Tell Us About Your Menopause Experience
Menopause is universal to all NextTribe readers (eventually), and too often doctors and the medical community don’t give us the information we need. But one of the best sources of information through history is women telling their stories and solutions. Now with a boost from the Internet, we want to honor this tradition and compile a collection of menopause experiences, updated every week with YOUR stories.
If we publish your story, we’ll send you one of our BOLD tank tops. Click here to learn more.
Maggie Lambert
No one, not even my 5 older sisters, talked about the insomnia, mood swings, or the anxiety.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Depressing. Anxious. Over.
Gina Proulx
I wish I’d known how my skin and hair were going to change. I wish I’d known and not been surprised by my waist almost suddenly ‘disappearing.’
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Overall not bad.
Retired Human Resources Manager in Chicago
At 59, I’m still waiting to finish with it. I have not hit a year without a period yet.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Sad. Anxious. Difficult.
Click here to read more about this late bloomer’s experience.
Mary Reed
The worst parts of menopause were the panic attacks, erratic moods, intense periods, night sweats combined with hot flashes. Also conflicts and hurt feelings because I did not understand what was happening to me nor did my husband.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Periods finally over.
Elizabeth Monette
I became a bit angry that this stage of a woman’s life is dismissed, and while we receive minimal health education in school, there is nothing widely available on menopause. I felt wildly alone.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Stunning. Bewildering, Unforgiving.
Jeanne Chung
My super-frustrating and shockingly poor experience with a gynecologist pushed me to find relief for my symptoms and start my own company.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Anxiety. Inspiring. Real.
Lisa Kaselak
I started a video series so other women wouldn’t be as clueless as I was about menopause.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Blindsided. Scary. Vexing.
Liz Juneau
It gave me the opportunity to look at myself in a different way.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Mild. Manageable. Transitional.
Donna Parker
The best part has been feeling like I’ve arrived at my best self. I feel braver and show up with more confidence.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Challenging. Growth. Humorous.
Kerry Kittrell
Menopause is a part of our journey. It is NOT a disease! “Symptom” as applied to women and menopause is perpetuated by the patriarchy to disempower us.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Powerful. Journey. Transformation.
Lorie Green
I wish I’d sought a healthy alternative immediately, instead of just accepting all of my symptoms and thinking I was doomed and also possibly losing my mind.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Frustrating, enlightening and comforting.
Elizabeth O’Brien
I wish I’d known I would experience an unfortunate redistribution of weight to the middle and lose my hair in some places and grow weird hair in others.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Mind-control adventure.
Anissa Buckley
I became a version of the Stay-Puft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters in that short period of time. Bloated and pissed off all the time. Needless to say – I came off ALL of the drugs quickly thereafter.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Puffy. Foggy. Enlightening.
Nancy Goedeke
I’ve been fortunate. Never had a hot flash. I do every once in a great while get a cold flash. Yes, I lay in bed and shiver from the inside out. Not unpleasant and only at night.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Full speed ahead!
Melisa Rechenmacher
I knew absolutely nothing about how I would experience menopause because I was only a teenager when my Mom went through it after a complete hysterectomy. She passed away five years ago so I had no one to ask questions to regarding the whole experience.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Overwhelming. Itchy. Tiring.
Click here to read more about Melisa’s experience.
Audrey Gentry
I thought I could tough it out without any help. I was the oldest of my friends and didn’t know any better. Once my younger friends started getting hormonal bio-identical treatments years after me, I felt like perhaps I was allowed to jump on the bandwagon too.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Sleepless. Dry. Angry.
Click here to read more about Audrey’s experience.
Michelle Breyer
I hated how unpredictable the hot flashes were, not to mention embarrassing. And the night sweats—at their worst—required me to wash the sheets several times a week.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Drenched. Irritable. Emotional.
Jeannie Ralston
I wish I’d known that I would often question my own sanity. That I would have out-of-body experiences, in which I would see myself acting irrationally—snapping at my family, overreacting to small annoyances—but Not. Being. Able. To. Stop. Myself.
Three words to describe your menopause experience?
Messy. Wakeful. Liberating.
