11 SERIOUSLY SURPRISING THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MENOPAUSE. (AND MEN, LISTEN UP)

1. YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT

Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful and Psycho; the Seven Dwarfs of Menopause. The time of life that replaces the “curse”, “that “time of the month” “she’s on the rag” and now, according to a commercial running rampant on tv, “the gush” of having your period. It’s called the change, but all it really changes is how rotten you can feel. If you ask women what menopause is, “hot flashes” is the first thing they say. And if you ask women in the throes of it, 65% will say they were totally unprepared for what it is actually all about.

2. HISTORY PUT MENOPAUSAL WOMEN INTO ASYLUMS

History had a heyday with what at that time, was called “the” menopause. In 1710, the idea was that it was a disease where women stood at the gateway to death. Menopausal women were described as sour, egotistical, ugly half-forms with coarse features, mustaches, rough voices, and flat chests. In 1966, Dr. Robert Wilson published his bestseller, Feminine Forever, calling menopausal women ‘castrates’ and ‘galloping catastrophes’. Symptoms included nymphomania, alcoholism, and kleptomania. If treatments like cupping and leeches to the cervix didn’t help, putting these women in the throes of hysteria away seemed the safest for all.

3. MENOPAUSE DOESN’T COME ON LIKE LIGHTENING

It may feel like one day you’re not hot and the next you’re on fire. But that’s not how menopause works. You officially reach the big M after 12 months without a period, a milestone most women hit around age 51. But it’s not a hard stop. It’s a gradual process that starts with something called perimenopause.

4. IT’S PERIMENOPAUSE YOU’VE GOT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Perimenopause, or menopause transition as it is often referred to, can begin eight to ten years before menopause when the ovaries gradually produce less estrogen. It usually starts in a woman’s 40s but can start in the 30s as well. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last one to two years of perimenopause, the drop in estrogen accelerates. At this stage, many women may experience menopause symptoms that yes, include hot flashes. And they still get their periods. How lucky is that?

5. YOU’RE IN FOR A REAL HORMONE TRIP

During menopause, your hormones go through the wringer. It’s a sign that the ovaries are producing less estrogen, although progesterone and even testosterone (yes, you have some) can also figure into the furiously fluctuating mix. We don’t fully appreciate the natural hormone estrogen until it’s gone. This humble hormone is essential for maintaining health throughout a woman’s body – not just the reproductive system. With a decrease in estrogen, your body’s major systems can be affected too.

6. THE REAL THING CAN COME WITH SOME RADICAL SYMPTOMS

Declining estrogen can impact thyroid function, decrease energy levels and keep you up counting endless sleep. It can affect mood and cause both skin and vaginal dryness.  It prompts your body to store fat instead of burning it. That’s why up to 90% of women gain weight Your libido can lag. Your mental health might take a hit. You can grow facial hair, lose bladder control, lose the drive in your sex drive, increase your risk of osteoporosis, and up your odds of forgetting things. And surprise…even though you think your periods might have stopped, you can still get pregnant! (Those hormones just keep rolling…)

7. REAL MEN GET MENOPAUSE

We’ll repeat that in case you’re stuck at WHAAAATTT??? Real men get menopause. Yeah, and they get hot flashes, too. That ought to get your attention. Male menopause is often heralded as the age-old mid-life crisis that usually includes (in the movies at the least), a fascination with younger women, the desire for adventure, and the need for additional horsepower in any shape or form. Male menopause is considered little more than a joke. But ask any man suffering with it—they’re not laughing. Male menopause, or andropause as it is described medically, is the period, usually between the ages of 45 and 55. when a man’s testosterone levels start to diminish. Sort of like when a woman’s estrogen levels start to sink.

8. MEN GET HORMONAL, TOO

Hormone changes are a natural part of aging. Unlike the more dramatic hormone plunge that occurs in women during menopause, however, hormone changes in men occur gradually. Men losing testosterone is a steady drip, like a leak in a swimming pool you never refill. It’s a process beginning as early as age 25 when men start losing 1 to 2% of their testosterone production a year. As men get older, they stop producing not just adequate levels of testosterone, but thyroid and DHEA levels also decline. Meanwhile, estrogen levels (guy, you’ve got some) often increase—not a good thing for a man. And male menopause affects almost 40% of men aged 45 and older. Still laughing?

9. MENOPAUSAL MEN CAN SUFFER JUST AS MUCH AS MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Hormone havoc in men can cause some of the same distressing symptoms as women get such as fatigue, memory loss, depression, insomnia, irritability, hair loss, low libido, and even osteoporosis. Unlike women, they can get man boobs and erectile dysfunction, too. Weight gain and reduced lean muscle mass that comes with both male and female menopause, are especially grim symptoms to fitness freaks whose inner beasts shape their outer body. You can work out all you want. But you won’t get where you want to go. Not fun for anyone.

10. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT ITS BAD RAP

Start by accepting declining and fluctuating hormones as something that happens with age, a new physiological mode that your body operates in. Know, however, that aging isn’t about being to mitigate the symptoms of female or male menopause. With the help of an experienced practitioner, you can reclaim your quality of life. With proper treatment, it can be an incredibly positive time of life.

11. THIS IS NO SURPRISE

You’ll get all the help you need at SculptedMD. The medical professionals at SculptedMD are hormone pros. They have more experience balancing any of the hormones in your body than anyone else around. One crucial area they’re experts in is listening. You can feel comfortable talking to them about anything. Even just admitting something is wrong. It can be hard talking about menopause. Especially to men. But talking can help the SculptedMD specialists more fully recognize your symptoms, and what you’re going through. Comprehensive evaluation and testing can tell them exactly where your hormonal levels are out of whack. Is this menopause—female or male—or is it not?  This way they are able to develop a plan to address your issues using cutting-edge hormonal therapies. With hormone pellets or injections, they are able to restore your hormone levels so that you can reclaim your quality of life and seize each day with strength, stamina, and a renewed sense of wellness.

Call SculptedMD for an appointment now.