+ symptoms associated with it?
I have a strong family history of osteoporosis, so that plus my 15+ symptoms, including frozen shoulder, is why I'm taking it. Even for the breast cancer family history woman above - most women can take some HRT. All your hormones should be taken and adjusted a la carte. If you need to skip the systemic estrogen, you can still have major benefits from progesterone (moods and sleep), testosterone (strength, energy, sex drive), and vaginal estrogen which is localized delivery (helps with vaginal/vulvar atrophy, pelvic pain, UTI prevention). |
Anonymous
Thanks, PP, I'll bear that in mind. |
Anonymous
| Nothing. And nothing from school or the numerous science and biology and health classes through college. |