All About The Menopause
Menopause is unique to every woman – but our second phase awaits
One of the tricky things about menopause is its variability. Unlike other parts of women’s reproductive system, like periods and pregnancy, there is no standard that we as women, our colleagues or organisations can expect to occur. This makes the creation of policies and procedures more complex, in that the support offered needs to be flexible and varied. Women’s requirements will change as we move through this transition.
Every woman will experience menopause, it is a fact of female life. For those who identify as nonbinary and trans men, they too will have a menopause as ovaries are the qualifying criteria. Menopause is a more diverse subject than was previously discussed and all those affected need to be considered and supported.
What is menopause?
Menopause is when a woman’s ovaries start to slow their production of hormones due to the drop in number of viable eggs. There are three phases of menopause. Firstly, there is perimenopause which is when a woman starts to experience symptoms, then comes menopause itself. This is when a woman hasn’t had a period for 12 consecutive months. Because of the nature of menopause this can only be viewed retrospectively, unless she has had what is called a medical menopause, due to treatment for certain cancers, an oophorectomy or other forms of treatment which cause immediate menopause to occur. After the 12 months have passed, women enter into post menopause, which is where they remain for the rest of their lives.
What is it that makes menopause so different for every woman?
There are four key variables in menopause, they are:
Age
We have a social perception that menopause occurs when we are old or nearing retirement. This is not true and is outmoded thinking based on levels of life expectancy from over 100 years ago. The average age of menopause in the west is between 49 and 51, depending on ethnicity. 5% of all women have their menopause before the age of 45. This includes very young women in their teens, 20s and 30s. The average age that women will be when they experience symptoms, is between 45 and 55. Certainly not old or near retirement.
Duration
I am often asked how long the symptoms last. Unfortunately, there is no specific answer. On average women experience symptoms for four to eight years and they can occur during all or one of the phases above. Most women are unable to say exactly when their peri menopause started and when their symptoms ended, it is often a slow build up and a quiet ebbing away.
Severity
The easiest way to think about severity is if four women were sitting around a table drinking tea, one would be wondering what the fuss was all about. Two would be thinking that while some of their symptoms were tricky, with a little support and maybe some life changes, they would be alright. The last woman in this four would be having an utterly life changing and devastating experience and would be wondering how on earth she is going to make it through. We all want to be the first woman in that scenario, but sadly we can’t, neither can we choose. For those women having a medical menopause, the symptoms are immediate and usually severe, support will be needed as part of their treatment. We will all have known at least one woman like the last woman in the example above and probably not realised.
Symptoms
There are over 40 symptoms which impact every aspect of women’s lives, most of us are aware of four or five. We are starting to talk more about those that have a psychological impact including anxiety – often the first symptom for many women – depression, panic attacks and brain fog. The name brain fog downplays how scary it is, this symptom alone can cause women to lose confidence in their abilities and step back from their hard fought for careers. There are those which affect women physically including hot flushes – contrary to popular belief these are not ubiquitous – night sweats, fatigue and joint pain. Lastly there are those that women keep hidden including vaginal dryness, increased susceptibility to UTIs and flooding.
Managing menopause in the workplace
There are things that we as women can do today to support ourselves in our places of work, whether we are menopausal or not.
Menopause policy or guidelines – does your organisation have one in place? If they do, find out where it is and take a look at what support they are offering and what qualifying criteria there are e.g. confirmation from your doctor that you are menopausal. If there isn’t a policy in place and 75% of organisations currently don’t have one, ask HR whether this is something they are considering.
The precedent – ask around, what support have other women received in the last 12 months. Organisations have changed the way they view and manage wellbeing considerably in the last year, menopause wasn’t previously considered to be a workplace issue, however this is changing. Speak to women in your organisation and find out how they managed to successfully access support and adjustments.
Support groups – it is not uncommon for women to feel isolated at this time, which can lead to a loss of confidence and in turn impact their career prospects. Support groups are quick and easy to set up, they bring together women from across the organisation to share their experiences and create a support network.
Information is most definitely power during this phase in life. Educating ourselves in what the menopause might be and understanding what our choices are should we need them enables us to be proactive.
Now for the good news
The piece we rarely focus on is what happens next. As we transition through our menopause and our hormones return to their prepubescent state, we enter into a power phase, the second phase of our womanhood. We have decades of experience and knowledge behind us, plus a laser like focus on what is important. This is what we as women should look forward to and plan for. We become incredible not invisible. It is time we recognised our second phase as something extraordinary, as women, colleagues, managers and employers.
By Kate Usher, Menopause Coach & Change Strategist.
Kate is an experienced Menopause Coach and Change Strategist with a specialism in gender equality. She works with women and organisations to create simple strategies that enable modern and supportive Menopause conversations. This increases awareness of this life phase, its pivotal impact on equality across the workforce and representation in senior and executive positions.
She is an internationally published author, her book ‘Your Second Phase – reclaiming work and relationships during and after Menopause’ is available in Europe, North America, South East Asia and Russia. It was also shortlisted for the Business Book of the Year Award 2021.
To contact Kate, please email [email protected]
Originally Released On 24 May 2022