Life After The Menopause

Life after the menopause doesn’t have to be a nightmare, in fact, believe it or not, it can actually the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

Most women dread the thought of the menopause believing that it might cause them to lose their femininity and somehow turn them in to an old crone overnight. Who in their right mind would look forward to hot flashes, forgetfulness, mood swings, fatigue and the loss of their sex drive?

But while there are unquestionably many women who do experience terrible menopausal symptoms, is it really as dreadful as we’ve been led to believe?

Perhaps not. There is an emergent group of women who are convinced that going through the menopause has brought on an incredible transformation.

Far from losing their joie de vivre, they claim that the menopause has actually given them a completely new lease of life.

Internet sites and forums are buzzing with postings from women asking what’s wrong with them because, far from the expected nightmare, they have gone through the menopause without any problems or side effects at all. Others talk of the marvellous sense freedom it has given them – not having to worry about monthly periods for example.

For many women, having pre-menstrual tension ruling their lives for so long, the loss of their period actually liberates them from the horrendous mood swings and, despite the negative hype about sex lives drying up, many women actually feel sexier, healthier and find themselves with loads of energy.

The dread experienced by most women approaching the menopause is partly the result of the message that they’ve been given by today’s society, but in fact only approximately 25% will experience symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings and aches and pains and of those that do, 85% find that these symptoms disperse naturally within a few years. Indeed, a lot of women are not even aware that they have gone through the menopause.

In actual fact this anxiety about the menopause is really very much a western attitude. In many eastern countries such as India, women have the same symptoms but view the menopause as a very positive thing because getting older gives them more status, not less.

Of course menopausal symptoms can be bad, but if you enter the change with the attitude that you will get though it without major problems, you really will be making it easier for yourself.

The menopause does not thrust women into premature old age and, if it’s approached with the right mind-set, life after it can be completely energizing, leading to a huge boost in confidence and zest for life.

So perhaps it’s about time we stopped dreading the thought of life after the menopause and begin to think of it as our rite of passage, embracing the change and the fantastic freedom it brings.