I am a huge advocate for enjoying a second childhood in the second half of our lives. In fact, if pressed, I’d have to say that this is my main goal for myself in the post menopausal years. I want to experience the joy and innocence, spontaneity and radiance of youth. Since I can’t have the body, I’ll have to settle for all the rest of the goodies.

Still, even though this is my main goal, I forget it for blocks of time. I get caught up in responsibility and duty, chores and unexpected glitches. Life, in other words. So I probably need to practice raising my energy and focusing my vision with some affirmations of delight.

And this video of young Jessica showed me the way. From the mouths of babes….

Jessica\’s Daily Affirmation

So. Here goes! I love my house. I love my island. I love cool breezes. I love my My Breeze fan. I love my Not-So-Hot purse fan. I love hula. I love my body, in all its imperfections, I love my Macintosh, I love my iPhone, I love my dog and my cats, I love my kids and husband and good friends.

I love walking. I love cleaning up. I love the smell of laundry. I love the high Sierra. I love my Kindle. I love words. I love blogs. I love my art. I love my parents and brother. I love my sister Menopause Goddesses near and far (More than you’ll ever know). I love being alive!

So many mental manifestations of menopause have plagued me and the goddesses at one time or another. Inability to concentrate, butterfly mind (winging from thing to thing without alighting long on any one), jellyfish brain, ADD (attention deficit disorder), forgetfulness, dyslexia, and more have at times dwarfed the physical and emotional symptoms. Yuck.

The weirdest is when you have several of these in the course of a single day. If my brain is not going to work, I at least would like it to malfunction in the same way for a time. So I can figure out how to deal with it.

And now, a new mental effect is afflicting me. I’m going to call it Menopause Demotivation Syndrome. After all, we seem to name everything these days to make it sound important at best and necessitating treatment at worst.

Living in two places requires that my husband and I essentially move twice a year. Which means making reservations, packing, organizing house sitters and repair personnel, etc. I’m not complaining – life is good, if slightly disorienting sometimes.

I’ve always been a self starter. I get stuff done. Or maybe I should say “I got things done.” These days? Not so much. Oh, I eventually get things done, but I feel my drive to do even those high priority items slipping into neutral.

Which is why, a week out from our departure from Hawaii to the mainland, I am still trying to get into gear. First gear would be okay, although with each day that passes, a higher gear will be needed.

Panic mode used to be a motivator. That helped. I can’t find that mode anymore.  Or the mode where I put my head down and just do one task after another, forcing the motivation. Nor can I access the mode where I delight in organizing, packing, and planning.

In fact, it is taking every last shred of discipline I have just to write my blog entry for this week. I fear that I will exhaust my infinitesimal supply of get-up-and-go just doing this. I’m not sure this is hormonal, although it could be (by the way, goddesses, the decrease HRT project is going swimmingly, although I’m not sorry to leave Hawaii for the summer as it is heating up a bit.)

Perhaps this demotivation is naturally occurring phenomenon due to aging? What do you think? Am I the only one? And do you have any tips for kicking into gear? Because I seriously need to get packing.

Right now though, I think I’ll have a cup of espresso……..Better make it a double!

The Big M Wisdom © lynette sheppard

I clicked on a tweet (on Twitter) the other day promising to answer our questions about menopause. And got the same old rhetoric that I’ve read countless times in books, in articles, on websites. Finally, I gotta comment and reanswer each question as a true menopause goddess. I’m tired of the B.S. I’m not picking on any one site or author (which is why I won’t include the link to this particular Q & A article.) I’m addressing all of them that put this kind of information out for women. Below are their questions and answers in plain text, my answer is in bold. And I do mean BOLD!

The info started with:
Are you or a loved one approaching the time of life many women fear — menopause? If so, you probably have questions about this sensitive subject.

Well, we didn’t, I’m sorry to say. We didn’t know it would be so momentous. So it caught us completely by surprise (read mind-numbing shock). But once it started? You bet your sweet bippy we had questions! And we sure wanted answers!

Here are 6 answers to help you go through menopause as comfortably as possible:

Oh Goody. Let’s hear them.

1. Why is menopause a puzzling time of life?

Before reaching the change of life, many women don’t know what to expect. That can be scary! There are horror stories floating around that can make women unnecessarily apprehensive, but you need to know that menopause is a normal part of your journey through life.

Oh sweetie. Menopause IS a freaking horror story. For most women who haven’t started immediately with hormones anyway.
Of course, it’s NORMAL. Puberty and childbirth are NORMAL, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are NORMAL, but that doesn’t make them any easier to take. Especially if we don’t know what is coming!!

2. At about what age does menopause begin?
Most women cease having periods between the ages of 45 to 55. However, menopause can be induced earlier by surgery.

Yeah, well perimenopause can start years earlier. And for many women the symptoms start or are the worst in perimenopause. So you’d better amend those ages. And let me say that I talk to women in their sixties still dealing with it, so 55 sounds like a nice cutoff but it just ain’t always so. So the answer to this question? Whenever it wants to!

3. What are some of the symptoms?

During the early stages of menopause, called perimenopause, a woman’s menstrual cycle becomes irregular. When menopause has been completed, a woman no longer has periods at all. One of the most widespread symptoms of menopause is hot flashes and a high percentage of menopausal women have them. Some women experience feelings of depression while they are going through menopause and mood swings can accompany the change of life.

There is so much understatement here that I almost don’t know where to begin. Let me start with hot flashes. Widespread symptom? High percentage have them? Allow me to explain. Hot flashes are not short private vacations in the tropics. Because vacations are enjoyable. Think of the worst flu fever you’ve ever had – now quadruple it. And you’re not even close to how bad it is.

Depression and mood swings? We have more ups and downs than Six Flags. Tire commercials can move us to tears and the sound of the refrigerator or our cat breathing can piss us off. And again, none of the fun.

4. What about hair loss during and after menopause?

Hair loss sometimes occurs to some women with the aging process. This is one of the most distressing side effects of menopause. However, there are a lot of women who don’t lose their hair during this transitional period in their lives. Some women have higher levels of the hormones that cause hair thinning. If you are experiencing hair loss, you should check with your doctor about treatment options.

Having been one of the “some women”, I can tell you that yes that losing your hair is distressing. As in I was afraid I would be bald soon!   It’s actually terrifying.

As for checking with my doctor about treatment options? I consulted with more than one physician. They were less helpful than the DMV and ten times as expensive. Like us, they have no experience with menopause that hasn’t been squelched by immediate hormone therapy. If I had to depend on them, I’d still be freaking out. Or bald. Or both. (For more info, search hair loss here on the blog. Or write me.)

5. Are there any special nutrition recommendations for women going through menopause?

You might want to consider adding soy products to your diet to assist your estrogen levels. Be sure to get enough vitamin A to help your skin and hair to be as healthy as possible. Health food stores offer a variety of herbal extracts to help with menopausal symptoms.

Hmmmmmm special nutrition recommendations. Other than you can’t eat anything every again without gaining weight? Oh yeah, soy is one of the top food allergens, and can interfere with thyroid function. Since everything you eat turns to fat, might as well make chocolate your main food group. And wine. Lots of wine.

6. What medical help is available while you’re going through menopause?

Your doctor may prescribe treatment options to help lessen disturbing side effects of the change of life.

A combination of estrogen and progestin may be recommended by your doctor — if you don’t have a history of breast cancer in your family. There are treatments to help you if you are suffering from hot flashes that disturb your sleep and other symptoms as well

Or s/he might prescribe antidepressants, the latest “magic” cure for The Big M. I highly recommend holistic or complementary physicians/nurse practitioners who look at the whole person and don’t start with either HRT (hormone replacement therapy) or antidepressants as the first (sometimes only) approach. Check out Holistic Medical Association or Women In Balance to find a practitioner near you.

Although cessation of menstruation can be a puzzling time dreaded by many women, there are a number of advantages to this period of your life’s story. It’s a new chapter opening before you! You will probably be able to enjoy greater freedom than ever before to pursue interests you could not pursue before because of family responsibilities. Why not investigate new opportunities and challenges in this new chapter of your life!

While this is true, it doesn’t compute when we are in the beginning or worst stages of The Big M. There are few things worse than perky, upbeat proclamations about how this is the best time of our lives. Eventually it may be. (It certainly is for the goddesses.) But we went through a few RIDICULOUS years before we came out the other side feeling whole again. Different, but whole. Menopause. It will set you free but it will really mess with you first.

My Breeze Fan on bed, cat not included

I’m into my third week of Operation Stop HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy.) Days 4 through 15 have been much easier than I would have predicted. My main symptom has been nocturnal hot flashes. And thanks to a new “fan”, those have hardly been noticed.

Now I remember, pre-BHRT, that nighttime flashing was a real problem. I’d start burning from the inside and wake up sweating like the proverbial porker. I’d fling the covers off onto my unsuspecting spouse and wait for a nonexistent cooling breeze to manifest. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, I’d finally cool somewhat only to overshoot to the other side of the thermostat and freeze as dampness evaporated from my skin.

Worst of all, I’d be wide awake. And irritated. And sleep deprived the next day. Which irritated me more. You can see why I wasn’t crazy about going off my BHRT even though I’d decided that it was time.

Luckily, help manifested in an amazing form and right on time. My girlfriend’s husband sent me an email about a friend of his who’d invented a special fan to cool those nighttime flashes before they’d awaken his menopausal beloved. Seems she was suffering the same vicious cycle of sleep deprivation/crankiness so many of us are privy to with nocturnal flashing. When his invention gave her back her sleep and equanimity, he knew he had to make more of them. I had to have one! He sent me a prototype to try.

My Breeze Fan Closeup

This special Hot-Flash Cooling fan called My Breeze hooks onto the end of a goddess’s bed. A small remote control that can be worn like a necklace or sit on the bedside table is used to activate the fan at the first sign of that telltale heat.

The fan blows blessedly cool air for a couple of minutes (or for however long you have preset it; both time and power are adjustable for each goddess’s preference) thereby stopping the flash in its tracks, before it can overtake you. Most important, it stops before you become fully awake. Goodbye soaked sheets, freezing spells, and sleepless nights. Hello sweeter, gentler, more rested you. And me.

My Breeze comes with courtesy bars to keep the fan from disturbing your mate. And they’re pretty! Which is a big deal to me since I did spring for some nice bed linens recently.

For me, the My Breeze fan is a godsend. It may make the difference between gracefully easing off BHRT or going through a prolonged, uncomfortable withdrawal.

If you also suffer from nighttime hot flashes and resultant insomnia, I recommend that you try this amazing fan. Yep they offer a 14 day free trial. Visit the website and click on “Is it for you?” to ascertain the right fan for your bedstyle, sleeping habits -like whether you sleep with pets and are they trainable like my cat. Okay, maybe trainable is too strong a word. I basically told her that it was time to move to the other side of the bed or actually to occupy that fancy cat bed we bought her years ago. We worked it out.

As for the rest of the journey off BHRT, it’s too soon to tell if there will be other symptoms, but I’m betting no. I’ll keep lifting weights to prevent osteoporosis, exercising, eating right (most of the time), and of course, adjusting my attitude with wine and chocolate.

One of our readers, Vanessa Scott, sent me the following news release. More and more, I’m hearing from women who have problems with urinary leakage, stress incontinence and the like. Vanessa is a consultant for vaginal surgery. Surgery is one option, but there are others that you may wish to try first, if these issues have been plaguing you. Be sure to check out Wet Matters website hosted by Stephanie and Beth. As a physical therapist and MD respectively, they are fierce advocates for helping women who suffer from pelvic floor dysfunctions. They offer educational info re: all options, including surgery.

Finally, it is important that we begin to talk about these issues openly. Especially with one another. That’s the first step to regaining our health. Oh, and it is not just menopausal women who suffer from these problems. Many of our daughters will have urinary and vaginal health issues after pregnancy. It’s wonderful to know that there is help.

Here is the news release from Vanessa:

The Fight for Mother’s Rights – 1st Annual Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day (April 30th, 2010)

San Antonio, TX

Vaginal-Surgery.info is excited to announce the 1st Annual Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day will take place on Friday, April 30, 2010.

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, now is the perfect time to shine some light on a condition millions of mothers suffer with daily and yet never talk about.

Vaginal relaxation, Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI), bladder or uterine prolapse and cystocele/rectocele are very real medical problems for mothers that can be corrected.

Unfortunately, a majority of the women suffering from these physical issues are too nervous or embarrassed to discuss them with their doctor or even gynecologist.

Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day aims to open the dialogue on this sensitive and often misunderstood subject and provide women a safe place to ask questions, explore their options or just have a voice.

According to Vanessa Scott, vaginal surgery consultant and founder of Vaginal-Surgery.info, “90% of the women I meet with have never talked about this problem with anybody else, not even their husband or partner. I believe that information and knowledge are the first steps to empowering these women.”

It is reported that 30 million American women suffer from symptoms of vaginal relaxation, primarily due to childbirth.

In less than 1 year, Vaginal-Surgery.info has had visits from women in more than 109 countries. This is truly a global problem. The changes to a woman’s body during childbirth are the same whether a woman is in the U.S. or Algeria.
“Frankly, vaginal rejuvenation is often sold as ‘better sex’. I think that has a lot to do with the surgeons that pioneered cosmetic gynecology. However, in my experience, better sex is usually secondary for these women. The primary benefits are actually no more urine leakage or prolapse issues and simply feeling “normal” again. Better sex really just ends up being the icing on the cake.”

Anybody can participate in the 1st Annual Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day by doing the following:
ο On Friday, April 30, 2010, visit the Vaginal Rejuvenation page of our website. (http://vaginal-surgery.info/vaginal-rejuvenation.html)
ο Click on the links to Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day to:
o Give your opinion on vaginal rejuvenation.
o Ask questions about vaginal rejuvenation.
o Add your responses to our online polls.
o Share your thoughts and comments.
o Read what others have written to expand your own understanding.
“We all have a mother. And her body went through some amazing changes in order for us to be here today. I think we owe it to mothers everywhere to give their bodies a platform to be heard. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, I encourage you to take part in Vaginal Rejuvenation Awareness Day and help further the conversation for women everywhere.”

Day One of Operation Stop HRT

Dear diary,
Today, I cut my patch in half and secured the non-adhesive end with waterproof tape. I’ve felt virtuous all day. No symptoms or adverse effects at all – not that I expected any. Estrogen will store in fat tissue, and okay, I’ve got a little storage depot around my middle and in my thighs. I expect no real change for the first week or so. (And hopefully, no real changes after that!) Because I’m tired of change. I haven’t heard from Dr. A yet re: her progress.
Off to bed, and hopefully to uninterrupted sleep.

Day Two
Another good (read uneventful) day from a hormonal standpoint. Delighted that my waterproof tape is holding. No hot flashes or other Big M symptoms. It seemed like an especially hot night, though not enough to wake me. Felt so much better when my husband complained “Geez, it was hot last night.”. Yay. It’s not me.

Being religious about using my natural progesterone cream. Feeling like this might be easy, but know that there exist loads of shoes just waiting to drop when I get too cocky. Called the clinic and left message for Dr. A. to call me. Has she reconsidered (read Chickened Out)?

Day Three
Pretty good day. Not flashing or sweating. The only glitch I’ve noticed today is a slight shortening of my fuse. Our computer genius is on one phone line, my husband is on the other and the conversations are filling the house with competing crosstalk. Add to that the weed eater droning at 3000 decibels around the house and I can feel my shoulders hunch up to my ears. But I’m not sure that this isn’t just a normal day of overload unrelated to decreasing my BHRT (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy.)

I engage in calming tasks like cleaning off my desk space while wearing my noise canceling headphones, sucking serenity from my iPod meditative music playlist. Ahhhhhhh, Technology as tranquilizer. What a concept.

No word from Dr. A. I may be doing this alone. Unless someone else would like to join me?????????

Stay tuned, dear goddesses. I appreciate all support and suggestions. And chocolate.

Last spring I visited my family practice physician. She is a woman of Goddess age and I asked her if she was taking anything for Menopause symptoms. When she told me that she was on HRT, I Mentioned that I was considering titrating off my bioidentical estrogen, since I’d been on it nearly three years.

Research suggests that a woman can take hormones for 3-5 years with no increase in side effects like cancer, stroke, or blood clots. Bioidentical hormones might be safer, but we don’t know that for sure. So my goal had been three years of hormones and then au naturel.

“I tried to go off this month,” my MD shared. “But I was dripping on my patients and it is just too hot with summer right around the corner. So I’m going to wait.” Feeling that to be prudent, I decided that I’d wait also. Summer is enough of a trial for the thermically challenged without tempting fate!

This month I went back for my annual checkup and broached the subject again. Had my MD (we’ll call her Dr. A) decreased or discontinued her HRT (hormone replacement therapy)? She had not.

I proposed that she and I try to decrease and ultimately discontinue our hormone therapy together. “It’ll be fun,” I told her. “It might be fun,” she mused with a small frown.

Furthermore, we agreed to keep track on a daily basis of any symptoms or signs of withdrawal from estrogen addiction and to post our progress right here on Menopause Goddess Blog.

So, starting one week from today, two real Menopausal women, an MD and an RN, will attempt the terrifying, amazing feat of weaning ourselves from pill and patch. Evel Knievel, eat your heart out.

Like the Cowardly Lion as he prepares to storm the witch’s castle to rescue Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I have just one favor to ask our sister goddesses before we run this gauntlet. Talk us out of it! (Just kidding. Sort of. No really.)

Lastly, if you’ve already performed this heroic act of derring-do? Tell us how it went for you. We’ll take all the preparation, encouragement, and ideas we can get! And chocolate. Please send chocolate.

by lynette sheppard

Sometimes, though, the whole Menopause journey is so sucky that it’s hard to remember to laugh. And for those times we have a whole slew of cyber girlfriends to start us giggling at the absurdity once again.

Minnie Pauz is a cartoon menopausal everywoman. Check her out at minniepauz.com and sign up to get the cartoons. Better yet, buy the book! You’ll be hearing more about her in an upcoming blog entry where her creator, Dee Adams, tells how Minnie came to be.

A newcomer to our internet coffee klatch (or wine tasting, whatever) is 4honeybunch2.com. She has a line of hilarious cards, magnets, and more. And what I love most? She’ s not trying for political correctness – just telling it like it is.

The universality of the Menopause experience transcends borders (and so much more!) Izzy Muses In her humorous blog covers menopause and Other Midlife Matters from her home in the Emerald Isle.

The self-described Queen of Planet Hot Flash leads with “Put On Your Big Girl Panties and Deal With It” on her blogsite. Her menopausal rants are definitely good for a chuckle. Sadly, she hasn’t posted much lately, maybe Planet Hot Flash is going through some climate change. Like all of us. I can relate.

Longtime reader and blogger friend, Poetikat ,wrote this alphabet soup comparison poem about the difference HRT can make for some of us menopausal goddesses.

Three Letters Can Make a Big Difference

Without HRT
acrimonious
bitchy
confrontational
disgruntled
exasperated
furious
grave
hellish
irate
jugular
kick-ass
long-suffering
malevolent
nettled
overwrought
provoked
quick to judge
rage filled
snippy
tightly-wound
uncontrollable
vitriolic
wigged out
x is for murder
yelling
zoo-bound

Verdict: Locked up!

With HRT
agreeable
benevolent
composed
delighted
enervated
funny
gleeful
hilarious
incandescent
jocular
kick-up-your-heels
laughing
merry
nice (and naughty)
open-minded
pleasant
quiet
restful
soothing
tranquil
unflappable
vibrant
warm
x is for xstatic
yearning
zip-a-dee-doo-dah!
Verdict: Set free!

Many thanks to all these menopause goddesses helping us cope by making us laugh!

I’d like to be a jellyfish
‘Cause jelly fish don’t pay rent…

They’re just simple protoplasm
Clear as cellophane.
They ride the winds of fortune,
Life without a brain.”

from the song Mental Floss by Jimmy Buffett

Now that my menopause brain fog has lifted, I notice an interesting new mental phenomenon manifesting itself. It’s a little like what longtime meditators call monkey mind (and I call Menopausal HDD). Still, it’s different. Monkeys jump from tree to tree exuberantly. Monkey mind jumps from thought to thought, idea to idea quickly. There’s almost a manic energy to them.

This new syndrome is more like jellyfish mind. While myriad thoughts intrude themselves, one atop another, I find myself floating among them. I’m drifting in a sea filled with plans, ideas, to-do’s, memories, wishes. Like a jellyfish, I float from thought to thought as they wave and brush against me.

I don’t mind the floating either. Which is weird. Because I like to be focused. Heck, I need to be focused. But too often, I just float from one thought to the next, one thing to the next, serenely. I feel like a caricature of a Zen master (mistress?).

And since it is time for another blog entry and I am surrounded by flotsam and jetsam in my own little ocean, I’m going to write about the various kelp-thoughts that brush against me. The warning here is that these topics may not go together at all. Yet they have at least The Big M in common. Okay, there’s the disclaimer – don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Estrogen Addiction Say What?
Yep, Apparently our hot flashes are due to an estrogen addiction. UBC Professor of Endocrinology Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior presented her findings on estrogen addiction and its treatment with progesterone at Women’s Health Congress 2010 in Washington DC. Not a joke. Really.

According to Dr. Prior, when a woman has a hot flash:

“she’s experiencing a massive release of brain chemicals … Integrating what we know about hot flushes has led to the hypothesis that the brain exposed to prolonged high estrogen levels reacts like the brain of an addict without a fix when estrogen levels drop. The best animal model of hot flushes is the heroin-addicted mouse.”

Apparently, the treatment for this estrogen addiction is progesterone, since “estrogen and progesterone work together in every tissue of a woman’s body.”

Okay. I’ll bite. Massive release of brain chemicals sounds right on. Furthermore, I’m a big believer in natural progesterone cream. But as I’m floating in my little sea, these thoughts brush against me. Do we have to name everything so that it sounds like a disease or disorder? When Mom Nature cold turkeys us at Menopause, does she know what she has done? And is progesterone now our methadone?

Dr. Prior and her team suggest that women who have taken estrogen will have tons more hot flashes when they stop the hormones. Does that mean instead of 20-30 per day, I’ll have 40-50? I gotta tell you, it doesn’t make me excited about stopping my bioidentical patch anytime soon. And I am definitely planning to decrease and ultimately discontinue it, having passed that magical three year mark. Will I need truckloads of progesterone to combat the dreaded withdrawal from my estrogen addiction? Do I need a 12 step program?

There were a bunch of other kelp thoughts I was going to share, but I’ve drifted too far past them and run out of room. They’ll likely show up in the next post.

As Jimmy Buffett continues in his song,

“In one ear and out the other.
Don’t you get criss crossed.
I recommend you try a little
Mental floss.”

Recently, I came across a conversation on one of my favorite websites, Vibrant Nation, asking the question “Can We Prevent Menopause?”

It was started by a woman who calls herself BHRT For Me. Here’s what she wrote:

“I came across this site: http://www.preventingmenopause.com/

I think preventing menopause altogether makes good sense. I’m 57 and I keep saying that I am treating my symptoms of menopause with bioidentical hormones, when really what I want is to stop menopause. I realized that when I saw this site.

I cycle every month and have never been without periods because of the hormones I use. Still, don’t we stop ovulating because we are out of eggs? How do you prevent the loss of eggs?

Interesting concept though, since we live so much longer now (average life expectancy of a woman in 1900 was about 48).”

Responses from readers varied from enthusiastic to appalled. Of course, every woman has to choose her own path navigating the wild woods of Menopause, so the variety of responses was not surprising.

Then a perceptive reader who calls herself Dallas Lady posed this question to BHRT For Me:

“If it makes you feel better and you are OK with it–that is all that matters.

But I am curious and for the sake of full transparency I feel compelled to ask:

Do you have a professional interest in BHRT? Do you receive any income whatsoever from any source associated from BHRT?

It just seems unusual to me that it is so central to your identity that you choose that as a “screen name” on here and your reference to a website also struck me as a bit of an unexpected endorsement not usually seen by those here unless they have a sales interest.”

I kept checking back to see her answer. And there was nothing. Nada. Zip.

Oh, she managed to answer and converse with several other readers, but Dallas Lady’s question went unanswered.

That bugged me. But I figured I’d best give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she hadn’t seen Dallas Lady’s query. So I wrote the following:

“I have to say that preventing menopause sounds like preventing puberty. Menopause is not a disease, although I do concur that it can freaking feel like one sometimes.

I take BHRT in a low dose, did not start until I had fully transitioned into menopause for a couple years, so no periods for me. (Which I gotta say seems a little weird for any woman to have periods when we are meant to cease -just like it would be strange not to start having cycles when we hit our teens.)

I am taking hormones because of horrendous hot flashes and other symptoms. I plan to decrease and discontinue them soon. Other parts of our body begin to make estrogen after our ovaries seemingly come to a screeching halt, though it may take a little time. I think (read hope) mine might be kicking back in. But I sure don’t expect (or even want) my hormones to be at the same level as in my thirties.

There is no one right answer or solution for treating a woman’s menopause. Every woman must weigh risks vs benefits, severity of symptoms, and general life quality – then decide if or which remedies to take. Bioidentical hormones are one choice, as are soy, herbs, and the like. Or meditation. Or nothing.

No one thing works for every one – (and some things that work for a while may not work later.) Also everything may entail risk for a particular individual woman.

I am also very curious as to why I did not see an answer from you to Dallas Lady’s question about whether you have a professional or financial interest in BHRT and/or the website you mention. I believe she asked a very clear question – I tell all the women who write me on Wellsphere or my Menopause Goddess Blog site to be wary of any site or person that advocates one right answer for their menopause (or any health issue.) FYI – I do not receive any monies for my website or my involvement in Wellsphere. I always hope that sales of my book (The Big M) will keep me afloat. But it is a labor of love and as a health care professional and activist, I’ll keep going.

Would love to know more about your connection to the website – please answer here. thanks so much for bringing up the topic.”

Lynette Sheppard RN
Menopause Community Health Maven, Wellsphere.com
Creator/Moderator Menopause Goddess Blog
Blog Circle Contributor Vibrant Nation and Jane Nation
Menopause Examiner for Examiner.com
Author of “The Big M”

Yep, I put in all my credentials just to make sure I got an answer. And did I? Of course not. Which brings me to the one Latin phrase I remember from nursing school: caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware. That’s you. And me.

I checked out the website she was pushing. It appears to be a one-right-answer site. And I couldn’t really ascertain who it represented. Another reason for caveat emptor.

I’m not at all bothered by BHRT’s choice of name for herself or by her wholehearted enthusiasm for her topic. I wouldn’t fault her for pushing an agenda that she might profit from. I do fault withholding information that might help us make informed decisions.

The question might not be “Can We Prevent Menopause”, but rather “Should We?” And “What Are the Costs?” What do you think?