Women's Reproductive Health Issues

Globe · #1 by **Globe** » Oct 03, 2011 10:49 am

!	GENERAL MODNOTE Split from the Male Menopause thread. Durro

chairman bill wrote:And testosterone deficiency can lead to depression & suicide, amongst other things. Which amounts to sod all in comparison to hot flushes, obviously.

Hot flushes is just a minor thing in the female onset of menopause.
Minor.... I'm right in the middle of it, flushes in the past.... but all the OTHER SHIT inflicting you while in menopause is still there.

Death sound like a pretty good solution when it's worst. (Which in my case is about 2 weeks out of every 4 :whine:

)

If men go through something that is even remotely comparable, then my deepest sympathies. :hugs:

amok · #2 by **amok** » Oct 03, 2011 7:50 pm

Paula wrote:
Globe wrote:
chairman bill wrote:And testosterone deficiency can lead to depression & suicide, amongst other things. Which amounts to sod all in comparison to hot flushes, obviously.

Hot flushes is just a minor thing in the female onset of menopause.
Minor.... I'm right in the middle of it, flushes in the past.... but all the OTHER SHIT inflicting you while in menopause is still there.

Death sound like a pretty good solution when it's worst. (Which in my case is about 2 weeks out of every 4 )

If men go through something that is even remotely comparable, then my deepest sympathies.

I can't wait

Don't worry too much about it, because it's different for different people. I empathize with those who have a really hard time (including men who have problems), but I'm going through it now and the only symptoms I've had from that list were hot flashes and irregular periods. And the hot flashes weren't really a big deal. An odd sensation, but not distressing.

Emmeline · #3 by **Emmeline** » Oct 03, 2011 8:04 pm

Nobody should underestimate what others are suffering. If a man or a woman is experiencing stressful symptoms due to loss of hormones than that's valid, regardless of what anyone else is experiencing. We all have personal experiences, some more extreme than others but my own experience as a menopausal woman in her 50s doesn't negate anything a man with hormone loss is dealing with. The most important thing is to support each other with useful information on how to cope with it (and laugh at ourselves while we do!)

johnbrandt · #4 by **johnbrandt** » Oct 05, 2011 1:44 am

My missus is going through menopause at the moment, at the tender age of 46.

The only comment I'll make is...hang on...(sit back, look around carefully, make sure she's outside doing a spot of gardening, no sharp or heavy objects close by...)...it doesn't look pleasant, it does mean walking on eggshells sometimes around her, and I wouldn't dare make any comparison to a man in middle age to what women go through.

Globe · #5 by **Globe** » Oct 05, 2011 5:16 am

johnbrandt wrote:My missus is going through menopause at the moment, at the tender age of 46.

The only comment I'll make is...hang on...(sit back, look around carefully, make sure she's outside doing a spot of gardening, no sharp or heavy objects close by...)...it doesn't look pleasant, it does mean walking on eggshells sometimes around her, and I wouldn't dare make any comparison to a man in middle age to what women go through.

Smart man.

Hey.... 46 is not that unusual. I'm 43, my grandmother was 38. And my father almost lived in his workshop for 3 years.

However.... if what Hubby is going through is Andropause , then I sure as hell wouldn't want to swap places with him, because ffs....
I have managed to stay afloat despite the pains, sweating, breast pains, irregular bleeding..... the works. Probably because I have looked forward to it for about a decade.
It's something i WANT to happen. (For 30 years I've hated every minute of PMS and periods)

He, on the other hand, is suffering from depression, dizziness, profuse sweat attacks, loss of any kind of energy, loss of any kind of initiative...... christonapogostick..... I hope we can get him to a gynecologist, on some form of hormone treatment and off the anti-depressants he's been taking for the past 6 months.

Mike_L · #6 by **Mike_L** » Oct 05, 2011 7:43 am

johnbrandt wrote:....it does mean walking on eggshells sometimes around her.

I had the same problem.... she'd just drop the eggshells on the floor while she was making my breakfast. The solution is to make them perform their kitchen duties barefoot.

johnbrandt · #7 by **johnbrandt** » Oct 05, 2011 3:16 pm

Mike_L wrote:
johnbrandt wrote:....it does mean walking on eggshells sometimes around her.

I had the same problem.... she'd just drop the eggshells on the floor while she was making my breakfast. The solution is to make them perform their kitchen duties barefoot.

Oooo...you're a braver man than I am, Gunga Din... :mrgreen:

Alan B · #8 by **Alan B** » Oct 05, 2011 5:11 pm

Agrippina wrote:I think that the sex drive in post-menopausal women is also related to how strong it was before. The women I know, and considering that almost everyone I know is over 60, mostly say that they're pleased "that part of my life is over" so I'd be interested to know what other post-menopausal women say about it. Again, in my immediate circle, if they are still having sex after 60, they say "it's personal and I can't discuss it." I would love to have a more open discussion about sex with my friends but we still live under the cloud of pre-feminist repression in my society.

When I was - er - more active in my 50/60s, the post menopausal women were fantastic - not a care in the world. Had some great times. And (apparently) they would compare notes. But then, it was a singles culture...

Regina · #9 by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 6:32 pm

Gallstones wrote;

And that is after pregnancy, childbirth, breast feeding and decades of menstruation.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a part of the world where women have a choice in such matters.Ain't progress great?

Fallible · **#10** by **Fallible** » Oct 05, 2011 6:33 pm

How do you do away with menstruation?

Regina · **#11** by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 6:38 pm

Fallible wrote:How do you do away with menstruation?

Let me put it this way: when it became a major poblem for me I had successful medical treatment. I spare you the details. I also hear that there are ways to deal with it when it's really inconvenient. Professional athletes don't bleed at the Olympics, for example.

Agrippina · **#12** by **Agrippina** » Oct 05, 2011 6:41 pm

Ok so seriously, how do you turn them off? :dunno:

Regina · **#13** by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 6:43 pm

Agrippina wrote:Ok so seriously, how do you turn them off?

The pill.

Fallible · **#14** by **Fallible** » Oct 05, 2011 6:52 pm

You still menstruate on the pill, it's just lighter...unless you take it non-stop, which I doubt is very good for you. Women athletes probably don't menstruate because their body fat is very low. That's also why sufferers of anorexia don't have periods. As for what you did to stop your periods, this is news to me, unless you had some kind of surgery.

Regina · **#15** by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 7:36 pm

Fallible wrote:You still menstruate on the pill, it's just lighter...unless you take it non-stop, which I doubt is very good for you. Women athletes probably don't menstruate because their body fat is very low. That's also why sufferers of anorexia don't have periods. As for what you did to stop your periods, this is news to me, unless you had some kind of surgery.

Well, I didn't say it's good for you. On the other hand, I don't know how bad it is. I'm not a gynecologist. There are not just athletes with low body fat, btw. Any number of women choose not to bleed on occasion. It might clash with your holidays, your wedding day, other "professional" obligations. I'm pretty sure female soldiers in combat don't menstruate either. But Gallstones is the expert there.
All I'm saying is that women like me (and probably you) have a choice. Which is good.

Fallible · **#16** by **Fallible** » Oct 05, 2011 8:16 pm

Choosing not to bleed on occasion is a far cry from being able to choose not to have periods full stop. Gallstones' original comment about us having to deal with decades of menstruation is still a fact for the vast majority of women - it's something we have to bear with every single month for decades, and it would be hard for someone with no experience of that to understand. But I'm very mindful now that this thread is not about women and their problems, and I don't want to hijack it.

Regina · **#17** by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 8:23 pm

OK, I get it. Women suffer terribly from periods. For decades. At the mercy of mother nature. Really hard to understand.

Fallible · **#18** by **Fallible** » Oct 05, 2011 8:25 pm

It can be pretty horrible, yes. But I think that's kind of a straw man.

Regina · **#19** by **Regina** » Oct 05, 2011 8:38 pm

Fallible wrote::sigh: It can be pretty horrible, yes. But I think that's kind of a straw man.

Look, I said I had major problems, major with a capital "M". I dealt with them successfully. I didn't feel the need to point out the unfairness of it all, or how we women have it hard in comparison to men, which the original comment was about. I'm aware that I'm in a privileged position, but that's all the more reason not to whine about it at every given opportunity. It's rather unbecoming.

Fallible · **#20** by **Fallible** » Oct 05, 2011 8:49 pm

That's kind of another straw man. Maybe start a thread about it?