Yes and no! For most of my life, I understood that I would have a period. Then, one day, I would get hot flashes and be a bit crabby, my period would stop and that, my friends, would be menopause! At the infamous physical where I discovered my hormone issue, I was speaking to my doctor and mentioned that I was basically having non-stop periods. This is, in part, what started the discussion about my symptoms and her suspicion of perimenopause. I had never heard of perimenopause and did not understand how any of that would explain my non-stop periods. That is the moment I learned this fun fact: Your period does not just stop one day. Menopause is not a light switch that gets turned off. There is a bit more to it. News to me! What happens is that your periods get heavier and closer together (during the perimenopause stage) and eventually get lighter and further apart until they stop. Periods do not stop until your hormones have dropped and the ovaries stop releasing eggs. You are not considered to be in menopause until you have had no period for 12 months. You are considered to be in perimenopause (which can be any number of years…1 or 10 or more) until this time. Did you know that? I certainly did not. So that’s the end? NOPE. There is a stage called post menopause. The previous symptoms ease, but can still exist. As a result of the diminishing hormones women are at greater risk of conditions such as osteoporosis and heart disease.
I found it to be unbelievable that I never knew how any of this worked. Even more unbelievable to me was that it never occurred to be to look into any of this. In part, it was because I really had no idea the impact that it would have on my life or my body. Women should be told exactly how hormones impact their bodies at various stages from a young age.
Something else I did not know, which would have been great information during my child bearing years, is that estrogen is responsible for creating an environment in the uterus for the fertilized egg to embed. However, progesterone is what actually retains the embedded egg to the uterine wall. I almost miscarried my first born child. When I went to the doctor, they immediately began progesterone injections. Guess what they did not do? Explain any of this to me. I went on to have a couple other miscarriages (and also a beautiful daughter). When I had my hormone panel, my progesterone was so extremely low that it was conceivable that I may have had lower than common progesterone for sometime given my pregnancy history. No one thought to check into that after a pattern of miscarriages seemed to be emerging or immediately following the scare with my son? Maybe a quick blood draw “just to be safe” would have spared me the heartbreak that comes with miscarriage. Perhaps, at my first OB/GYN at 18, they could have just done a hormone panel to set a baseline so that we could preemptively address any issues BEFORE I got to the point where I was on the verge of losing a pregnancy.
No matter how you slice it, women need more information early in life. As a tribe, we need to get active in informing ourselves and those around us and demanding change. I know, I know, with everything happening in the world this may seem insignificant. Let me tell you, until I experienced that madness that had become my perimenopausal life, I would have thought the same. Not anymore! It’s time to educate and change!
The Imposter 