Menopause Survival Kit

Breast Cancer Screening: Who, When, and How? - Women's Health

2010-01-21T06:04:00.001-08:00

Breast Cancer Screening: Who, When, and How? - Women's Health

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Cyberchondria: Is Online Health Information Good for Patients?: The Bigger Picture

2010-01-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

The conclusion to this article, The Bigger Picture, gives us all some hope. New doctors in training are now actively encouraged to ask their patients not only about their symptoms but what they've found out about it, thereby engaging more with said patient. Would certainly make the patient feel more comfortable dealing with their doctor on this level. What do you think?
Cyberchondria: Is Online Health Information Good for Patients?: The Bigger Picture
Read and enjoy. don't forget you can find out lots more information at www.simplyhormones.com

Cyberchondria: Is Online Health Information Good for Patients?: Doctors in a Wired World

2010-01-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

I found this article very interesting as I have come up against blinkered medical practitioners when trying to introduce www.simplyhormones.com as a peer to peer support system for women going through menopause. Now that I know they feel threatened by their patients gaining information via the internet, it makes sense. Practice nurses seem to 'get' it but very few doctors. It'll happen eventually, you'll see. Enjoy the article.
Cyberchondria: Is Online Health Information Good for Patients?: Doctors in a Wired World

Love Hurts, Actually

2008-04-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hormones can be up and down like a fiddler's elbow throughout the menstrual cycle, but women, generally, cope. When love hurts, though, do you put up with it and pretend all is OK? Very few women realise that there is a remedy available to bring an end to painful sex. Intimate problems of itching and dryness can happen at varying times in a woman’s life but especially following childbirth and later on at menopause. The subject is rarely discussed, as it is too embarrassing and women suffer needlessly.

Intimacy can stop altogether because of the pain and this can affect relationships. When youth is on your side, hormones soon return to normal following childbirth when the lining of the womb (uterus) will once again produce the lubricating mucus required to enjoy an active sex life. Occasionally other, temporary, measures may need to be taken.

Many women seem obsessed with the ageing process from a young age, concentrating on the visual aspects of face and body. Once women hit 40+, though, subtle changes take place internally, signalling the onset of menopause.

Nothing, however, prepares you for painful sex; that dry, dragging feeling on penetration and the burning sensation with pins and needles or even bleeding experienced during intercourse. Tampons are also off the menu.

You can’t or won’t discuss it with anyone and it’s a big turn off. Your partner feels rejected and relationships suffer. Speaking to your partner can help stabilise things quite quickly as will talking to your doctor. Too embarrassed? Write him a note, hand it to him at your appointment, then discuss.

Vaginal atrophy (dryness), its medical term, affects more than three million women and less than 20% do anything about it. Women are affected following childbirth and it is a natural part of ageing. The sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are on their inexorable march out the door after many years of service and one of the side effects is Vaginal Atrophy, which worsens with age unless you do something about it. Over-the-counter lubricants can restore some pleasure but there is another way.
What is this piece of magic? An estrogen supplement, locally applied. As the name implies, they contain a minute source of estrogen, which is not systemic. In other words the estrogen does not enter your whole body system thus allaying any fears you may have regarding HRT (hormone replacement therapy). They come in a convenient choice of applications such as tablets, pessaries or creams, inserted directly into the vagina. Applied daily for two weeks then once or twice a week, as required. They are only available on prescription and you will no longer need to buy lubricants.

I call these supplements little miracle workers. They have the effect of plumping up the vulva (lips) around the vagina and keeping the vaginal walls healthy, restoring lost mucous. The other major benefit is improvement to the muscles of the urinary tract, thus helping to avoid that other embarrassing problem of leakages when you cough, run, jump, etc. This treatment should be combined with exercising the pelvic floor muscles for full benefit (these can be done sitting down. Ask your doctor about this, too). A win/win situation in my book. Two problems dealt with easily and effectively with one application and readily available on the NHS.

Women go through a metamorphosis at menopause, which can be a really liberating experience, if they learn to become better informed about what is happening to their bodies and the solutions available.

This is another taboo subject that needs airing. Come on - talk about it!

Kathryn Colas is a freelance menopause awareness consultant and founder of http://www.simplyhormones.com/ … getting your life back, by raising awareness of menopause symptoms and solutions.

Kathryn Colas,
SimplyHormones.com
P O Box 218
Uckfield
TN22 3YT

E: kathryn@simplyhormones.com

It's good to talk

2008-03-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

They say it's good to talk so let's open up a whole new debate on Menopause.

Do you have two Agendas when you go to see your doctor? I know I did. Hot flushes (flashes), night sweats, they're the common ones but what about sleeping badly, aching joints, leaking urine and stressful times when you have to cross your legs so tightly because it feels as if you are about to pee your pants (and sometimes you do).

This happened to me at home, on my own, and I was still embarrassed. I ended up wearing sanitary pads when I went out, just in case.

You don't have to do this! Get instructions for strengthening your pelvic floor muscles and talk to your doctor about a locally applied low-dose estrogen. It really hits the spot, helps muscle control and prevents vaginal dryness (that's something else you don't want to know about). See elsewhere on this blog.

Take a look at my website http://www.simplyhormones.com/ for stacks more information on this and so many other subjects concerning menopause.

Please share your experiences. It will help others more than you think. You're not alone you know, millions of women around the world are currently going through this. And in silence!

Time to talk! Do it!

Menopause Survival Kit

2008-03-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

On the website at http://www.simplyhormones.com/ you will find a Menopause Survival Kit. I've put together instant fixes and a list of symptoms that will come to haunt you if you don't do something about what's going on in your body.

Things like: stress incontinence and vaginal dryness.

Don't want to know, I hear you cry ... "I'm not old enough!" Look, now is the time to get a life. These two symptoms are easy to fix. You don't have to suffer. Keep your sexual relationships happy and healthy with locally applied low-dose estrogen from your doctor's surgery.

If it's too embarrassing to talk about, write him/her a note, but talk about it you must. It will save your sanity.

If you're still having the odd period, you could become pregnant. So many do fall into the trap at 'the change'!

You must have an opinion on this. Come on, be the first to let me know

Lost Confidence?

2008-03-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

It is a truism that women lose confidence at menopause. Why is that? It has been written, and I concur, that through all the years of being a 'carer', women get so used to putting themselves at the back of the queue that they literally 'get lost'.

I am pleased to note that younger women are successfully encouraging their menfolk to share the care, allowing women to sustain their personality. Long may this continue.

For the rest of us older women and I'm talking 40+ here, you were brought up with the mindset that women did all the caring. Caring for husband/partner, kids, elderly relatives, oh, yes, and you probably have a fulltime job.

The reason most women are not in a mental home by the time they are 50 is probably because they do work outside the home. A part of your personality exists in the workplace. You make your own decisions. Back at home. Who are you? But even working outside the home has its own stresses and strains. The whole period of menopause can be a nightmare. Knowing a bit about your body can help ease the problems.

That question, 'Who are You?' was asked of me quite recently: "I know the businesswoman, I know the wife, I know the mother, but who are you?" I burst into tears.

This is where you have to learn a little introspection. Learning to find out who you were and who you are now and who you would like to be and it ain't easy.

None of us wants to age, do we? But how can you do anything about it? You wouldn't believe how much my own health has changed for the better since taking the time (or rather forced to take the time as I was diagnosed depressed) to look at me, my lifestyle (diet, alcohol, the works) and by making small changes I lost 2stone (28lbs) and feel full of beans and full of confidence.

Women go through a metamorphosis. There is life after menopause. There's even life during menopause if you know how to find it.

Through my own problems, I set up a website to help others. Take a look www.simplyhormones.com. My new motto is Take Courage. Take Action. Take Control.

What do you think about this? I get so many emails from women who have been nearly suicidal or they've been told they need a hysterectomy only to find out from www.simplyhormones.com that actually you have choices there, too.

What choices would you like to see?