Menopause! It signals the end of the fertile phase of a woman's life and for many the beginnings of a roller coaster ride lasting years.
Three women Lucy*, Nancy* and Kate* provide an insight into their struggle including hot flushes, mood swings and an AWOL libido as they ponder the question "Should women fear menopause?" "At the start I thought, 'Oh wow, great - no periods.
Fabulous!'" exclaims Lucy.
The reality of menopause then took her completely by surprise.
"My mother didn't talk to me much about hers.
[...
] I never really knew what to expect," she confesses.
Nancy also admits to being ill-prepared for the onset of menopause.
"You don't understand what's happening to your body," she recalls.
The first of the menopausal symptoms which the three women began experiencing were irritating hot flushes.
"It's like you're burning up from the inside out," Nancy describes the symptom which an estimated two thirds of all menopausal women endure.
"I have really struggled with the flushes," Lucy sighs, painting a picture of her sleepless nights: "Blankets on, blankets off, blankets on, blankets off - all night!" The exasperation drove her to her wits' end.
"If I had a shelf in the fridge, I would sit there," she states wryly.
Nancy's hot flushes also left her tossing and turning.
She describes the aftermath of these attacks of feverish heat: "In two or three minutes they were gone.
[...
] You'd be freezing, you'd climb back into bed.
Twenty minutes later you were up again.
" Menopause proved to take its toll not only on the three ladies but on their husbands as well.
Nancy recalls "screaming, ranting and raving over the silliest of things" at her spouse.
"You wouldn't have a bloody clue!" she would snap at him.
Kate admitted to being wound so tightly some days that her tolerance was practically microscopic.
"He'll look at me just what I call 'the wrong way' and I just lose it," she confesses.
"And after I've had this huge spasm, my husband would be sitting there just patiently putting up with it.
I would sit back and I'd think, 'where did the hell did that come from?'" These mood swings were especially debilitating in the case of Nancy.
"I couldn't function emotionally, physically, as a mum, as a wife," she explains.
"As someone that's normally active and busy - not wanting to leave the house, not wanting to answer the phone, not wanting your really good friends to come visit and because you just can't talk to them.
[...
] I thought I was crazy.
" Kate's low moods were not the only thing that wavered; she also noted a decreased libido.
"I'm so damn busy, I'm so stressed, I'm so moody, I just don't feel like it," she admits, and Lucy confided in a "lack of libido" altogether in certain periods.
Lucy, Nancy and Kate unanimously confirmed that dealing with menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and depression has proved increasingly difficult at times.
"I think I had every symptom that you could have and still do have some of them!" Nancy proclaims.
According to the three ladies, women should not fear menopause but rather accept that this transitional phase brings with it inevitable changes.
The key to dealing with the unpleasant symptoms is awareness, preparation and support.
It can be a struggle but it is possible to "get through it," they insist.
After all, Kate has been braving the symptoms of menopause for almost ten years.
"I've been going through this since I've been 42," she notes grimly.
"I'm 51 now and I'm still going.
" "It's just not easy," she says, the words catching in her throat.
* All names changed due to privacy
Three women Lucy*, Nancy* and Kate* provide an insight into their struggle including hot flushes, mood swings and an AWOL libido as they ponder the question "Should women fear menopause?" "At the start I thought, 'Oh wow, great - no periods.
Fabulous!'" exclaims Lucy.
The reality of menopause then took her completely by surprise.
"My mother didn't talk to me much about hers.
[...
] I never really knew what to expect," she confesses.
Nancy also admits to being ill-prepared for the onset of menopause.
"You don't understand what's happening to your body," she recalls.
The first of the menopausal symptoms which the three women began experiencing were irritating hot flushes.
"It's like you're burning up from the inside out," Nancy describes the symptom which an estimated two thirds of all menopausal women endure.
"I have really struggled with the flushes," Lucy sighs, painting a picture of her sleepless nights: "Blankets on, blankets off, blankets on, blankets off - all night!" The exasperation drove her to her wits' end.
"If I had a shelf in the fridge, I would sit there," she states wryly.
Nancy's hot flushes also left her tossing and turning.
She describes the aftermath of these attacks of feverish heat: "In two or three minutes they were gone.
[...
] You'd be freezing, you'd climb back into bed.
Twenty minutes later you were up again.
" Menopause proved to take its toll not only on the three ladies but on their husbands as well.
Nancy recalls "screaming, ranting and raving over the silliest of things" at her spouse.
"You wouldn't have a bloody clue!" she would snap at him.
Kate admitted to being wound so tightly some days that her tolerance was practically microscopic.
"He'll look at me just what I call 'the wrong way' and I just lose it," she confesses.
"And after I've had this huge spasm, my husband would be sitting there just patiently putting up with it.
I would sit back and I'd think, 'where did the hell did that come from?'" These mood swings were especially debilitating in the case of Nancy.
"I couldn't function emotionally, physically, as a mum, as a wife," she explains.
"As someone that's normally active and busy - not wanting to leave the house, not wanting to answer the phone, not wanting your really good friends to come visit and because you just can't talk to them.
[...
] I thought I was crazy.
" Kate's low moods were not the only thing that wavered; she also noted a decreased libido.
"I'm so damn busy, I'm so stressed, I'm so moody, I just don't feel like it," she admits, and Lucy confided in a "lack of libido" altogether in certain periods.
Lucy, Nancy and Kate unanimously confirmed that dealing with menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and depression has proved increasingly difficult at times.
"I think I had every symptom that you could have and still do have some of them!" Nancy proclaims.
According to the three ladies, women should not fear menopause but rather accept that this transitional phase brings with it inevitable changes.
The key to dealing with the unpleasant symptoms is awareness, preparation and support.
It can be a struggle but it is possible to "get through it," they insist.
After all, Kate has been braving the symptoms of menopause for almost ten years.
"I've been going through this since I've been 42," she notes grimly.
"I'm 51 now and I'm still going.
" "It's just not easy," she says, the words catching in her throat.
* All names changed due to privacy
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