Translated material
Climax? Not scary!
I'm very afraid of menopause. Does life really end there and all that remains is to shout at your subordinates and household, suffering from hot flashes and pouring sweat?
I am very afraid of menopause (I am 40 years old). Does life really end there and all that remains is to shout at your subordinates and household, suffering from hot flashes and pouring sweat?
Evgeniya, Moscow
Tatyana Semenyuk , obstetrician-gynecologist, leader of the “Happy Pregnancy and Childbirth” school, Engels, Saratov region:
–Dear Evgenia, menopause is a physiological process in the female body, which is characterized by hormonal changes and the cessation of menstruation, but not the end of a full life!
As a rule, menopause occurs after 45 years, but there are known cases of both early (before 40) and late (after 56 years) decline of reproductive function.
The climacteric period lasts several years, and there are several stages in it. Premenopause – from the moment of the onset of hormonal changes until the cessation of menstruation. Menopause is a time of complete absence of menstruation and the end of the production of female sex hormones. Postmenopause is a persistent absence of sex hormones.
Symptoms and what to do
Very often, when a woman enters the menopause phase, she encounters climacteric syndrome - this is the very frightening set of symptoms:
increased sweating, flushing of blood to the head and face, palpitations and surges in blood pressure, increased fatigue and unmotivated irritability, headaches, insomnia, anxiety and restlessness, decreased sexual desire.
All these symptoms disappear on their own as soon as the hormonal levels “settle down” and the body gets used to the changes. But for some women it can last a long time, causing discomfort and disrupting normal life. In this case, you need to contact a qualified doctor, undergo an examination and choose treatment.
The only effective method of eliminating unpleasant symptoms is hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is based on replacing missing hormones in a woman’s body. The drug, as well as the dosage, are selected individually by the attending physician. Self-medication is unacceptable and does not give a noticeable effect, but often causes a lot of unwanted side effects!
Hormone replacement therapy will help not only eliminate unpleasant symptoms, but also avoid the occurrence of serious diseases associated with the restructuring of the female body (osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.).
Vera Smetnik , gynecologist-endocrinologist, professor, president of the Russian Menopause Association:
– I advise women over 40 to adopt the following principles:
1. Understand what is happening physiologically.
2. Love yourself, become selfish for a while. After all, if you have complexes all the time, those around you feel it. And if you carry yourself, then, they think, you have something to carry!
3. Take care of your appearance: if possible, visit a cosmetologist and a swimming pool, do exercises, buy special products for skin care with signs of hormonal aging.
4. Change your lifestyle and diet. We are sure that we do not eat enough. But in fact, we eat as we ate before, but metabolic processes decrease, and more and more fat is deposited, and more and more people are drawn to the sofa... But we need to eat less, move more. More fish, vegetables, but less oil, fat, pork...
5. Take care of your memory so that you can work after 55 years.
6. Try to reach this period of economic independence.
7. Find a reliable friend (husband) who would guide her through this difficult period and would not look for someone younger and “without a double chin.”
Menopause signals a woman:
think about yourself, change your lifestyle, nutrition, become selfish for a while. This can be easily overcome if you have a positive attitude. After all, the only way to live long is to age gracefully!