Have any of you noticed that women are speaking up all over social media about Menopause like never before?

Historically, we whispered about it to each other.  Sure, we looked for things that would help the symptoms of menopause, but most of us just suffered in silence.  If any of us spoke up, doctors (and even surprisingly other women) encouraged us to just suck it up buttercup.   I remember vividly one Mother’s Day dinner I had with family where the subject of Menopausal Replacement Therapy (MRT or HRT) came up.  An outspoken older female relative of mine not only told me to (basically) “suck it up, everyone goes through it”, but even suggested I see a psychiatrist.

The irony of all this is male sexual dysfunction is met with absolute empathy by physicians and treated accordingly.  No doctor says to a guy “are you sure you’re not just depressed?  Here’s a script for an SSRI.  Maybe you need to exercise more?  Try meditation.  Change your diet.”  Nope.  Men are provided supplemental Testosterone and Viagra, often leading them to have “issues” with their menopausal wives who (due to a lack of estrogen) have what is commonly called, “I don’t give a F–k Syndrome.”  I’m sure I’m not alone in having lots of women friends whose marriages went belly up in their 40’s and 50’s.  Hum….now I wonder why?

Here are just a few of the effects we now know result from a lack of estrogen (and P.S.-do they sound mild to you?):

VMS (Vaso-motor symptoms) – flushing, sweating, palpitations, dizziness, chills.
Painful sex
Moodiness/Depression/Anxiety
Uro-genital atrophy/Urinary Incontinence
Low-Libido
Brain Fog
Fatigue
Headaches/Migraines
Chronic UTI’s
Dry Skin/Eczema
Musculoskeletal syndrome (wide spread pain/Frozen Shoulder)
Osteoporosis
Weight Gain
Increased Visceral Fat.  (leads to high b/p, heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.)
Insulin Resistance
Poor Sleep
Poor Stress Management

These are just a few of the very serious symptoms women have been told are either all in their head, or that we should just suffer through for the rest of our lives, take a bunch of pills and that falling apart is just a “normal part of aging.”

….frighteningly, there is even a possible link to dementia 

While more studies need to happen, many scientists believe there is a link to the development of Dementia (which might explain why 2 out of every 3 dementia patients are women.  Testosterone, which men produce throughout their life span, CAN be converted to estrogen, as needed by the body, giving men a natural advantage over women.  Research in rats has shown that estrogen can have a profound effect on brain function, improving memory in rats.    https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/additional-treatments-for-dementia-risk/hormones#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20oestrogen,to%20become%20damaged%20or%20die.

What is Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause?  It’s estimated that 80% of women will have one or more of these symptoms:

• Total body aches
• Loss of lean muscle mass
• Loss of bone density
• Increase in their arthritis
• Changes in body fat distribution
• Huge inflammatory responses, including the famous “frozen shoulder” many menopausal women suffer from.  This is an incredibly debilitating/painful symptom that I personally just woke up with one day and, in fact, it was mostly on my left side, but (Lord help me), I also felt it on my right side starting up.

Frozen Shoulder, also known as “adhesive capsulitis”, is a condition that causes shoulder pain and restricted movement due to inflammation.  It’s most common in women between the ages of 40 and 70, (hum….wonder what also happens at that time of life!)   It can take anywhere from 2 – 24 months to heal.  While the connection to frozen shoulder is poorly understood, it is thought that Estrogen helps maintain joint health and lubrication, and stimulates bone growth and connective tissue integrity.  Thus, the lack of it, may be the culprit in causing frozen shoulder in menopausal women.

Bottomline?  This isn’t a little symptom.  It’s not something anyone should just have to cope with stoically.  Frozen shoulder effects everything you do in your day, from brushing your hair, to washing your face, or putting a bra on, getting dressed, even raising a coffee cup to your mouth may be difficult on the effected side.  It is a miserable condition that takes a long time to correct.  Your doctor will probably prescribe NSAIDs, maybe Oxycodone, tell you to apply heat and ice and put in a Physical Therapy Referral for you.  What they usually will NOT do is suggest you consider MRT, or put in an order to test your hormone levels.  The subject won’t even come up usually because most doctors were not trained in how to handle the symptoms of menopause, or even suspect it as an underlying cause of other serious health concerns.

Screening for symptoms is critical by healthcare providers, throughout women’s menopausal journey, from peri-menopause to post-menopausal.

If it isn’t offered, women need to learn to speak up, to be screened and have therapies offered to prevent the many life-altering effects of estrogen deprivation and the havoc it wreaks on the body.  Most importantly, women need to support each other speaking up about menopause.  Many doctors will not prescribe HRT if you are older than 60 or 10 years post-menopause.  So early intervention is key to preventing long-term impacts on your health.

Sadly, the bigger picture is this will effect the U.S. economy and even bankrupt many families trying to care for their loved ones suffering from the long-term effects of estrogen deprivation.

While life expectancy dipped slightly in the U.S. due to COVID, it appears to be recovering nicely with current life expectancy average at 79.25 years.  Compare that to 1940, men died on average at about at 60 and women at 65.  Remarkably, in 1900, that average was 46 in men, 48 in women.  Thus, many woman died before even going through menopause fully or reaping the sad effects of post-menopausal life in the early part of the 20th century.  But what is even more frightening is the fact that centenarian rates have been increasing steadily since the 1950’s.  Indeed, one recent Pew Research Center Report states:

“The number of Americans ages 100 and older is projected to more than quadruple over the next three decades, from an estimated 101,000 in 2024 to about 422,000 in 2054, according to projections from the U.S. Census Bureau. Centenarians currently make up just 0.03% of the overall U.S. population, and they are expected to reach 0.1% in 2054.”  https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/09/us-centenarian-population-is-projected-to-quadruple-over-the-next-30-years

So, my question to is –

Should we live the last third of our lives in pain and suffering?  If we become one of the lucky centenarians, why should half of our life suck?  Is that a life anyone wants?  Personally, I refuse to spend the rest of my life suffering.  So if your primary care doctor, or Ob-Gyn is not a menopause-informed provider, there ARE on-line physicians who can help you determine what is the best treatment plan for your symptoms and do so safely, considering all the research available and your particular risk factors.  This is one of the positive side effects of COVID – – online healthcare!

One company called Alloy  https://www.myalloy.com/   is an option for women to explore.  Additionally, if you want to see if your doctor is recommended by an organization that supports women’s health and the treatment of menopause, you can go to https://menopause.org/, put in your zip code and find a physician, or see if any on your health care team is listed there.  If you decide to check out Alloy, here’s a code you can use for a $25.00 off discount:  KATHLEEN44070.  They even prescribe the M4 facial cream, an estrogen based topical cream that promotes collagen restoration in the face.  Here’s some info on M4 from their website:

“What is it: M4 is a fragrance-free, prescription, estrogen-based, face cream, created specifically for perimenopausal and menopausal women. The active ingredient is topical estriol to address signs of aging.  Full list of ingredients: estriol, aloe barbadensis leaf juice , C 12 – 14 isoparaffin, caprylic/capric triglyceride, deionized water, laureth-7, phenoxyethanol, polyacrylamide, tocopheryl acetate, and triethylene glycol.   Who is it for: For any woman–really, any woman–looking to reverse the effects of estrogen-deficiency in the skin due to menopause, perimenopause, or just aging (loss of collagen, decreased elasticity and moisture, and appearance of wrinkles).”

In closing, as I often do here, when I’m not talking about make-up, or simplifying your life, I encourage you to put yourself first, to throw off the haters and once and for all, just love yourself.  You deserve to not only look good, but feel good.

To your health ladies & much love,

Mrs. Sassy Pants