For me, menopause was easier than getting my period. My period was never explained to me and when I got it at the age of 11, it was scary. At least, by the time menopause hits, at least we have heard the word. As a 54-year-old, I never went through “peri-menopause” as it is now. It wasn’t even a word, now it is. It may have started after the hysterectomy, maybe not, but nothing, and I say NOTHING compares to the symptoms of menopause that I have now.

Menopause as a medical “condition”. SERIOUSLY? A medical condition is something that can absolutely be treated by a physician and controlled. Is our period a “Medical Condition”? No, it is not. Periods and menopause are physical phenomenon’s that we have zero control over. A life transition for which there is little knowledge.

Menopause as a "Phase". Well, that just depends on who is saying it now doesn't it? If a man or a doctor says that, they are bound to limp out of the room.

Since the beginning of time, menopause and menopause symptoms have been treated like they are not real. Like they are figments of our imagination and sometimes they would even lock us up in mental wards. While the vacation would be nice, it is not something that entertains me.

Until about 100 years ago, there was very little medical information on “the menopause” (such a funny way of saying it, like The Home Depot, it’s just Home Depot) and many believed that “the menopause” was a sign of women’s hysteria…and this explains a lot! They can also bite me.

Here is some interesting information on how we used to be treated, although I am quite sure in some places, this kind of stuff still happens.

Quoted from theconversation.com you can find the whole article here: https://theconversation.com/the-menopause-dreaded-derided-and-seldom-discussed-85281

“Women experience the menopause between the ages of around 45 and 55, but their experiences of this significant stage of life are diverse. Each woman’s menopause is unique.

Common themes run through women’s stories, however. From our research talking with women in midlife, we found that they often talk about menopause as a normal, inevitable, and natural process, which of course, it is. Seeing menopause in this way allows women to minimize symptoms and behave stoically. “It’s no big deal,” one woman told us. “You just get on with it.” But this positive approach can also be a rebuttal of a common perception in society of the menopause as a negative event – a view that leads to denigrating women who react differently to the menopause.

Because for some, menopause is considered a loss, a struggle. Bodily sensations such as mood swings or hot flushes can be overwhelming and embarrassing. The negative images many often associate with menopause can be distressing – a barren land signaling the end of fertility, youthfulness, and sexuality. Women may mourn the passing of a phase of life when their biological usefulness is over – menopause is seen as "a marker of getting old".

Now I prefer the word "transitional". It is a transitional time in our lives where we can go on vacation and not worry about our periods. No more "bleaching the whites" if you killed your sheets or clothes. I swear, every time I got on a plane, no matter the time of the month, I got my period. Vacations sucked.

I know some of you still get a period unexpectedly and that blows. We have learned to anticipate the worst so prepare for it. You are in Menopause with a capital M. There is no shame. In the UK and abroad it is a more welcome conversation and they are bringing it to the workplace.

Time for it to start here.