Over the years, I have met many women who are going or have gone through menopause and are asking for help with their sex life. If you read my recent blog post, you read about some of the complaints that these women have. And yet, before we actually go through “The Change” very few of us have any idea of what to expect.

Here is a run down on the basics of menopause:

During our lifetime, we have a limited number of eggs that are in our ovaries. Each month, the primary sex hormone in our body, estrogen, regulates the release of these eggs so that we can get pregnant (or get a visit from Aunt Flo if we do not). Contrary to commonly held beliefs, menopause is not an event, but rather a series of phases.

As we come to the end of our eggs, the estrogen in our bodies begins to decrease. This phase is called perimenopause because we will still have our periods, but they will not come consistently each month. This is due to the fact that our ovaries are not releasing an egg each month. This phase can start as early as a woman’s late thirties, but it more commonly begins sometime during her forties. During this phase, she might notice that she has “fuzzy” brain (where she cannot think as clearly as she once could), hot flashes and night sweats, insomnia, irregular periods, emotional ups and downs, depression, vaginal dryness, decreased libido and other such fun symptoms. One man, whose wife was going through this phase, said to me, “She feels like an alien has taken over her body!” As this phase can last for a few years and has health implications (for example: increased risk of osteoporosis and higher cholesterol counts), it is important to recognize the symptoms and talk to your doctor about them.

The second phase is menopause which is technically defined as having gone a full year without a period. At this point, the symptoms of perimenopause tend to ease off because the levels of estrogen (although significantly less that prior to perimenopause) have leveled off and are more consistent.

The good news is that women eventually transition into post-menopause. Gail Sheehy, author of Menopause: The Silent Passage writes that women in this phase experience a “post-menopausal zest” in which they have a heightened sense of focus, clarity and even energy. They have a deeper and more accepting sense of self which enables them to live their later years out with less self-criticism.

But for those of you who are waiting to get to the “zest” stage, here are some recommendations:

• Get a good doctor who will listen seriously to the things that you are feeling in your body.
• Discuss the latest research on the pros/cons of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
• Do your research. Gail Sheehy’s book is an excellent place to start.
• Increase your intake of: calcium, antioxidants, B-vitamins.
• Decrease your intake of fatty foods (Of course. We go through hell, why not take away our Doritos too???!)

At the end of the day, the very best way to prepare for menopause is by educating yourself of what is to come and what your options are in dealing with it. Consider this article a start. Now go do some more research. I would recommend starting with some of these sites:

www.menopausecanada.com/

www.mayoclinic.com/

peri-freakin-menopause.blogspot.com/