Hot take: is menopause so bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Hear me out please. I get night sweats. I get hot flashes during the day. I can’t sleep though the night. I have facial hair. I have belly fat. I weigh about 10 lbs more lbs more than in my 20s. My hair is naturally grey. I have wrinkles.

Is this really all that bad? Can’t it be a normal part of aging?

I mean. I pluck my facial hair. I run to combat too much weight gain. I get facials. I dye my hair.

But I don’t feel devastated that I’m experiencing symptoms of older age because, well, that’s just life.

When I get night sweats I kick off my blankets. Is that really too much of an inconvenience? I mean when I had babies and they woke me up every 2 hours that was much much worse.

I just don’t really understand all the complaining about menopause?

You’re the one saying other women are just “complaining.” You’re the one talking a lot about appearances (fat, wrinkles, gray hair).

I dunno, all the “acceptance” talk just makes me think women don’t actually value the contributions they make to their family or society or the economy. I don’t think it’s brave. I think it’s borne out of a lack of respect for self and others.

My eyes are going, their function is going/dying ahead of the rest of my body. I don’t think twice about wearing glasses. Why are my ovaries so different from my eyeballs?

Should non symptomatic women take hrt? That’s hard. I’ve been in excellent health my whole life with good diet and love of exercise. But my symptoms were bad enough to scare me even further into giving up alcohol permanently and sugar, changing my job to change my stress levels, and taking the time to try different doses of HRT and educate myself. Will women without symptoms do that extra work? Probably not. And should we be adding hormones to women who are obese, protein deficient, with metabolic disease? Probably yes, but that’s a much harder medical decision for a doc than giving hrt to someone that’s healthy or committed to making life changes to get healthy and be a good candidate for hrt over the long haul.

Am I inspired by your philosophical musings and others desires to be a witch in the woods? Omg no. Grow up now or never and find some non-selfish motivations for what you’re doing (other people, remember?) or else what’s the point of your self-appointed wisdom.

Plus a million. Really good points to counter the OP and her sad gang who want to criticize and be btchy but pretend it’s from a place of feminism and support. It isn’t.

+1000

That ain’t my brand of feminism.

As they say, my body, my choice. No blame, no shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I actually used to think like OP. I started HRT during peri on the advice of my doc and was pretty skeptical that I should be on it. I felt like I was maybe succumbing to all the marketing and that it was all kind of a money making fad. Eventually I stopped.

But I did have to go back on, as my symptoms became very unbearable for me personally. Now I feel kind of defensive when people act like it’s not that bad.

Aren’t you a good example? You were prescribed it before you needed it - so much so you went off it? Presumably if you saw an effect the first time; would you have gone off? So you personally know sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s not.

[Anonymous]

Aside from symptom relief, HRT protects the brain, heart, bones, UTIs (which can become chronic and problematic) and decreases the risk of some cancers. I genuinely don’t see why this isn’t enough to justify using it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, I actually used to think like OP. I started HRT during peri on the advice of my doc and was pretty skeptical that I should be on it. I felt like I was maybe succumbing to all the marketing and that it was all kind of a money making fad. Eventually I stopped.

But I did have to go back on, as my symptoms became very unbearable for me personally. Now I feel kind of defensive when people act like it’s not that bad.

Aren’t you a good example? You were prescribed it before you needed it - so much so you went off it? Presumably if you saw an effect the first time; would you have gone off? So you personally know sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s not.

I was waking up at 4 am every night with night sweats. And I had menstrual migraines and very heavy periods. So that’s why I was prescribed the HRT. After a year or two, I went off, thinking I was in menopause now and so the periods and migraines wouldn’t be an issue. I questioned the intense marketing and wondered if I didn’t need HRT through my 50s since it would increase my risk of breast cancer. I wasn’t too worried about bone density like my friends. But then when I stopped I started getting very bad hot flashes during the day, and I started waking up every hour on the hour due to the hot flashes at night. It was a really hard time.

So, looking back, I think my doctor was right to prescribe it when she did. I think she was listening to my symptoms, and I just took for granted how much it was helping. I also read about many women who felt better during menopause. But I guess I’m not lucky like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from symptom relief, HRT protects the brain, heart, bones, UTIs (which can become chronic and problematic) and decreases the risk of some cancers. I genuinely don’t see why this isn’t enough to justify using it.

Did not know this. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

As compared to...not having menopause and being a man? I mean...

[Anonymous]

I mean… I’m a swamp witch on HRT. Don’t let
helpful medicines stop you.


Also it’s OK to leave space for others to take care of their bodies the way they need to, without making a philosophy about it. We’re all aging. Some of us need medicines to function as well. Also readers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HRT SAVES LIVES. STOP JUDGING PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO SAVE THEIR OWN LIVES. STOP PROMOTING 'NORMALIZING' MIDLIFE SUICIDE.

STOP YELLING. WE ARE HORMONAL TOO.

ILU

[Anonymous]

The mood changes (particularly sad, rage, and distracted)/weight gain/insomnia we hard but bottom line this is what was hard: it wasn’t talked about until recently. If it was men it would be talked about all the time (Remember that Cosby Show episode that imagined all the men pregnant? Like that.) Our mothers and grandmothers were just made fun of and given side eye. And this is what’s still hard - people like Vance still say just have the “post menopausal” women watch the children. So the not talking about it and being othered is what’s hard.

[Anonymous]

Oh my, I love to stop yelling post. You’re so funny. We are still funny!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my, I love to stop yelling post. You’re so funny. We are still funny!

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from symptom relief, HRT protects the brain, heart, bones, UTIs (which can become chronic and problematic) and decreases the risk of some cancers. I genuinely don’t see why this isn’t enough to justify using it.

Because all the people who study it say it is not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mood changes (particularly sad, rage, and distracted)/weight gain/insomnia we hard but bottom line this is what was hard: it wasn’t talked about until recently. If it was men it would be talked about all the time (Remember that Cosby Show episode that imagined all the men pregnant? Like that.) Our mothers and grandmothers were just made fun of and given side eye. And this is what’s still hard - people like Vance still say just have the “post menopausal” women watch the children. So the not talking about it and being othered is what’s hard.

Actually men don’t like to talk about health issues at all. If men had menopause it would be a joke instead of stigmatized though. A key element of masculinity is not complaining and pushing through, for better or for worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aside from symptom relief, HRT protects the brain, heart, bones, UTIs (which can become chronic and problematic) and decreases the risk of some cancers. I genuinely don’t see why this isn’t enough to justify using it.

Because all the people who study it say it is not?

You are a warped, perverse LIAR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aside from symptom relief, HRT protects the brain, heart, bones, UTIs (which can become chronic and problematic) and decreases the risk of some cancers. I genuinely don’t see why this isn’t enough to justify using it.

Because all the people who study it say it is not?

You are a warped, perverse LIAR.

She’s always here and she’s demented.