So You're Going Through Menopause

How to talk about the physical and emotional changes with the people who matter, from your partner to your doctor to your trainer.

- Leah Rumack

 THERE’S NO WAY TO STOP the menopause train from coming—it’s as natural as puberty and it always reaches its destination, whether you want it to or not.

Menopause usually starts in a woman’s late 40s or early 50s. A good indicator for when individuals will experience “The Change” is around the time their own mother did.

“Menopause is one of the goofiest definitions of any stage of life,” says Jennifer Blake, an OB/GYN and the CEO of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. “It’s diagnosed only in hindsight, when it’s been 12 months since you’ve had a menstrual period.”

Simply put, menopause is the life stage during which the ovaries stop functioning. They no longer release eggs, and the supply of estrogen those ovaries have been pumping out since puberty slows to a trickle. It’s the end of menstruation, and it’s a process that typically takes about seven years, though for some women it stretches into their 60s.

There’s another phase leading up to menopause called perimenopause. It can start as early as the late 30s, but most women begin experiencing everything from fluctuating hormone levels and increasingly erratic periods to plunging fertility in their later 40s.

How Do You Treat It?

There are ways to manage menopause, which can include vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats, heart palpitations, disturbed sleep, mood swings, anxiety, memory loss, vaginal dryness, weight gain and joint pain.

The most well-known option for medically treating these physical effects is hormone therapy. But more recently, there have been promising results from using certain antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and neurological medications. Some holistic therapies, such as acupuncture and meditation, are also popular.