My Menopause Blog

My Menopause Blog: Moved

2006-10-13T17:11:00.000-04:00

My Menopause Blog has moved here.

Click on the link.

My Menopause Blog: Media Release

2006-05-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

Guelph, Ontario Canada (PRWEB) May 10, 2006 -- When the Women’s Health Initiative Study of Hormone Replacement Therapy was halted on July 9th, 2002 after discovering that risks greatly outweighed the benefits, the more than 6 million women taking the drug at the time were left without safe, alternative menopause relief.

Almost 4 years later, the news is still the same.

By 2026, it is estimated that women over the age of 50 will make up 22 per cent of the North American population and be entering some stage of menopause. Writer Sue Richards is one of those women.

Bothered by the lack of alternative information and support, Richards started researching menopause relief. Besides finding a plethora of suggestions, she also found a community of women who like herself did not want to medicate their menopause.

Buoyed by the interest, Richards decided to compile her knowledge in the form of a blog. My Menopause Blog was launched in early February becoming one of the only full-time menopause blogs in the blogosphere written by a menopausal woman.

Richards’ three-month blog experiment has proven one thing for sure. Support by way of her daily posts is a form of relief women love. To date, over 6000 readers have enjoyed My Menopause Blog. Unlike the HRT study, the reported side effects are not considered dangerous and include laughter, induced reflection and increased understanding.

With Mother’s Day looming on Sunday May 14th Richards is hoping to encourage computer savvy kids to introduce their hormonally challenged mothers to some safe, drug free on-line menopause support by way of.

Featuring simple to use post categories for easy information retrieval, Richards offers daily posts, recommends several book titles and links to other menopausal bloggers in her blogroll. Wired sons and daughters can help their menopausal mom navigate the blogosphere and pick up a few tips about menopause management at the same time.

According to Richards, that means everyone wins.

Richards concludes, "With 22% of the female population entering some stage of menopause, your mom may not be the only woman in your life who's flashing."

Links: www.mymenopauseblog.com
www.breastofcanada.com
Phone: 519 767-0142

My Menopause Blog: Banner

2006-04-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

My Menopause Blog: Change of URL

2006-03-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

For the continuing saga of My Menopause Blog, please join me at my new digs MyMenopauseBlog.com.

If you belong to Club Meno, let me know and I'll add you to the ranks on my new site.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Blog Guelph.

My Menopause Blog: Media Release

2006-02-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

Guelph, Canada: March 1, 2006
For Immediate Release

Menopause Blog is Hot

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada recently reported that approximately four million Canadian women have now reached menopause. By 2026, it is estimated that women over the age of 50 will make up 22 per cent of the Canadian population. Statistic presented by the North American Menopause Society tells a similar story for U.S. women.

In short, the women of the world are heating up. Many of these women are looking for understanding, information and relief.

Sue Richards, author of MyMenopauseBlog.com was one of those women. After becoming a member of the peri-menopausal club and having no clue of what was happening, Richards started on a quest for knowledge about symptoms, natural remedies and treatments.

"My first need was to confirm I wasnt going crazy. After I calmed down and accepted my new life stage, I simply wanted a heads up on what I could expect and what to do."

Richards decided to do her own research and share the results with other women by way of a blog, an on-line weblog, she writes daily. Blog popularity is currently surging. Technorati, the top blog authority, tracks over 28 Million blogs, in a blogosphere that is doubling in size every 5 and a half months.

Richards' blog postings include valuable information about the stages and symptoms of menopause, including details of clever and amusing ways to deal with the 'change'. Her trademark 'smart humor' is liberally sprinkled throughout the posts, along with cartoons and Richards' photographs. A social science graduate from the University of Guelph, she honestly delves into the psychology of menopause and aging offering insights and asking questions. Books and products that cross her path, get reviewed.

My Menopause Blog started quietly in July 2005 as a Blogger blog. In February 2006, after Richards found she had developed a following of readers, the blog moved to its new domain, www.mymenopauseblog.com, with a refreshed look and new features thanks to Barking Dog Studios of Guelph.

Publisher of the fine art photography, breast health calendar Breast of Canada, Richards is no stranger to the 'dome of silence and shame' that gets mixed into women's health issues. Using her creative sensibilities, writing skill and social entrepreneur tendencies, Richards hopes that My Menopause Blog will serve as a touchstone for women who need to know that they will survive and that they are not alone.

"I feel so much better since I started the blog. If nothing else, my attitude has improved and I'm not as confused about what is going on with my body anymore. Plus I'm so much more open about this whacky experience. If I'm having a hot flash, I don't try to hide it. In fact, I'm working on a meno-stripper routine," jokes Richards.

Other MyMenopauseBlog.com features include Club Meno, a listing of links to other menopausal bloggers, paid advertising by Google, a comprehensive post filing system of specific categories, over 160 posts and a place for readers to leave their comments.

For more information about MyMenopauseBlog.com please contact:
Sue Richards at: artjam@artjam.org

Link: http://www.mymenopauseblog.com
Link: http://www.breastofcanada.com

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

My Menopause Blog: Hot Flash! I've Moved

2006-02-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends of My Menopause,

No longer will I be posting on this site.

Instead, I will be offering up my take, tips and talk on menopause at:

www.mymenopauseblog.com

That's www.mymenopauseblog.com.

I'm still tidying up over there, but you sure are welcome to drop by.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, blog, hot flash, new blog skin

My Menopause Blog: Computer Angst

2006-02-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

My sexy new blog skin is almost ready to be hatched.

The team at Barking Dog Studios have done a sweet job with every little detail. I suspect you fine readers will be swooning when we go live.

Still, even with a team of pros, I am a bag of nerves when it comes to any of my work that requires computer technology. I can change the oil in my car, but when faced with an email error message...this chick is in the dark, huddled in a corner, with the edge of her blankie stuck in her mouth.

It all stems back to my first and only university level computer course. So keen was I too learn this 'new' way of communicating, way back in 1981, certain that I would excel, what with my excellent marks in typing, math and accounting tucked under my beaded belt. Within the second class, my confidence started dripping from ever pore. Nothing made sense. I started doing double time classes, hired a tutor, lived in the computer lab, only to end with a spectacular 32% final mark.

Thirty two percent screams: Not a fucking clue.

I hid it all rather well simply by jumping into more art and psychology courses, which I did have a natural handle on. But the damage was clearly done. My fear of computers penetrated deep into my consciousness.

Perhaps the next time I have a flash...like in about 15 minutes, I should cast my mind back to that shameful time and see if I can burn that debilitating memory to cinders.

I do hate it when I still react to things that happened 25 years ago.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, computers, hot flash, blog skin

My Menopause Blog: Sterilizing Myself

2006-02-01T00:52:00.000-05:00

Leslie thinks that the heat from hot flashes keeps germs down and illness at bay. She could very well have a point.

Moist heat may be just the thing to keep flu and colds away but I fear that it's the perfect condition for mold and fungi. So, after I'm heated into a lather, I will diligently perform a lemon rinse to rid myself of spores.

Fruit flies will be another issue.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, fruit flies, hot flash.

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Ordered

2006-01-31T23:42:00.000-05:00

My order fax just went through for one, count em, one saliva test.

The cost threw me off at first. One Hundred and five dollars in Canuck Bucks, including shipping seemed out of my range. But then a funny thing happened. My Hot Flash dial got turned up several notches and I turned into a blazing furnace.

Take Saturday for instance.

I ran the Information Table at the 25th Organic Agriculture Conference. Normally a freezing affair, this year, I darn near melted. I was soaked more than once. Red in the face several times. Flashing my stomach brought some relief as I fanned myself with my untucked shirt. But mostly, I cooked in my own juices.

How organic is that!!

Sunday was no different. I was exhausted from all the effort required to simply keep cool and sane. Today, I fished out the Saliva Test form and put these wheels in motion.

I'm also thinking of buying a fire extinguisher. Just a small one. Something I can slip in my pocket and use for the real spine burners.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, saliva test, hot flash.

My Menopause Blog: The Change

2006-01-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

Me thinks we've got it all wrong.

For some reason, women of a certain age are told that we are about to go through The Change implying that the change comes on the heels of a period of non-change.

Buying this bucket of bunk makes no sense. Change is and always will be constant.

When I met my new wee 7 pound 7 ounce neighbour, and compared our finger size, I could not help but think of the massive change before her. Heck, let's even consider the massive change she's just gone through. The gal was sperm and egg a mere 9 months ago. Up until Friday, she was inside her mom.

In reality, the new kid on my block is already growing up. Put another way. She is aging, just like me.

Children change daily. I have a door frame where my stepchildren were measured on a monthly basis, marks creeping up the wall to prove their growth. Teenagers sprout hair, new shapes and different pitched voices. Once into our twenties, our independence and social changes are mind blowing. Perhaps our thirties are the decade of least physical change. Most body parts work and energy remains constant, but attitudes shift and needs and wants reform from early, less mature ideals. Then the forties roll in. Energy levels shift again , hair greys, eye sight weakens, joints stiffen, memory gets dodgy, fat accumulates.

A life time of change is behind us, yet, we're told, that 'The Change' is before us.

So what the hell did I just live through? And who is trying to make the future seem ominously different?

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, The Change, aging.

My Menopause Blog: Birth in Guelph

2006-01-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Menopause is one end of the reproductive spectrum. Birth fits somewhere in the middle.

At 8:01am this morning, a baby girl was born on my street, right next door to my house. A few hours later, Poppa and BIG sister were sitting outside in the warm January sun. Momma and babe, tucked together, asleep upstairs. The midwives have gone, pleased to have been involved in an easy birth.

I tied pink ribbon round the ole Maple tree out front.

Everyone is excited.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards.

My Menopause Blog: My Kitchen Chair

2006-01-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

This is my kitchen chair, occupied by my butt since 1970, the same year I 'became a woman'.

In 1970, the funky Dalamation print that you see was but a dream. Said chair was covered in a dense avocado green poly-toxic material.

For contrasts sake and to bring some tangible evidence to my previously mention love of orange, I keep my chair in my dining room which is painted the colour Pumpkin.

Orange is the colour of creativity and safety. I find this juxtaposition comforting. It takes courage to be creative. How handy that the very colour I most delight in will also help protect me.

My kitchen chair has seen me through my entire reproductive cycle. Although slightly frayed and discoloured, it is as reliable and comfortable now as it first was thirty six years ago.

Same as me.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, reproductive cycle, orange.

My Menopause Day: Orangeness Day

2006-01-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

So you know and can prepare yourself for one of my personal favorite days of the year, tomorrow, January 26th, is Orangeness Day.

The colour. Not the fruit or the funny religious connotation.

Orangeness Day was invented by me, with an assist going to a newspaper guy I love reading. Scott Tracey has a knack with the English language that few can claim. He works in my town, writing for our local rag.

You do not need to get permission to make up dates if you publish a calendar. It's one of the perks of the job. All you have to do is simply publish the date and voila, everyone who owns your calendar knows to celebrate.

Clever eh??

Good way to plant cheery thoughts and fun activities throughout the year. Then, slowly but surely, take over the WWW, followed by the world, then the universe...just by directing peoples thoughts with a calendar!!! (Not so evil laugh).

Right then.

You may have noticed that I lean towards self-authority in many areas of my life...not to mention grand delusions. I've never been one to get permission. Too much red tape, people saying no because they're boring...stuff like that. Besides, who would you ask about something like a day that celebrates my favorite bright warm colour, in the dead of winter.

Me: Hello, is this the office of Making Up Dates For Nice Colours.

As you can see already, this will go nowhere. Especially if you don't believe orange to be nice.

So, Orangeness Day gives you the option of Overt Orangeness...top to bottom draping. Internal Orangeness....warm thoughts. Cheerful Orangeness...a sunny disposition. Cosmic Orangeness....glowing from within. Orangeitarian Orangeness....orange food for a day.

Pick one, none or all. Have fun, be fun or be glum. Decide for yourself. Be your own authority. You're menopausal.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

The Breast Views Headline: Breasted Canadian Politcian

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards. Orangeness Day, authority, fun.

My Menopause Blog: Menopause Dream??

2006-01-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last nights dream went something like this.

I'm in India about to attend a course on Geography. Before checking into my hotel/room I find the class room and get a visual of the male teacher who happens to be my grade 11 highschool geography teacher.

I sit on a bench, outside the school/room, in the heat and sun. Lush plants surround me. I'm aware that I am doing this course, not to learn about geography, but to get away from my old geography of life in my city and from my relationships that are stuck.

Suddenly, I get itchy and notice a rash spreading rather rapidly across my arm. I immediately go to a clinic, where two women calmly, yet firmly get me to lie down on a bed. They are clearly concerned as they lift my shirt to find a thick, red rash spreading across my chest. Then I start to puff up like a balloon. One woman goes and gets two very large clamps like a monster plumber would use, and clamps both of my legs off at the hip, before the rash and swelling spreads in that direction.

The other woman starts spraying my body with a fire extinguisher. I'm talking a mile a minute. Telling them my next of kin, my regrets, messages that need to be given to loved ones, where my luggage is. I feel certain I am dying.

Suddenly, the Geography teacher appears in the clinic.

I take one of the clamps off my leg and throw it at him to get his attention. In my mind, he will save me.

I wake up as he turns around.

Sue Richards

PS: Are there any dream people out there?

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, dream.

My Menopause Blog: Winter

2006-01-23T14:34:00.000-05:00

Menopause is often referred to as the winter of a woman's life.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Photo.

My Menopause Blog: Vote

2006-01-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Canadians go to the polls.

At least, Canadians could go to the polls. Yet for many reasons, only 60% of Canadians go...the other 40% don't bother.

If you fall into the 40% category, please jump ship and join the 60% tribe. If you feel your voice is not heard due to our stupid, 'first past the post' system of counting ballots, you have two party choices as far as I can see. Both the Green Party and the NDP claim that they will work toward getting 'proportional representation' in place. This alone would be a very big improvement for folks that see the world as a buffet of differences and believe in a triple bottom line rather than a cut and dry view of right and wrong underlined with the belief that money is everything.

If you are tired of the three national parties and their talking heads, then a vote for the Green Party will elevate their numbers above the 'leader can be invited to televised debates' cut off mark and at least improve the dialogue for the 'next' election.

So there. Two reasons to go mark your ballot.

Please.

Pretty please.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Canada,NDP, Green Party, proportional representation

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Found

2006-01-20T11:10:00.000-05:00

All is not lost.

Two women have come forward with Saliva Test information. Both are leading me to the same test which I will follow up on in due time. I'm more curious than ever to learn how my hormone levels will stack up and what else I can do to support myself through the pause.

I like it when two people, unknown to each other, end up endorsing the same thing. There is comfort in numbers and satisfaction in knowing that if ye seek, ye shall find. Unless of course it's a damn photo of a hippo footprint ye are seeking. Then, it's seek until you turn blue and then weep with frustration.

Quickly, because I don't want to give this more ice time than it deserves, I've been nattering with myself all week about 'getting behind'. The result of such self bitching serves me poorly.

Finally, yesterday, while doing Little Boat Pose at my yoga class, I made reference to the 'behind' belief and my yoga instructor said, "getting behind what"? She went on to suggest (once again, because this is a tricky yet liberating concept that needs repeating), the idea of getting behind implies that you are currently not where you are suppose to be. When in fact, where you are is where you are, which must be where you are suppose to be. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.

For an instant, that so far, has been held over to today, I am no longer behind. I'm here.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, yoga, saliva testing.

Today's Breast Views Blog Headline: The Day My Boobs Went Bust.

My Menopause Blog: Flashback

2006-01-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have a photo that I took of my boot sitting inside of the footprint of a hippopotamus. My foot, of course is inside the boot.

I am not at the zoo.

I am in Africa. More precisely, I'm on safari, in the Serengeti, with my man, a Swedish couple, a cook and our guide, Mr. Joseph.

I have been looking for the photo for several days. I can see it, plain as day, tucked inside a book with a few other choice shots. Yet, so far, the book and the shot have eluded me.

My purpose for bring this up is not to brag. Instead I want to marvel. The one month trip happened in January 2001. Now five year's later, in my wildest dreams, I can't wrap my head around who the hell that Sue Richards was. How did she do that....just show up in Tanzania, with a return ticket, carry on luggage and a modest stash of money belted to her belly....and nothing more. How did she end up in that jeep, with those people, and her foot greatly outsized by the print of a hippo? A hippo for crying out loud. A big bloody in the wild hippo!

When my new blog skin is up and ready, I will have a photo section. It will be called Flashback. The photos will be a retrospect of sorts. From days gone by. Hippo foot will be featured, if I can find it.

There are days that I need to remind myself of myself.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Africa

My Menopause Blog: New Age Middle Aged

2006-01-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

Very likely, someone who didn't know me well, would lump me under the category of New Age. Even though I roll my eyes at the term and don't listen to sounds of the seashore on my iPod while staring at a crystal, enough whonky ideas come out of my mouth to give some folks that impression. Still, let me be clear. I don't own an iPod. I go to the beach for an authentic wave listening experience. And crystals need dusting.

I don't dust.

Still, I lean towards organic food, a non-medical model of health care, soul searching, the odd wind chime and a belief system that sees us all as interconnected.

I also think in terms of energy. Some people's energy suck the life out of me as soon as they come into my range. Other's fill me to the brim. Same experience applies to events and work. Before taking on anything, be it a walk with a friend or a work contract, I do the energy math before going forward.

One of the head honchos in the energy world way of thinking is Dr.Caroline Myss. I saw her whip a room of 1200 into a frenzy a couple years back during a talk she did in Toronto. Besides being stand up comic quality, she's quick to call your number when she sees it. Another words, she calls a spade, a spade. I love spade callers.

Yesterday, this insight of Carolyn's made it into my in box.

"What’s true is that the New Age is not new any more. It’s “middle aged” and it needs to mature and shed its “healer, victim consciousness, narcissistic” image and evolve into its next level of maturity."

Further down she adds:

"Never mind saying, I know I was meant to do something special - THEN DO IT!!!! STOP SAYING THAT ALREADY!!!! ENOUGH! Begin with blessing the life you have and every one in it and making conscious choices every day that put your spiritual life into practice IN THE MIDST OF THE BATTLEFIELD OF YOUR LIFE AND NOT THE SPA OR THE YOGA CLASS!!

There you have it. A spade.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Caroline Myss, New Age, middle age, Sue Richards.

My Menopause Blog: What You Think

2006-01-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

I've been roaming the Blogoshere? Reading comments, checking in. Checking out.

And now I'm wondering...is My Menopause Blog too much for people?

Sue Richards

My Calendar Girl Blog is way over here.

My Menopause Blog: Sand Man

2006-01-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

Guelph is covered in ice.

And I'm not sleeping.

The Sand Man would do well in this town.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Experiment

2006-01-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

I will refrain from further talk of sex for the time being and focus my attention back on Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy. Still, you've got to admit, once you get past the shock of the word clitoris and the base eleven minute assumption of the sex act, the notion of men 'discovering' women's body parts and our world 'rotating' around sex is pretty amusing and informative.

I am in luck. This blog has caught the attention of a pharmacist who believes whole heartedly in BHRT and is willing to share some information. Plus a second woman has been sending me info on Saliva Testing, a precursor to BHRT.

So here's what I'm going to do. I will get a Saliva Test done and reveal the process in this blog. I'm currently not taking any form of hormone replacement so I will be coming at the experiment as is. First I need to find out how I can do this in my city. Then do the test and wait for the results. So please do not hold your breath for yea might turn blue in the face and cease to be able to follow along.

The blog move that I promised a week ago is still underway, slowly, with a couple new jumps to make, but still in motion. When that transpires, I will have categories. I will be sure to have a Saliva Test category so all the facts I find can be neat and tidy packed into one easy to find place.

This all makes so much sense.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, saliva testing, Sue Richards, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

My Menopause Blog: Man Discovers the Clitoris

2006-01-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is the Sunday post of the racy weekend edition.

I'm still reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. In a conversation between Maria, the prostitute and her female librarian friend, yes an unlikely coupling, the librarian reports some findings from a collection of sex books she's glanced through.

"Did you know, for example, that the clitoris is a recent invention" queries the librarian.

"It (the clitoris) was officially accepted in 1559, after a doctor (man), Realdo Columbo published a book entitled De re anatomica."

Further down the page the librarian goes on to explain that in 1561, another doctor (man) names Gabriello Fallopio, claimed the he discovered the clitoris.

Once again I put down the book.

Sixty seven years earlier, Before Clitoris, in 1492, Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America. Apparently he and his crew were greeted by people as they beached their boats. These people of course believed they were at home, where they'd lived for hundreds of years. Intimately familiar with the hills, forests, rivers, valley's, mountains and general lay and flow of the land these people likely thought they were discovering Chris and the boys on their beach.

But I guess the first guy to plant a flag in something is the real discoverer. And I think it's telling, although I'm not precisely sure of what, that America was discovered Before the clitoris. If nothing else, it speaks of priorities rather clearly.

This may be something to be wary of as you live your life. According to history, until something is claimed, named and stabbed with a cloth topped stick, it is up for grabs. And your needs, that being the female version, may not be at the top of the list.

And so dear women, our clitoris was discovered by a man in or around 1560. Prior to that, who knew? And how could we know. 'Down there' was distinctly considered off limits despite being part of our body.

As the actual flesh and blood owner of a clitoris I am indebted to these men and eternally grateful that I was not born prior to their critical clitoral discovery. What a celebration there must have been in 1559. Dancing, singing, women laughing, bells ringing, perhaps a loud and joyous parade in the centre of every town, city and village. Ah yes, the thoughts do warm my heart. Must have been quite a party!

Where I live, we have a provincial motto that's printed on our car license plates. 'Ontario: Yours to Discover'. Please be forewarned. The descendents of Realdo, Gabriello, Christopher are amoung us. They might just be looking to discover something that is already yours.

Sue Richards

P.S. My Menopause Blog has moved to http://www.mymenopauseblog.com.

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, clitoris, Christopher Columbus.

My Menopause Blog: Sex

2006-01-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

Please consider this post the racy weekend edition.

I'm reading Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho, author of one of my all time favourite books, The Alchemist.

Eleven Minutes is about "the sacred nature of sex within the context of love". Eleven minutes is also considered to be the average amount of time two people spend performing the act of sex.

This of course does not include foreplay, undressing and what not. That would be another five or six minutes worth of time spent for sure.

Maria, the main character in the story, a young woman turned prostitute, concludes after six months of working her trade, that the world evolves around something that only takes eleven minutes. Me thinks that 'the world' to Maria, equals 'men'.

More concisely, the world of men evolves around sex, the eleven minute act.

I put down the book and started wondering. It certainly seems to be the case that menopause triggers fear in our deeply rooted understanding of our own sexuality which definitely rotates around the act of having sex. So just as the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, menopause is connected to sex.

From what I gather and experience, menopause exposes our fears of loosing our sexual desire, our sexual ability, our partner, our identity, our attractiveness, our access to partners, our reproductive ability and our sexual energy. The fearing can consume us, motivate us to have risky cosmetic surgery designed to turn back the physical aging clock, take questionable drugs to stop menopause and behave in ways that do not support our soul or spirit.

From here, my thoughts led me to this question. If the world of men is consumed by sex, the eleven minute act, is there a way that we women as individuals, can take the remaining twenty three hour and forty nine minutes in the day and consume ourselves with something else?

Maybe pick something positive, wise and complimentary to the common good?

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, sex, Paulo Coelho.

My Menopause Blog: Bioidentical Hormone Scoop

2006-01-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's a small scoop of information on bioidentical hormone replacement (BHR).

First off, one of the reasons that BHR is not sweeping the nation is money. Drug companies are not allowed to patent a bioidentical structure. No patent means no control.

Remembering that drug companies are businesses with a bottom line of making money, doing anything without a patent would be considered altruistic. Drug companies are capitalistic. So as a way of getting in on the big business of menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy was invented. Synthetic hormones can be patent. Big steaming piles of money can be made.

BHT is created to have the same molecular structure as the hormones made by your own body. There are a few branded one-size-fits-all, over the counter BHT's available. Or you can take the individual approach.

I've never thought of myself as an off-the-rack kind of gal so this feature, the dose for Sue, appeals to me on a number of levels. In fact, even though I weigh in as a 'medium' pretty much across the board, I dislike the universal herding that goes on in our society. We are much more different than the same.

'Monoism' as it is being called, exists because it is easier to distill a group of people down to one belief. Plus, it's much more lucrative. Not that I want to keep suggesting that it's all about money.....or maybe I do.....since I seem to go on about that. But back to my point, I believe that it's best to keep the individual spirit alive.

Still, 'the dose for you' approach does come with responsibility and more effort than what it takes to belly up to the pharmacy bar and get a bottle of 'Pills R U'.

Individualized BHT users are closely monitored every three months until balance is restored. Monitoring includes checking your current hormone levels.

I like the sound of 'closely monitored'. Too often we hear about people who fall through cracks in the medical stream and suffer needlessly. Call me a suck, but I'm definitely not into needless suffering for any reason.

The close monitoring is to ensure that you are taking the lowest dosage possible while getting the greatest relief available. This sounds right up my alley. Why use a bomb to kill a fly when a fly swatter will do.

So there's a bit of BHR info to carefully chew on. More in another post as my gathering continues.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Bioidentical Hormone Replacement.

My Menopause Blog: Post Menopause

2006-01-12T20:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why my posts have turned into blobs of text.

Could this be 'Post' Menopause?

Sue Richards

PS Later: I fixed the blobs of text.

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards.

My Menopause Blog: The Informants

2006-01-11T23:55:00.000-05:00

I'm not sleeping. But I guess this is obvious by the fact that I am blogging.

As you can easily see by the time stamp on my posts, I don't lean toward night blogging. I do however have a fondness for night sleeping which is not so obvious but is in fact true. Call me crazy, but gee I do like good old fashioned sleeping at night.

Instead of tossing and turning, I'm reading through stuff I've written but never posted hoping this will put me to sleep. So far, it's not working. Now I'm not sleeping but I am editing and of course blogging.

This may be a long, sorry night, despite my earlier admission to being wiped out.

So lucky me. I found a recount of my first and only mammogram that happened to coinside with the tender breast part of menopause, written February of last winter.

The first time I saw the word peri-menopause, I laughed. How perfect I thought. Peri is kind of like the word period with a bit missing. And meno with pause stuck on the end is like menstruation on hold. My translation is 'little bit of period, kind of like usual, not sure when it's coming.' Or even more succinct 'put away the white pants.'

What I'm learning, as I enter the menopause staging area of my life, is that my breasts, more than ever, are my best friends. They tell me what they know. They tell me where I'm at. And even better they are clear about 'what's coming down' so to speak.

My boobs are much better informants than the little red dots I put on my calendar. Now with a cycle that runs between 17 and 28 days, my little red dots offer no advance warning at all. But my tender breasts are more than clear about my impending peri.

My right breast is the most vocal. At first I didn't understand it's new and loud message. Given how much time I spend learning about breast cancer, I immediately made an appointment with my doctor, just in case. Alice arranged for me to have a mammogram. My first.

The technician squashed my mouthy breast and her quieter friend until they both cried uncle. Actually, I cried uncle. Okay, maybe I simply cried. I felt ouch like nothing I can describe. But then again, I've never given birth so what do I know about ouch.

Turned out my 'telling it like it is' breasts were simply doing their job. They were announcing a change. I simply didn't understand the message.

So, just like a boob, I squashed the messenger.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, breast cancer, mammogram.

My Menopause Blog: Energy Leeching

2006-01-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

I'm wiped out today.

Perhaps My Period is returning for a new year's visit. Instead of simply showing up in the dead of night, maybe it's decided to do that energy leeching trick. You know the one. Twenty four hours before menses touch down, pure, cement weight exhaustion starts crawling through your limbs, leaving you feeling like you're hauling your ass up a friggin mountain.

So lucky for me that my evening and couch are completely free and available.

Sue Richards

Tags: blog,
menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Seeking Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Information

2006-01-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

I know squat about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Besides the excited exclamation of the woman I spoke about in yesterdays post, a couple of other passing comments, here's the sum total of my knowledge.

Bioidentical Hormone Therapy is a natural version of Hormone Replacement Therapy. BHT is made from different plant hormones that are like those in a woman's body. Each BHT prescription is hand-mixed and the dose can vary from patient to patient.

Plus my gut feeling which I trust to have innate knowledge that my fat head doesn't retain. There's a notion deep in my gut, that BHT is the far superior way to go for those of us who want relief from menopausal symptoms, but not through risky chemical intervention.

I will seek more information and report back with the findings.

Tally ho......as I gallop off onto the tangle of the menopause trail.

Sue Richards

menopause, Bioidentical Hormone Therapy, Hormone Replacement Therapy.

My Menopause Blog: Bioidentical Hormone Relacement

2006-01-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

She may have been mid 60's. Or perhaps early 70's. We were strangers at the same function, mourning the loss of a friend.

The small living room was filled with other women, all of various ages. As often happens, my occupation as a breast calendar publisher and writer was being bounced around the room by one of the calendar models, also in attendance. Breast cancer, breast feeding, nudity, sexuality, menopause....all these words were finding their way into the conversation.

As I walked by her chair to grab some food, she reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me in. In one of those loud whispers she said:

"Dear, are you have difficulty with 'something' "?

Me:" 'Something'?"

Her: "You know, with 'that time'".

Me: Pausing, my mind searching desperately for the code breaker.

Her: Pulling me in even closer, sharpening her voice. "Menopause, are you having difficulty with menopause"?

Me: Laughing as I straighten up."No, not problems, I'm simply amazed by how little I know and how reluctant people are to talk".

Her: Grinning, like a cat with a mouse. "Do you know about the itching"?

Me: "Itching"?

Her: Eyes cast towards her crotch then widening as she looked me square in the eye. "Twelve years, I itched so bad that I couldn't stand it. Dry too. Dry, dry, dry. Terrible. Sex was impossible. Six months ago, I got some cream and now I'm a new woman!" Her face lit up like a girl. "The Doctor says it's all natural stuff. Mixed up specifically for me. I can't remember the name of the cream. Wonderful Doctor. " Pause. "I hope I'm not being stupid."

Me: "Is it 'Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy"?

Her: Nearly leaping out of the chair. "Yes!!!!! yes, that's it!!!"

Me: "I think you've made a wise choice for yourself."

Sue Richards

Tags: Bioidentical Hormone Replacement, Menopause, Itching.

My Menopause Blog: Dr. Sue

2006-01-06T18:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a comment on yesterday's post, I've started wondering what Dr. Seuss would write about menopause.

Maybe this.

One Flash, Two Flash, Hot Flash, Blue Flash.
Back Lash, More Flash, Old Lass, Bad Clash.

This one went a little far.

This one came from eating char.

Say! What a lot of gals there are.

Yes. Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new.

Some are sad.

And some are glad.

And some are very, very bad.

Why are they sad and glad and bad?

Because they're mad.

Just ask your dad.

Some were thin.

But now they're fat.

Look that one's swinging a great big bat.

From there to here, from here to there, menopausal women are everywhere.

Dr. Sue Richards
Adapted from: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Tags: Dr. Seuss, menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Moving

2006-01-05T19:49:00.000-05:00

Let the bells ring out and the banners fly. My Menopause Blog is moving to it's very own url.

And that's not all. My good pals and site hosts at Barking Dog Studios have loaded Wordpress onto their server, which will be my new blogging platform. I'll finally be able to file my posts into categories. Good golly Miss Molly won't that be sweet. Categories. I love categories.

My skin will be changing too. Actually, my skin is always changing, especially around my neck, upper arms and of course my face. But that's another post, another time. My blog skin is being re-vamped by my web wench so a new look is on it's way. Unless of course I become sentimental and stuck on this skin. Which may happen in the short term. Too much change in technology can render me incapacitated and that's simply not fun. One or two steps at a time will keep my heart rate at a normal pace and my menopause blog steady.

So, fingers crossed that this transformation will go tickety boo. Might happen tomorrow or early next week. I'll do my best to leave a well marked trail.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Her Hot Flashes

2006-01-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

This is Tannis, my dear friend. We've been pals for over 20 years. Up until recently, we both suffered from perpetual coldness. Frozen feet, hands like ice blocks with a general blue quality to our skin for most of our charming yet chilly Canadian seasons. Now, thanks to menopause, all that's changed.

Several times last evening, Tannis achieved the perfect temperature. Unfortunately, she also surpassed that temperature and quickly had to rid herself of extra layers thanks to the intense boil of her hot flashes. But overall, she believes that her body comfort level has improved from her former, popsicle-like reality.

This would be an example of the 'silver lining of menopause.'

Watching someone else have a hot flash was most interesting. Tannis demonstrated her trademark form of swift action with a steadfastness and calm that I've grown to love over the years. Clothes came off, clothes went on, clothes came off, song was played, clothes went on, laughter, song, off, on and so it went.

I learned much from her in the few hours we hung out together. And I will be making a greater effort to research some natural, effective, hot flash support for my hotter friend than me.

Sue Richards

About the photo: I have a new Canon A610 5 Mega Pixel camera that I'm messing around with. Part of the messing involves editing, shifting contrast, changing saturation points and all that fun stuff.

This photo is a story that goes beyond what you see. Tannis is working on a new song for her next album. She is mesmerized yet inspired by my new woodstove which has been burning none stop for 4 days. She's sitting on the stool that I bought from a North Bay furniture maker in the summer of 1977, on the same day Elvis died. The kettle on the stove is hissing gently.

Tags: hot flash, Tannis Slimmon, Elvis.

My Menopause Blog: Use Prior Knowledge

2006-01-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

Screw resolutions.

I mean what's the point. Most resolutions are based on myth: diets works; false information: the world is fair; and sheer insanity: controlling daily drinking binges is a simple case of mind over matter.

Making a declaration to change may have good intentions all over it, but unless common sense and prior knowledge is applied in the resolving, the entire process is a complete setup for failure and despair.

The things we do that we feel remorse over are not the problems. They are the symptoms of a deeper issue. Until we recognize that piece of gold, we can resolute until we're blue in the face. And fail. Which adds to our remorse and our cycle.

Rather, lets review what we've learned so far in life, state that increased knowledge publicly and then evolve.

Like grow.

Up.

These are three things I know.

Diets are a sham. Most people over eat for emotional reasons. Address the real issue.
The world is not fair. You can behave fairly, but that does not guarantee others behavior.
Daily drinking to the point of displaying disruptive behaviour is a sign of alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease. Go see your doctor.

Menopausal women have an important purpose in our society. We have a wealth of human experience and wisdom that is unique to us. It is our job to share that understanding with the youth of today. Consuming ourselves with trivial, shallow, soul and energy sucking shit wastes opportunity, damages relationships and sets an example that does not contribute positively to our world on any level.

Remember. When you are old and infirmed, unable to wipe your own butt, what type of person do you want assisting you? Now do the math. She's likely that 10 year old sitting on the couch. And she's watching you.

Sue Richards

Tags: Diets, Resolutions, menopausal.

My Menopause Blog: Discovered - The Menotail

2006-01-02T14:55:00.000-05:00

Discovered (again) on my back deck, New Year's Eve.

The Menotail; one part brandy, one part fresh squeezed lemon juice, a splash of Triple Sec and 2 parts champagne is the cats ass when it comes to midlife cocktails. Served in a flute, chilled in the snow and shared with a friend, the Menotail can and will provide just enough kick to make you glow without having to have a hot flash plus plenty of Vitamin C to ward off scurvy.

That's right. Scurvy. Last thing you want at this stage of your declining estrogen game is your teeth falling out.

Think of it as prevention.

Sue Richards

Tags: cocktails, scurvy, estrogen.

My Menopause Blog: Watch for the Signs

2006-01-01T15:04:00.000-05:00

My Menopause nor My Period have any predictions or resolutions for the New Year. I have determined, over the last year, that neither are stable enough to be trusted.

Instead, I will carry on seeking the best path, attempt to stay calm, try to be brave and keep watching for the signs.

The glorious, non-verbal, messy signs.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Guppies

2005-12-30T10:23:00.000-05:00

Menopause suddenly appears to becoming fashionable. In the natural world that is.

A week ago we heard about menopausal gorillas. Today it's, guppies.

Fish as pets have never been my thing. I've caught fish, eaten fish and swam with the suckers. This past summer, I even bought a dozen gold fish for my wooden rain barrel, only to watch in horror as they bobbed one by one to the surface, belly up. Other than that, I'm not at one with fish.

So guppies, little minnow sized fish that give birth none stop, eventually out live their reproductive cycle, unless they get eaten first, then technically get thrust into menopause.

Guppies.

A scientist spent time and money working on this. Someone used their education as a biologist to get funding so that he could scoop a baggy of guppies from a stream in Trinidad, do a study, get interviewed about the study and release the findings to the world.

One third of the women of the world are in some stage of menopause and are in various levels of discomfort while some guy studies guppies reproductive lifespan! Sounds fishy to me.

Here's my plan for a better menopause. We write a grant, use the funds for airline tickets and all head to Trinidad for the winter. We could even look up Dr. Guppie and give him something worthwhile to observe.

I feel better just thinking about that.

Sue Richards

Tags: Guppies, menopause, reproduction.

My Menopause Blog: Hot Flash Meltdown

2005-12-29T11:41:00.000-05:00

Dave Coverly has once again graciously permitted me to post one of his brilliant Speedbump cartoons for all you hot women to enjoy.

This one is particularly funny given the belief that all Canadians live in igloos eh?!

Sue Richards

Tags: Cartoon, Hot Flash, Menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Gifts

2005-12-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

For the next couple of days, I'm focusing on my other blog Calendar Girl. To find out why, you can start reading here then follow the links.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Lighten Up

2005-12-24T09:55:00.000-05:00

I'm choosing not to celebrate Christmas this year. It's not the first time I've given the pressure cooker event a miss. In fact, I'm on a steady annual restrictive diet of anything xmasy that feels busy, obligatory and doomed to disappoint because the hosts are so hung up on "The Perfect Christmas."

I'm not depressed, angry or forlorn. In fact, I'm cheerful, sleeping well, calm and quite content. It's taken years to extricate myself from the chaos of the season and it takes focused diligence to keep guilt at bay. But man oh man is it worth the effort.

If you're up to your eyeballs in turkey, stockings and sick youngsters, with parcels yet to wrap, cookies to bake and perfection to perfect, this diddy from my current read, Improv Wisdom, may be the gift to help you through.

"The more precise my vision of an outcome, the more likely I am to be disappointed. Things don't turn out as planned. You don't need to abandon your dreams; just don't let them get in the way of what is happening. Observe the currents of life, accept what is happening, including mistakes, and continue working to create the best outcome. The key here is a flexible mind."

Good luck.

Sue Richards

Tags: Perfection, Christmas, Guilt.

My Menopause Blog: Cougars

2005-12-23T11:22:00.000-05:00

Moving right along through the animal kingdom, I feel compelled to draw attention to the cougar. Not the feline version, the menopausal.

Apparently, according to my highschool aged neighbour I am one. A cougar. Even though, as I have stated numerous times, I'm a dog person.

This was news to me on many levels. Cougars were cats up to that point in my understanding of the world. To compare me with a cat was like saying cheese is like an orange. Maybe sometimes in colour, but that's where it ends.

My nature is pure dog. Think body wag, wanna go for a walk, scratch my ear, gotta cookie, play chase a stick, then drop into a deep sleep curled up on the couch/bed/mat energy. Still, the cougar tutorial did explain a rather unusual experience that had recently occurred. I was sitting in a bar, waiting for my crowd of older farts to arrive for the celebration of something or other, when this young fellow approached, very close and told me he wanted to spend his life with me.

Dumbfounded I asked why?

Apparently, that's not the right comeback. Our encounter pretty much fizzled out right then and there. A real cougar would have pounced.

Even though I don't fit the predatory profile, I do think promoting the menopausal woman as a cougar is a good thing. Much more fun than say painting us with the dried up prune brush.

Sue Richards

Tags: Cougars, Older Women, Menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Gorillas, Vegetarians and a Vegan

2005-12-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

AllHeadlineNews reported the following today:

"A study of female gorillas at 17 North American zoos found that, similar to women, they (mature gorillas) undergo menopause."

Even though no other details were offered, my mind instantly started imagining a gorilla having a hot flash or mood swing. Forgetfulness....fur lose....itching....bladder control issues.

King Kong move on over....meet Queen Kong!!!

Very loosely related by time and the notion that 'you are what you eat', I offer my own menopausal study.

According to my conversations with one vegan and two vegetarian menopausal women at last evenings Solstice gathering, none had experienced a single hot flash.

Could the omnivore , of which I am one, be hotter than the vegetable filled?

And since gorillas are herbivores, the animal version of vegetarian, will they be blessed with a cool change of life experience?

Sue Richards

Tags: King Kong, Menopause, Hot Flash.

My Menopause Blog: Improv Menopause

2005-12-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

Although I'm a dog person, I live the life of a cat. I have had multiple lives.

During one of my previous lives, maybe in around 1999 - 2001 give or take, involved me doing something quite daring. I studied Improv at Second City in Toronto, then in turn taught what I learned to grade four, five and sixes, from schools throughout my province, Ontario. So taken by the power of what I was learning, I became an improv evangelist. I even started a bi-monthly comedy club in my city, hiring a crew of pros from Second City to put on the show, in an old school gym that I rented and licensed. What glorious, positive fun we had.

Then life took a turn and another life chapter began. I've lost count. Could be nearing nine.

Yesterday, I purchased a book recommended by my yoga instructors husband, a practicing meditator and Buddhist who I admire and trust. The title: Improv Wisdom.

Today, I'm all puffed up.

It's a skinny little book. All the better really, given the premise. "Don't Prepare, Just Show Up".

Image. Just friggin show up. As yourself. You. No one else. And pay attention. Look around. See what you see. Then look again and see what you don't see.

This alone will make you appear unique because everyone else is so busy trying to be something that they're not, that being who you really are will stand out.

How handy. Aging and menopause just got way easier.

Sue Richards

Tags: Improv, Aging, Menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Courage My Love

2005-12-20T16:56:00.000-05:00

My talented friend Jane used to be in a band called Courage My Love. She's one of those people that puts your jaw on the floor the instant she takes the stage, be it to act, dance, play keyboard or belt out a tune. Courage to be her whole creative self, my good gawd, she's got in spades.

And yet, I know she has stage fright.

I've been called brave in my day. People see confidence in my face and big toothy smile. I remember looking at myself in the mirror one day, a day that I was particularly terrified to face, and there was the look of self assurance. My face was doing it's own thing. My gut another.

The disconnect between how we outwardly appear, and our inner experience is something that can work for us, like in Jane's situation when she steps on the stage. Or it can trip us up.

If you look like you can handle everything, even though some help would... well ... kinda help... chances are that help won't appear. Unless someone has seen beneath the tough surface. Which is hard to do and can be a thankless task. Conversely, if you look like you can't handle the simplest task, others can take over your controls.

Neither is particularly healthy.

Living life is not about being fearless. It about finding courage, my love, to be real. Especially as we age.

Sue Richards

Tags: Aging, Courage, Health, menopause

My Menopause Blog: Hormone Relacement Therapy

2005-12-19T15:44:00.000-05:00

So far in this blog, I haven't gone into Hormone Replacement Therapy. I'm not on that path myself. But, HRT is widely used, misunderstood and confusing for many. So here goes.

Lest you think the drug companies are totally altruistic, HRT very huge business with marketing budgets that could feed entire African countries. Much of that marketing is directed at doctors, designed to get them to prescribe the hormone product of that particular company. And considerable advertising effort is dedicated to making you believe menopause is a disease. It's not. So best to clear the smoke, lower the mirrors and take off the rose coloured glasses.

On a practical note HRT is a hormone treatment prescribed by a doctor. The purpose of HRT is to replace naturally declining estrogen and progesterone levels due to the onset of menopause.

HRT comes in one of three different combinations; estrogen taken alone, progesterone taken alone or a combination of estrogen plus progesterone.

HRT may be prescribed as a pill, patch, cream or gel, an implant, an injection or a vaginal ring.

So there's some thinkin' and askin' to be done before you hook yourself up to one of these methods.

When it comes to medication, every woman has the choice to investigate the good, bad and ugly that is always part and parcel of any prescription.

Drugs have side effects. Simple as that.

So, if you're sitting across from your doctor, discussing Hormone Replacement Therapy, be prepared to ask some questions before hopping over to the pharmacy.

What are the side effects of this prescription?
What type of clinical trials did this drug go through?
What is the maximum length of time I should stay on this drug?
What will happen when I go off this treatment?
Is there anything you can recommend that is more natural that will address the same issue?
What does your wife, mother, you use? (Depends on Doctors age and sex)
Do you have any books, websites or groups that you would recommend I read or join?
Is there anything I haven't asked you that I should know?

When I go to my doctor, I treat her as a member of my health team. I know more about my body than she does, given the fact that I experience my body every minute. So the last thing I'm going to do is turn over the reins and blindly follow her advice. She is a guide. One of several that I use.

Doctors are people. Busy people. They only know what they know.

Sue Richards

Tags: HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Ten Menopause Tips

2005-12-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like a good list. Indeed I've noticed that there's no shortage of list making going on in Bloggingville. Bloggers love lists and seem compelled to list loves, hates, opinions and inane abstract compilations of information as a form of show and tell.

Not to be left out of the fun of making my own Top Ten list, I'm weighing in with a slightly serious, but not heavy selection of menopause points that keep popping up in my research, personal experience and conversation.

Please keep in mind that this is my observation, opinion, translation and no doubt my template for my own menopause adventure.

Menopause is natural.
Menopause is normal.
Menopause can be prematurely induced.
Your attitude about menopause will greatly influence your experience of menopause.
Talking about menopause is helpful.
Laughing about menopause is very helpful.
Being kind and compassionate toward yourself at all times will enhance your life.
Understanding menopausal stages and symptoms will make your life easier.
Being open about menopause will help everyone.
Menopause is not a disease.

Sue Richards

Tags: Menopause, Top Tips, Menopause Relief

My Menopause Blog: Menopause Perspectives

2005-12-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

To illustrate 'different perspectives', to people who insist on seeing something one way and one way only, I have been known to take an object, lets say a coffee mug, and place it on a surface between us.

Then I say, "Tell me in detail, what you see."

After they have described the pattern, placement of the handle, stains, cracks and chips, I describe what I see. Surprising to most, my description is different. There may be no chip or stain on my side. The handle may be on my left not right like my cross table companion would see and the pattern may not be visible.

Even though we are looking at the same mug, at the same time, we are perceiving that mug differently because of our position. If we literally change our positions, move to each others seats, chances are good that we will share the viewpoint of the other.

Miraculously, one viewpoint does not cancel out the other. Both perspectives exist, despite their differences. In fact, by moving slightly one way or the other, yet another perspective will emerge, and another until dozens of perspectives of a single mug are available.

With a mug, chances are good that the perspectives would be different, but the emotional reaction that my friend and I share would be similar. I doubt if I would feel happier with one way of looking at the mug over another. But if I did feel happier with one perspective of the mug, I would naturally seek that view. I'd be crazy, when pleasure was so close at hand, to deny myself such simple happiness.

What's the point of this wee exercise?

I notice that when I fix my viewpoint on some issue, let's say menopause, for the sake of relevance, and that viewpoint is negative, rigid and energy sucking, then I feel dark, stuck and drained. Thankfully, as my mug experiment suggests, I've learned that there are more perspectives available.

Unlike the mug, menopause comes with a full compliment of emotional reactions ranging from hate to love, resistance to acceptance. So the range of menopause perspectives are further weighted by emotional baggage.

I'm a big fan of pleasant, less stress, calm living. So I'm motivated to seek out just such a perspective. Perhaps something say positive, funny, maybe even a bit saucy, but easy just the same. Why would I, and I mean, I as in Sue Richards, want to cause myself pain by holding a hard boiled belief about menopause that sucked the life out of me when kinder perspectives are available?

Especially when you consider the friggin dozen year time span between peri - post menopause. That's a long time to make myself miserable.

Unless I was so rigidly stuck in a single perspective, so clued out and unaware of my own feelings due to my low level of conscious awareness that I simply didn't know any better.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Home for the Holidays

2005-12-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

My period showed up last night, quietly, creeping in without detection.

We greeted each other this morning.

Me: Back so soon?

Period: Yawn.

Me: And I see you made laundry.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Give Yourself a Gift

2005-12-14T10:15:00.000-05:00

I wrote this editorial for our local daily, The Mercury, last December. It still holds water and may encourage the menopausal amoung you to breath deeply during the panting, can't keep up, supposedly joyous season that seems directly aimed at women.

Hark Ye Harried Shoppers, Rest Ye Weary Gentlefolk

I greatly resent the herding quality of this month. Every Santa-fearing person on the face of the earth is squeezing themselves through the head of a pin neatly labeled Christmas. Starting as early as October and continuing without pause until Boxing Day, the merry script is laid out and our role is clearly defined. We must cheerfully put aside our own lives, find a twinkle for our eye and a blush for our cheek and shop till we drop.

This has never worked for me. Call me Scrooge, but my sense of giving and loving kindness doesn’t correspond with a calendar date or a list of names. Nor does it fit with a time of year where I’m challenged to leave my house after 4p.m., perpetually chilled, constantly nodding off and routinely broke.

Our cultural understanding of giving is narrowly defined. We exchange mountains of useless consumer goods that cost bags of dough in the month of December. This is heartily reinforced by massive campaigns to “BUY ME NOW”, launched by every bauble-making enterprise on our continent in order to shore up lagging fourth-quarter revenues. None of this activity has anything to do with goodwill towards human kind or a babe in swaddling clothes. It’s commercial manipulation, plain and simple.

That said, it does takes two to tango. I can’t help but notice that every person I talk with complain bitterly about the stress and expense of the holiday season. Then, frantically and in bad moods, race to the mall with credit card in hand, all the while blaming society for putting on the pressure.

Well merrily I say unto you ye harried shoppers, I have joyous news to share. You do not have to participate in the lunacy of spending money you don’t have. Nor do you need to find the perfect gift for the unknown relative or people whose name you’ve picked from a jar. As for dashing and prancing from store to mall to outlet in bad weather endangering your life and the lives of those you don’t know, rest ye weary gentlefolk.

Glory be and deck the halls, the bells are ringing and the carolers singing.... “Fa La La La La, You Can Opt Out!”

Hark and Harold Angel do not expect you to lose your mind. Society is you my friend and you have choice. Break the tinsel that ties, completely or little by little until a new pace finds you jingle-bell-jolly all year long. Simply start by saying no. Or even better, no thank you.

Several years ago, I chose the 'slow no' route to Yuletide sanity. A little nip here and a tuck there and voila, Xmas excess eventually disappeared. Now, I barely do anything that resembles Christmas, in December.

Backyard trees get decorated in summer for maximum viewing pleasure during long evenings outdoors. My large papier mache Santa works all year as my front door greeter. From January to March, I host “Monday Night Roast Up” and serve fowl as a matter of course.

My seasonal gift-giving has gone the way of the Dodo too, as I’ve come to prefer sharing non-traditional gifts all year long. Notably, some of the finest gifts I’ve received arrived during the non-festive months, unwrapped, surprising and perfectly suited.

Last spring when my new next-door neighbours chose not to spray their grass with pesticides. Gloriously, a 14-year cycle of chemical lawn treatment came to an end, proving a gift to my health and the environment.

Three-year-old Tessa and Aurora give me reason to leave my home office on the finest summer days when I hear their chirpy little voices dancing through my open window. They remind me that silly is fun and warm sidewalks are nice to sit on. Spontaneous playmates are sweet gifts.

When Tannis sings me a song or Katie invites me on a dog walk I feel gifted. Rob’s enthusiasm for rogue skating on wilderness ponds and Ian’s perfectly barbecued steaks are as delightfully received as given. The fine company and conversation of so many exceptional people warms my heart all year long. Their social generosity reminds me of how lucky I am. The gift of friendship.

Fifteen years ago, Henry gave me four Tulip Trees, grown from seeds he collected in the Carolinas. Now taller than my home and graced with orange and lime green magnolias in spring I’m left breathless. The gift of natural beauty.

An anonymous “fellow Guelph lover” left $600.00 cash in my mailbox last February with a note that simply thanked me for my commitment to beauty, creativity and community. I felt the gift of appreciation, recognition and understanding.

Then, way back in October 2002, Bonnie Ewen, former managing editor of this paper gave me a gift that will last my lifetime. During our first, brief meeting, Bonnie urged me to apply for the community editorial board. With the gift of encouragement, I poised my pen. Now, as I end my two-year stint, I am thrilled with the growth of my writing. May you rest in peace, Bonnie.

And may you all enjoy the gift of your own ability to spread simple acts of kindness throughout the year.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: A Seasonal Carol

2005-12-13T13:56:00.000-05:00

Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Menopause, menopause
Change of life is here,

Oh what fun, it is to cry,
When my mood swings towards tears.

Menopause, menopause,
Messing with my mind.
I don't remember,
I've lost my list,
But I still know how to rhyme.

Flashing hot as fire,
In my underwear and bra.
Soaking through the sheets,
Beet red all the time.

Coffee is a trigger.
So is spice and booze.
My bodies shape shifts daily,
And my hair is falling loose.

Oh, menopause, menopause,
Change of life hurray,

Oh what joy, to be mature.
And to face this everyday.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: From Mrs. Claus - 2

2005-12-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Ms. Richards,

Perhaps I've over reacted.

In searching through Mr. Claus' files, I have discovered millions of love letters from women all over the world. Billions really. Staggering to contemplate the impact my husband has on the females of the world. I hadn't really considered the implications until just now. And I will add, all thanks to your letter.

I've been blind to my own experience. It's so stressful at this time of year. I'm baking from dawn til dusk, the elves are a handful and Santa insists that I check his lists three and four times to make sure he hasn't forgotten anyone. I'm run off my feet. And as you pointed out, I'm no spring chicken, although I'm pleased to hear that you don't think I'm a day over 55.

Fortunately, I am enjoying a taste of post menopausal zest this year. But the same old, same old routine is sucking the life out of me. You'd think I'd be used to the hustle and bustle of the season, but I do get wound up. And there aren't many women my age or species up here that I can have a good yarn with. I'm feeling a bit house bound and lonely.

So I do apologize for flying into a frosty rage and blaming you for all my frustrations. I do have choices. I'm simply not making them.

As for a menopausal tip, I find a good foot massage does me a world of good. I've trained four of the elves in a combination of Reike and Shiatsu. Their tiny fingers do a wonderful job of releasing tension. I just sit by the fire, with my feet up, sipping a glass of Sherry and let them go to town. Think I'll call the little scamps in right now and start the week off on a better foot. Heh Heh.

Thanks for your letter. I'd be pleased if you'd write again.

Season's Greetings,

Merry Claus

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: From Mrs. Santa Claus

2005-12-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

To Ms Richards,

Well aren't you the bearer of glad bloody tidings! Ho, Ho, Ho, and jingle bells to you, you, you....menopausal maniac. What gives you the right to upset our happy north pole home with talk of a respectful, vertical relationship with my husband of so many decades I've lost track.

I mean, I know he gets bags of mail from girls claiming to be good and I'm not stupid enough to overlook the fact that he does stay out all night. I smell the milk on his breath in the morning. His beard is caked with cookie crumbs. The man sleeps for a whole week afterwards. He's spent. Wasted. Totally done in.

But, lingerie? A snow mobile? Good grief woman. I get baking sheets from him every year. No wonder he's FAT.

But not anymore. You'll be seeing one skinny Santa next year. No more flour, butter, sugar for Mr. Jolly, ring my bell, hark ye stupid angels, Claus. From this point forward, buddy boy is on a diet! Soon as he shows his twinkling little eyes in the house again. The cowards out sleeping with those stinking animals. Stupid man. Whatever was he thinking?

If your intention is to be a home wrecker, then you're good...very good at fulfilling your goal. But if you have a shred of decency, please show us some kindness and back off!

From: Not so Mrs. Merry Clause.

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Dear Mrs. Santa

2005-12-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

Dear Mrs. Santa Claus,

I am remiss. For year's I have been sending love letters to your jolly old husband, spewing all my best attributes and playing down the bad bits, and nary once did I consider the impact my behaviour would have on your feelings.

Please accept my heartfelt apology for being so insensitive to you. And allow me to assure you that there is nothing serious going on between me and your man.

It is true that your main squeeze does buy me gifts every year. Jewelry, lingerie, chocolates, exotic trips and once a brand new Arctic Cat snowmobile. But I swear, I have never, nor will I ever be caught kissing the man of your dreams. We have a respectful, vertical relationship.

I hope I'm not being too forward Merry, (may I call you by your first name ?), but I'd like to ask how your menopause is going? Given your 'brick' shape, thin hair, and obvious age, (really you don't look a day over 55) I'm assuming that you've had more than a few turns on the mood swing and a hot flash or two. I'm sure living at the North Pole helps, but it must be a fine line between overheating and frost bite. Anyway, if you have any tips you'd like to share, please tuck them in the old boys sleigh and have him drop them off on his way by.

And since I'm fessing up to the written correspondence I've sent, under your very nose, to your loving hubby over the last several decades, I am now being more open about our relationship...er...arrangement..er..thing. My letter to Mr Ho Ho Ho himself, although under a pseudo name, appears on my other blog.

I appreciate having the opportunity to write you Merry. I know that even though you get little acknowledgement for the magic of Christmas, you play an integral, equal role in the unfolding of the season. Don't be afraid to stand up and be noticed girlfriend. All the little girls of the world need to know you're there.

Best,

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: My Other Life

2005-12-08T12:07:00.000-05:00

Besides looking for my missing period, musing about my menopause and generally wandering through the day wondering how to keep calm, have fun and find courage, I publish a breast health calendar.

Yes, you read that right...breast. As in boob, tit, bosom, or as I like to refer to mine, the pups.

I do this because I think it will help women take better care of themselves, get over their body hangups and motivate people to focus on PREVENTING BREAST CANCER. Currently the worlds focus is on DETECTING BREAST CANCER and CURING BREAST CANCER.

Call me crazy, but I'd prefer NOT TO GET BREAST CANCER. Ever.

Sorry I'm yelling...well, not really sorry. I'm Canadian. I'm programmed to apologize.

Any way, this project, aptly called Breast of Canada is in it's 5th year of publication. My very hugh contribution of time is voluntary at this point. And pretty much the entire project happens in my home. I have a slew of international customers and do most of my business on line.

I've also been blogging my daily life of being the worlds only fine art photography, breast health calendar publisher. My other handle is Calendar Girl. Titillating really. High, revealing adventure.

Allow me to be Frank. I'm sitting here with 650 calendar remaining from my 3000 unit print run. There are 24 days left in this calendar year before calendar sales tank. I'm looking for a bit of viral help in pushing these pups out the door. Not my pups. I'm planning on keeping them. But the other gals pups...70 models in the 2006 edition need homes to hang out in.

Get to the point Sue.

Please help if you can. I've posted three easy online ways on my Calendar Girl Blog today and how I will reciprocate.

My gratitude will pour forth in big, gooey, non fattening gobs.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Moody Blog

2005-12-07T17:15:00.000-05:00

They say that if you hang out with someone or something long enough, you start to look like them and act similar to them. I'm wondering if such voodoo can apply to a blog.

Over the last week, this blog has been behaving 'differently'. Some days, I get nothing but the dotted background. Other times, a curt message simply saying I'm not allowed access. ( The first time this happened, I clutched my heart and said 'ouch' out loud. I'm obviously becoming dangerously attached to this process.)

Then sometimes I'm told my cookies are gone.

Cookies are gone? Marbles for sure. But cookies....

When I compare my blogs behaviour to my menopause, or worse, my surly, come and go as it bloody well pleases period, I'm left wondering if some x factor, mind bending, spooky thing has embedded itself into me or my blogger template.

Regardless, I apologize on behalf of my blog for any mood swing behaviour that you find yourself faced with. Switch browsers....that all I can recommend. It's likely just a phase of my menopause.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: The Blame Game

2005-12-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

One of my wise friends is able to succinctly sum up just about every negative situation I find myself in with a simple reflective statement.

"The shit you see in others is the same shit you carry within yourself."

There's something insidious about our own shit. But there's also something quite liberating about identifying it.

It's really easy to blame what I don't like about myself on menopause. It's also lame and useless. Much better if I change my attitude and accept menopause for what it is.

In fact, blaming in general is useless really. It doesn't matter if menopause gets the bad rap or if it's the kids, the man, the lover, the boss, the mailperson...the outcome is the same. Negative not positive.

I've noticed as the year's tick by, I prefer to live with less tension in my life. I started asking myself this question. Do I want to live above the line or below?

learn
_____
blame

Shifting my energy above the line will instantly improve every relationship I have for the better.

Mirror mirror on the wall.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: My Mason, His Menopause

2005-12-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

My mason Josh was working on my ceramic tile hearth pad for my new woodstove. I made some comment about my hair falling out and it being part of the mystery of menopause.

Josh rubbed the top of his balding temples and claimed, " Must be what's happening to me too."

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Pre-Menopause

2005-12-04T08:45:00.000-05:00

Five baby girls eventually emerged from these three bellies. This photo was featured as the June photo in the 2003 edition of The Breast of Canada calendar that I independently publish, out of my home.

The process of pregnancy is as natural as the process of menopause.

Photo Credit: Melanie Gillis

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Pole Dancing

2005-12-02T13:51:00.000-05:00

Christmas eve, 1997 got captured in the most brilliant of polaroids. There's me, my man, 2 Thai strippers and a transvestite with a Santa hat on. The backdrop, a bar in Bangkok red light district.

I'm looking white, plain and whipped from a 40 hour travel marathon. My man is laughing his head off.

It was a quite night in the bar, what with every good girl and boy tucked in bed waiting for the jolly, fat guy to show. Contrary to popular tradition, we had opted out of sugar plums dancing in our dreams and had intentionally headed to a country free of Christmas. Sure, cotton balls, did hang from a few palm trees and Santa hats crowned heads of various sex workers, but ho, ho, ho was no, no, no where to be heard.

The strippers, clearly disinterested in everything in sight, grabbed the pole mounted on the stage and did a few moves. Then they sat down with us and chatted in that broken English way that I love. Did we have children? Where were we from? How cold was it in Canada?

I asked them if they liked dancing but our wires got crossed and instead they heard that I wanted to try dancing. Excited they tried their best to urge me to the stage.

Way back in the depths of the 80's I found myself backstage at a Supertramp, Chris deBurge concert in Struttgart Germany. My man of the moment was in Chris's band. As the all day, outdoor, 100,000 attendee, music event unfolded, the stage manager approached me holding a hanger with some scarlet coloured, glittery shreds of material draped over it. Apparently, the stripper who performed live to Chris's tune 'Patricia The Stripper' had not arrived in time. They needed a substitute and I fit the mould.

Pole Dancing was featured on the front page of our local newspaper a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, it's all the rage and is no longer considered too sexy or dirty for the average gal.
Women are erecting poles in their homes, say no more, and dancing their way to health and better sex lives.

Ten and 20 years ago, my self confidence was no where near today's level. So what I'm about to recommend, as a menopause remedy for moodiness, hot flashes, and lack of interest, comes out of this new territory within myself.

Why not give the pole dancing a swing. At the very least, you'll build up your arms. Beyond that, Bangkok beckons.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Sleepless in Guelph

2005-12-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

I'm having a flash back thanks to Tina, a reader who commented about her sleeplessness.

My menopause blog does not start at the beginning of my menopause. I think, although I can't be absolutely sure, I was entering the staging area of peri-menopause at lease 18 months before I started this process of writing.

My periods were fading but still monthly so I wasn't really paying full attention to the implications. I was grieving a couple of significant losses and struggling to make a living so life was in a bit of a jumble. But I do remember the relentless, day after day, sleepless nights.

After I stopped thrashing about, kicking sheets, swearing, crying and generally having a fit because of my 'over tired' everything, I changed my approach. I'd assumed, it was my god given right to enjoy 8 hours of sleep every night.

Obviously, this was no longer true, cause in reality, it sure as hell wasn't happening.

This observation simply came to me, in an instant. Although I'd slept before, I wasn't sleeping now. No amount of bullying myself was going to change that. For reasons that were invisible to me, my nights were no longer for sawing logs.

My new understanding of the reality I was living, rather than the past I craved helped immensely.

Not to sleep any better or more. But at least to feel less crazed about not sleeping.

At night, I did other things that were soothing for myself. I left my yoga mat out in my spare room floor and would do gentle poses.I bathed with the moon or starlight shining through my bathroom sky light. I hauled a sleeping bag out to my hammock and rocked the night away. Sometimes I intentionally focused on my breathing, trying to make each inhalation reach the bottom of my lungs and allowing each exhalations to clear all the old air out.

I took Rescue Remedy during the day if I felt like I was going to melt down. I tried Valerian, a homeopathic remedy, but not consistently enough to get a good picture. I drank Sleepy Time Tea at bedtime. And if, at any point in the day, opportunity permitted and sleep beckoned, I grabbed a nap like a alcoholic grabs a drink.

In short order, I noticed that when the birds signaled dawn, I was awake but calm. Much better than the stark raving mad woman that would desperately greet the day, agitated, angry and weepy.

When a solid sleep would grace my slumber, you would have thought that I had won a lottery. My neighbour's rejoiced. The post office clerk applauded. Friends cheered me one.

Eventually, after 3 or 4 months, my sleepless in Guelph phase passed. Only later did I learn the association with peri-menopause.

It's been a while since my slumber has been anything but stunning down time. Sleep and I are best buds again.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Supporting Yourself Through Menopause

2005-11-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

Tina opened an area of discussion in her comment to my post yesterday.

She asks, "So my question is have you ever felt that doing anything to support yourself or even to diminish symptoms was in anyway untrue to your feeling that 'menopause is not a disease and does not need to be cured.' "

First, allow me to haul out a metaphor.

We know that pregnancy is not a disease. Yet, when a woman gets pregnant, she can expect to go through a tremendous number of physical changes, not all of them fun or pretty, with some lasting nine months and much farther beyond.

Morning sickness is one that comes to mind.

We know that morning sickness usually subsides after the first trimester. We know that by eating, small amounts of food frequently, and sticking to dry crackers, apples and lots of water during the worst times, the feeling of nauseousness will be reduced. We also know that motion sickness medication reduces nauseousness, and has side effects..

Do we change our eating habits and support ourselves through this stage? Do we rigidly stick to our regular eating habits and keep puking for the three months? Or do we pop a pill every day and worry about the side effects later?

The wise, common sense answer is not rocket science.

Menopause is as natural a process as pregnancy.

If I'm having a hot flash, I seek cooler conditions, remove some clothes, take a cool bath. If I want to reduce the number of hot flashes in my future, I take evening primrose oil, eat more beans, soya and flax. I support my bodies needs, naturally using methods that have no harmful side effects.

Essentially, I change my ways to support the change I face in order that the process of change is easier. I have no interest in making my own life more difficult. There are enough idiot's in the world doing that without my consent.

The beginning of anything new takes some getting used to. Humans resist change by nature. And menopause is change with a bad rap thanks to our youthcentric culture. Plus there's a massive pharmaceutical industry out there with a pill for every occasion and a marketing budget that tops many small countries GNP.

But we still have the ultimate choice to make wise decisions for ourselves, define aging in our own way, gracefully embrace our process of change and be our age with confidence.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Hot Flash Help

2005-11-29T13:47:00.000-05:00

According to the U.S. National Institute of Health a hot flash is a sudden temporary onset of body warmth, flushing and sweating.

According to me, a hot flash is a shocking sensation of tropical type humidity that soaks, swells and flushes your flesh as it rushes, like a wave breaking over your body from bottom to top.

The Mayo Clinic reports that 75% of menopausal and post menopausal women experience hot flashes making them one of the most common issues for this age and gender.

I've mentioned global warming before on this blog. It would seem that if 75% of nearly one third of the world's population of women is over heating, something else is warming too.

What to do, what to do:

Move to Canada and live outside.
Take a pole dancing class and learn to strip.
If you're more modest, dress in easy to remove, multiple layers, then remove them one at a time.
Buy a cheap hand held fan and be your own fan base.
Turn down the furnace.
Go outside if it's cooler.
Open the windows.
Go sit in the basement.
Avoid food that is known to trigger a flash. Your personal list may consist of things you love like spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol. Sorry, but lettuce never has nor likely will be a trigger.
Slowly introduce more soy and flax seed in your diet. These, plus beans, peas and lentils contain "phytoestrogens. Researchers believe phytoestrogens may reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, and also help prevent heart disease and osteoporosis, although this has not yet been proven. Regardless, this type of protein is very good for your whole system. And being full of beans can be fun.

What to do if you remember:

Before bed, take the recommended on the bottle adult dose of magnesium/calcium combination.
Keep spare PJ's (or towel if you sleep nude) available. Although I haven't tried it, I'm told that 'Moisture Wicking' nightwear is pretty cool too.
Have a fresh set of sheets nearby just in case you 'have a soaker'.

Personally, I highly recommend getting a stash of fine quality semi-sweet chocolate to help you through your hottest times. It'll melt in your mouth and in your hand. Be warned that this is not scientifically proven, but it has no known side effects except perhaps another hot flash triggered by the caffeine in the chocolate. Any maybe some wild, hot, edible sex....with chocolate stains everywhere.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Yoga

2005-11-27T19:00:00.000-05:00

I got a comment on a previous post about the benefits of yoga for mind, body and spirit.

With 15 years of inconsistent but well intended yoga study under my soft roll down waist band, I completely concur. As one of my instructors points out, yoga makes you fall in love with your body.

What better time than right now.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Down Down

2005-11-26T11:49:00.000-05:00

Mostly, I am a frozen turd.

From early October to late April, since I can remember, I've been cold. Blue actually. Quite shockingly without any warmth to most of my body. People who touch me during my corpse season recoil in horror. Then they flee lest I'm contagious. Like freezer burn perhaps.

As I entered the neighbourhood of the Pause, the very idea of a hot flash was exotic to me. Imagine being frozen and then suddenly hot without the mess and bother of submerging myself in boiling water or burying myself in twelve layers of wicking, poly-pro, down stuffed clothing.

The mere thought makes me tepid and giddy with hope.

But why wait for my hormones to rear their hot little heads. This year, thanks to a flush in my bank account and a fondness for down, I've cornered the market by purchasing four high quality, feather filled items that I am fully in love with.

New gloves that triple the size of my hands but are guaranteed for minus 3,000 will solve my frozen finger syndrome. A duvet, light as...well a feather ....snuggles me through the horizontal part of my day. My full feather jacket, with the big puffy lid, gives my body practice for that post menopausal look that's nearing anyway. And last but not least, my vest, which since I've owned it has not left my body unless I'm wrapped in one of the previously mentioned items.

That is, until last evening. In mid conversation, down vest wrapped and all, the heat started clawing it's way up my spin, around my ribs and straight to my head. This wasn't gentle, consistent down heat. I was flashing for all to see.

Quick out of the gate I was.... unzipping my downy cover and tossing it on the floor with noticeable speed. The conversation, about this blog, got a dramatic underscore. And I got a taste of my global warming.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Winter is Menopause

2005-11-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

There is snow covering the land of Guelph. The light, fluffy variety that seems playful, even pretty. Fun kiddie snow.

Kind of seductive really. You can almost believe that this winter won't be so bad when the first snow fall glitters so. But this kind of snow is not the only snow that falls. My personal fave is the heavy cow shit sized hunks that fall at night, filling my driveway to the brim. This followed by the 'just doing my job' snow plow operator who mounds said 'snow shit' into a wall across the end of my exit. The second of the 1-2 punch is the instant drop in temperature that magically follows the plow like winter follows fall.

There is nothing quite like waking up to an impenetrable mountain of ice blocking a car that's needed. There's not enough coffee in the world to offset this feeling.

But strangely, I manage to escape. Last year, I took my ax to the whole mess. I call this 'girl driveway clearing'. It wasn't pretty to watch, and I know I made my neighbour nervous, but it was effective. And within two days I was free, albeit crippled with back pain. But proudly, with both limbs still attached.

This post has nothing to do with menopause or my period.

Not on the surface anyway.

Winter is the season of menopause.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Intruders

2005-11-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

My first intruder of the day, if you can call my period that, decided to drop by, unannounced, for mid-morning coffee.

"Staying long", I inquired as I rifled through my bathroom cupboard for 'the fixins'.

The usual twist of pain spoke volumes.

Well at least I get a shot of estrogen this month I thought. Might stop my hair from shedding.

My second intruder arrived under cover of darkness. I'm strangely unfazed by the experience, my first of this kind. As a future precaution, I told the cop I was going to write down my neighbours phone number and keep it by my bed.

The big, burly man in uniform looked at me with amusement, then said, "Dial 911, not your neighbour".

"Ah yes", I blushed, mentally comparing, my image of thin, artist Gareth with the man before me. "What a good idea."

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Weapons of Mass Destruction

2005-11-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

One would think, that since we can put a couple of men on the moon just because it beckons, we could figure out how to accurately and easily test our hormone levels.

Let's face it, hormones, unlike the old man in the moon, threaten world peace every minute of everyday. This constant and known issue should be a priority to national security forces around the world.

I realize that national security is mostly comprised of men and men's hormone's play a different game. But these men have mothers, perhaps wives, maybe daughters, all of them moving towards or in menopause. This must be the ultimate Homeland Security issue sitting right smack dab in your house. In fact, this menace could be sharing your bed.

Listen up fellows, let's be frank. We, the menopausal women of the world, have weapons of mass destruction. They are not hidden in a cave somewhere in the Canadian Shield. We are each carrying. Holding. Packing a wad.

We would like to continue living our lives without fear of killing you or being depressed. We do not want to be given a 'silver bullet' that will cause other ugly symptoms or disease. We seek balance, naturally, safely.

We admit this freely to you in the hopes that you will put a bit of your problem solving nature into motion with the following:

Saliva Hormone Testing has been around for 30 years and has not been embraced by the medical community. Studies show that this affordable test, done in the comfort of your own home is accurate at determining hormone levels. Saliva testing plays a key role in bio-identical hormone replacement, an individualized, low dose form of natural HRT. Please launch Operation Spit Test and encourage the medical community to learn about this form of testing and bio-identical hormone replacement now.

My menopause is not your menopause. Difficult as it may sound, one size pill/patch or cream does not fit all. We are unique creatures, all of us.

For those women who want a full menu of meno treatment options, we need individual testing and individualized, natural hormone replacement. Since you guys seem to be running the joint, would you mind looking into that for us.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: The Lesser Talked About Telltale Signs of Menopause

2005-11-22T15:38:00.000-05:00

There's ying.

And then there's yang.

Yesterday's post focused on the physical changes that knock on your door as you move through menopause. These are frequently bantered about, instilling dread and loathing into any woman in the neighbourhood of 'the pause.' I mean, who wants to fry, dry up, or melt down with no notice?

I fall prey to this menopausal fear mongering all the time. But then I remember how much calmer and self assured I feel and how given the choice I would not want to be a minute younger. Besides, unless you are experiencing Sudden Menopause (my condolences) the symptoms of menopause have the urgency of a garden slug and the predictability of the weather. Maybe you'll be warm today. Maybe you won't.

Besides physical changes, it stands to reason that women go through a spiritual and emotional transition too. Here's a list of the lesser talked about, but no less significant menopausal signs.

Wisdom: ability to use foresight and hindsight in tandem.
Sexual freedom: fear of pregnancy vanishes.
Confidence: increases.
Speaking up: willingness to speak your mind blossoms.
Lightening up: less sweating of the small stuff.
Adventuring: new energy for new adventures.
Learning: a quest for new knowledge.
Authenticity: more real and true to self.
Power: recognition of personal power and how to use it.
Creativity: surges of creative energy emerge.
Laughter: recognize life as funny.
Courage: built from life experience.
Compassion: increases for self and others.
Forgiveness: willing to let go of grudges and other baggage.
Knowing: what you do and don't want.
Grief: a time to mourn life's collection of losses.

Women often speak of gaining a 'zest for life' during their menopausal years. Menopause signals a time when child bearing, rearing and nurturing are finished thus freeing up a tremendous amount of energy and time for other more self focused activities. You no longer need to keep the family ship floating.

Finally, it's your turn girlfriend.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Telltale Symptoms of Menopause

2005-11-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

When people, men and women alike, think of menopause, it is the hot flash that gets the most attention. Given 75% of menopausal women face some degree of flushing, this makes sense.

Hot flashes also get the focus they do because they lean toward the dramatic side of the coin. If you're bright red with beads of sweat pouring down your brow and indulge your desire to strip naked, you will be noticed. You will also be on high alert for future heat attacks and likely take some measures to reduce the flame.

The hot flash is not the only thing to look forward to as you enter this stage of your life. Declining estrogen production will impact other parts of your body besides your central heating system.

Take this list of other telltale symptoms for example. (Pass this post on to other pre/peri/meno/post women you know.)

Night Sweats: first nocturnal cousin of the hot flash.
Weight Gain: sometimes referred to as figure changing, shape shifting or thickening.
Memory Lapse: the nice way of saying your brain turns into a sieve.
Vaginal Dryness: the oasis turns to desert.
Vaginal Itching: ouch.
Decreased Sexual Desire: the third in the trilogy.
Mentrual Irregularity: the band does not play on.
PMS: prementrual syndrome becomes peri-menopausal syndrome. Same thing, different day.
Dizziness: can be nauseating.
Heart Palpitations: beating to a different drummer. No cardio vascular required.
Migraines and Head Aches: throbbing noggin'. Needles in your eyeballs feeling.
Stiff Joints: knees, hips, shoulders all seem to be fused together.
Leg Cramps: your PMS cramps move from your lower abdomen to your legs.
Body Aches: all parts, for no apparent reason, anytime.
Fractures: your bone density is revealed in a snap.
Breast Tenderness: double ouch.
High Blood Pressure: know as hyper-tension, your blood flow reduces.
Skin Wrinkles: face character enhancement.
Bladder Control/Infections: frequent, urgent, often or ouch.
Mood Swings: shifts in your outlook from one blood curdling extreme to the next.
Digestive Sensitivity: you've reached your quota.
Fluid Retention: swelling up.
Hair Thinning: falling out.

As you can see, pretty much every part of you, top to bottom, inside and out will go through a metamorphosis of some sort. Kind if like a baby in the womb, only opposite.

Not everyone will experience all these symptoms at once or at all. But the stages of menopause have fuzzy lines drawn between them. No symptom is cut and dry, orderly about appearing or predictable.

Kind of rogue like, your menopause will unfold with little consideration of your appointment book, with little regard period.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Warranty Expired

2005-11-20T19:42:00.000-05:00

I am a physical wreck.

Following Friday's collision with 'death desk', and the subsequent blackening of my left thigh, I cautiously made my way through Saturday. No crazy sex for this kitty cat. Rather, I found solace in a bottle of Italian Red and a pork tenderloin.

For reasons that defy logic, this morning, clad in a sweater and knee high slippers, I decided to muck through my largest closet. My mission. To find my old brown down coat and store my 'not warm enough for winter' leather jackets.

When my lower back seized up, it was immediately clear that I had a situation on my hands. Deep in the back of this no-woman's land, no pants in sight, I was in pain deeper than 'death desk' had dished out.

I lowered myself to the floor. This after discovering there was no way up. So, butt to the ground, I backed my way out.

Slowly.

Every movement offered the undesired feeling of having a butcher knife jabbed into my sacrum.

Too vivid?

Too bad.

Once out of the closet, I used my desk to straighten.

Sound gay?

It wasn't.

I did a quick inventory. Seemed that as long as I stayed ramrod straight, my back felt normal.

Too bad I had to pee.

That's yet another feature of menopause....frequent peeing.

But I digress. Or do I? Regardless. My body seems to be in a state of decline.

I told Gareth to put me in my composter.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: When I Am An Old Lady

2005-11-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law gave me the book, When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple when I was in my early 30's. Seemed my fashion reputation was established and she wanted to show her support. Or maybe it was her way of warning me of my dotty future.

Regardless. I wear purple. Always have. And if the book is accurate, it's just going to get more pronounced.

Which may be bad for my health if last evening's tragedy is an indicator.

I attended The WalMart Movie, The High Cost of Low Prices at the University of Guelph, my alma mater.I could go on. Better if you see the film yourself.

It's a bit nippy up here in Canada right now so I was bundled up in multiple layers of colourful clothing. Envision this. Mint green corduroy pants, orange jacket and scarf, mauve hat.

For those with limited colour education, mauve is a tint of purple. Orange, green and purple complete a triad colour scheme. It's a distinct, yet fetching look that is part of my signature.

I rotate around the colour orange.

As I walked across the front of the mostly full auditorium of 300 people, I suddenly became self conscious of my mauve hat. I go through this every winter. Hats, for me, take some getting used to and the season has just started. The hat in question is brand spanking new and very noticeable. My extrovert bought it. Now my introvert was wearing it.

In my attempt to remove my new hat, with a nonchalant flip of my wrist, I lost my attention on the task of negotiating the seats, narrow ledge and upcoming obstacles. Distracted, I rammed my left thigh, with incredible force, into a hard plastic desk top.

Instantly my entire leg shot full of pain. I, now embarrassed, in excruciating pain, with hat head, and still in the front of the audience, soldiered on with nary a grimace.

Liar, liar, leg on fire, my inside voice screamed, me certain blood would start to appear on my green pants at any moment.

For the rest of the evening, all night, and currently, my leg is but a shadow of what it was before my mauve hat insecurity reared it's friggin head. The bed sheets hurt. My pants are killing me. Don't get me started on the water from my shower.

Ironically, my thigh is purple.

When I am an old lady be damned.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Blogging Better Health

2005-11-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

The Canadian Women's Health Network has asked me to write a story for their spring edition of Network Magazine. The topic: women's health blogs. My approach: light yet informed.

Rather than blither on about how wildly good blogging about health issues that resonate for me has been, I would like to include a splattering of the broader (pun intended) world of women blogging about their health.

I can't promise live links to your blogs. But I can provide a map and introduce a readership to the blogosphere.

Interested in sharing your story? Please comment on this post.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Estrogen Deficiency

2005-11-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

Yet another perspective....from Dr. Love.

“If estrogen deficiency is a disease, all men have it!”

Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Taking Ownership

2005-11-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

Finally, the type of November day that crawls under my skin and shakes me to the core. Bleak is the word. Chilling, gray, somber, deathly are reasonable substitutes. I have no doubt that when I die, it will be in November.

I find November's seasonal transition the toughest to weather. It's the end of a pleasant relationship...the one I have with spring, summer and early fall. The parting from something I love to something that I find more challenging....winter.

And yet, winter can be so satisfying. My introverted side gets to fully exercise, tucked in and away. I own down filled duvets, coats and mitts, good boots, funky hats. I know many stunning trails and dogs who love to walk. I have a woodstove. So it's not winter per say. It is the transition to winter from a more colourful, higher energy state.

Much like menopause I guess. A transition.

Here's a wee bone that I would like to pick.

Notice that I did not use universal language, the royal 'we' and suggest that you too feel as I about November. Instead, I took ownership of my own feelings.

Currently, I could list a arms length of friends, who are giddy ...darn well busting with excitement about this month. They love every grey sky, soggy leaf, frost frozen plant.

I find these friends charming and yet slightly annoying. I'm attached to my grim reaper November attitude. Heaven forbid that my attitude adjust and I become more accepting of what is.

Here's how I handle them. I let them be cheerful. I don't try to convince them that my way, the dark and winding road, is the only sane approach to handling November. Secretly, deep down, I do hope that some of their 'come what may' vibe will help temper my doomed view. But I also stand firm in my negative perspective. I don't want to be cajoled out of my headspace. I'd rather find my way through, adjusting if I please, because a shift in my approach simply makes more sense to me.

I hate it when people tell me how I feel. Or when they incorrectly assume I feel as they do.

Unlike November, I pre-decided to take My Menopause ride with a sense of adventure and a bag full of curiosity. Humor too. Given My Menopause trip will last a stunning dozen years, give or take, I'm looking for a long, hardy laugh, the easiest passage and an interesting experience. I aspire to be the cover girl for Natural Menopause.

You may not feel the same way. And that's fine with me.

As my friend Pierre says, "Vive la difference!"

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Social Conditioning

2005-11-14T10:11:00.000-05:00

In University, I had a rat. My job, as part of a behavioral psychology course, was to 'condition' (train) the rat to press a bar for food, and avoid another similar bar that offered nothing.

Once the rat learned the pattern, the professor would change the experiment and a new series of actions would have to be learned in order for Rattie to get it's food pellet reward.

Rattie was being 'socially conditioned' to behave in a way that I saw fit. This was an experiment. The subject was a rat. We were in a lab. I was a student learning course content.

How does this experiment differ when the subjects are unaware people and the lab is society. And the folks in charge of the pellet machine are hired marketing professionals.

Last week, I asked myself the question, "does my estrogen dip stick say ADD A QUART or is this part of my conditioning as a peri-menopausal woman in a pharmaceutical driven society."

In yesterday's post, Kathleen succinctly nailed the issue. "If there's one thing we can count on as the march of science and medicine continue apace, it is the inevitable 'pharmaceutical fix' to cure women from the illness of being women."

Ah yes, the illness of being a women. Let's see...yup, all those cranky cramps, and that bloody blood, relentlessly pouring, month in, month out. Better solve that.

Changing our minds? That's an affliction for sure. Why would anyone change their mind in such a dynamic and complex world where lies are layered one upon the other? Better take this pill.

Not interested in sexual intimacy with the lug who never speaks, remote glued in his hand? Your dysfunctional my dear.

Don't look like a fourteen year old girl anymore? Don't eat. Just use this powder in water, every other Wednesday and you'll be in Thinville in no time.

Breasts not big enough to rival the air brushed, altered women in the glossy mags? Fork over your savings and we'll cut and paste you into the perfect you.

But wait. What if the perfect you , is you?

Understand this. I am socially conditioned. You are socially conditioned. We are all socially conditioned.

The conditioners want you to do what they want. They want you to believe their story. They want you to want what they have.

Unless we all get this part clear, understand the hooks and bait that will be dangled in our faces by way of women's magazines, television and Hollywood movies, we will be swayed from our own truth and slaves to the whims of societies conditioning. It won't matter how untested period suppressinging drugs are. We'll just be rats in a cage, pressing a bar for our next dosage.

Sue Richards

Tag: menopause

My Menopause Blog: Periods Are Not a Curse

2005-11-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

Kathleen O’Grady is the Director of Communications for the Canadian Women’s Health Network and a Research Associate at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia. She's also my pal.

Saturday morning, as I thumbed through my thick weekend Globe and Mail, I proudly came across her byline on this excellent article.

Kathleen gave me permission to republish her story here.

Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?
Periods are not a curse

Published: Globe and Mail, Saturday, November 11, 2005; Focus Section.

You’ve likely read about it by now, in your favourite magazines, on TV and radio talk shows, and even in past issues of this newspaper. There is a new campaign afoot promising women a care-free, stay-free life with no more PMS or cramps or pads and tampons – a future free of periods.

Periods are bad for you, we are told; they involve unnecessary blood loss and iron depletion, and if you are not wanting to get pregnant, who needs them?

About bloody time, say many of the news commentators. But hang on: periods are not the ‘curse’ that many of us are led to believe. In fact, eliminating monthly menstruation artificially by ingesting synthetic hormones may do much more harm than good.

Two new prescription medications promise to make menses a thing of the past: Seasonale, already approved in the United States and under consideration for approval by Health Canada; and Anya, not yet approved in either country, but already promoted as the wave of the future. Both are traditional hormonal contraceptive products that promise the ‘added benefit’ of menstrual suppression (those on Anya would have no menstrual periods; Seasonale reduces annual periods to only four per year).

Given the profitability of Seasonale in the US for its maker, Barr (sales of $22 million in the past year alone), one can only assume that similar products are in other company development pipelines.

But what is often left out of the hype around these products are the possible serious health implications of suppressing a woman’s menstrual cycle over the long-term.

Firstly, there’s too much that we don’t know about menstrual suppression for healthy women (those who have unproblematic periods).

No long-term studies have been conducted on the impact that menstrual suppression may have on fertility. No long-term studies have been conducted on the ways in which menstrual suppression may affect the development (reproductive and otherwise) of young women. No long-term studies have been conducted on the effects of exposing women to hormones over a longer period of time than regular contraceptive pills, and in some methods, in (small, but significant) higher doses. Seasonale, for example, exposes women to nine more weeks of estrogen and progestin every year than a regular birth control regimen.

If this sounds like too much nay-saying and prophesies of doom, let’s look at a recent example -- which should constitute a warning -- of what harm can result from messing with women’s natural cycles without scientific rigour or reason.

Until recently, women entering the menopausal years were advised that taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was the healthy thing to do – an ingestion of animal and/or synthetic hormones to artificially supplement their own naturally declining estrogen levels.

HRT (estrogen plus progestin) was believed to be nothing short of a ‘miracle pill’ that could improve heart health, enhance sex drive, offset depression, prevent osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease and contribute to an overall improvement in the quality of life. Advertisements to doctors and patients alike on the glowing qualities of HRT were so convincing that by the 1990s and into the turn of the decade, tens of millions of women in North America alone were taking HRT regularly as a means to improve their health.

Unfortunately, what was missing from this rosy picture was the science. No extensive randomized clinical trials had been conducted to assess the risks and benefits of healthy menopausal women taking HRT over the long-term, even though that is precisely what they were advised to do by many medical bodies, health practitioners and glossy women’s magazines.

Starting to sound familiar?

Then, well after decades of exposing millions of menopausal women to hormonal products in the name of good health, the Women’s Health Initiative study (the largest double-blinded randomized clinical trial of long-term HRT use by healthy women) concluded that HRT may be linked to an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.

Almost immediately medical bodies and health practitioners did an about face and changed their prescribing guidelines and practices; they no longer recommend HRT as a standard ‘treatment’ for menopause. But not before countless women were harmed by an unnecessary meddling with their bodies’ natural functions.

It seems, sadly, that we’ve not learned our lesson.

Of course, there are many women who have chronic health conditions (such as endometriosis or fibroids), and for whom menstruation and menopause may be problematic, painful or unhealthy, and who need medical intervention. But for the majority of women -- the target market for both HRT and menstrual suppression products -- our cycles are a sign of health, not of illness.

Implicit in the medical model of interference in women’s cycles, whether it be menstrual suppression or hormone ‘replacement’ therapy, is the idea that women’s bodies are broken and need fixing. That our cycles represent a disease that needs to be cured or repaired. Or even that women’s physicality is outmoded or defunct, too animal, too messy, too inconvenient, in need of updating, modernizing, mechanizing -- masculinizing.

It is no small irony that when we are menstruating, there are drugs to make us stop (menstrual suppression), and when we stop bleeding (menopause), there are drugs to make us menstrual again.

What drives this push to fix what ain’t broken is a misunderstanding of the complexity of women’s cycles. Menstruation is not just what happens when pregnancy does not – it is not just a failed process – but part of a complex cycle that is linked to other complex bodily systems that are directly involved in the development, health and well-being of women’s bodies. A healthy, regular menstruation signals that the body is well-nourished, that we are not overly stressed or under-threat, and that we are potentially fertile.

A failure to respect the intricacy and finely balanced nature of menstruation and menopause, and an undervaluing of the innate correctness of the female body – it is not flawed at the outset -- lead us to make the same mistake over and over again.

If there’s one thing we can count on as the march of science and medicine continue apace, it is the inevitable ‘pharmaceutical fix’ to cure women from the illness of being women.

But let’s break this particular unhealthy cycle and demand that the science come first, that we assess the real long-term risks of hormonal products against any possible benefits. Women only have true choices for their reproductive health when they are provided with all of the facts up front; in otherwords, an informed choice. Until then, long-term menstrual suppression is a gamble, an experiment for convenience with unknown consequences. We’ve gambled before and lost: let’s not wager again.

Sue Richards

Tags: menopause.

My Menopause Blog: Menopause Before 40

2005-11-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

Breast of Canada Calendar customer and author Karin Banerd, contacted me with news of her book, Menopause Before 40. Given my posts about Sudden and Premature Menopause over the last few weeks, and the fact that My Menopause is not Sudden or Premature, I thought the title would make a good resource for those of you who are in this tricky boat.

To save you from winding your way through my blog, looking for the aforementioned previous posts, I have conveniently collected the links here.

Sudden and Premature Menopause
Causes of 'The Pause'.
Dealing With Sudden Menopause

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Shape Shifting

2005-11-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

Dave Coverly, the talent behind one of my favorite comics Speedbump, gave me permission to post this gem.

More serious estrogen talk to come. But for now, a comical break.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Estrogen Level - 2

2005-11-10T14:07:00.000-05:00

So after writing yesterday's post I said to myself, "Sue, have you noticed a lot of toothless, wrinkled, sex mad women out there wearing diapers"? "Does my estrogen dip stick say ADD A QUART or is this part of my conditioning as a peri-menopausal woman in a pharmaceutical driven society."

Granny didn't think she had a problem with estrogen because she didn't. She wasn't loosing estrogen like the hankies and tissue that trailed after her. Her body was no longer producing as much.

Famous female celebrities will tell you that menopause can be cured by replacing lost estrogen. Open any women's magazine and I'm certain you will quickly find an endorsement.

What the 'stars' don't tell you is that they are being paid hugh sums of money to recommend the 'curing' product.

And really, who has more power to influence the average woman, than a beautiful, female star? It's no wonder that 'cure' making companies are hiring them on as marketing mavens.

But wait my friends. There's a fly in the ointment here. Menopause is not a disease. It is a stage in the natural aging process. And like it or not, humans have a life span. An expiry date. Best before. Production shuts down. Body parts wear out.

Best to make hay while the sun shines.

Menopause is BIG, BIG business. The more the business people who profit from menopause can convince you that your estrogen levels need to be topped up, with a little help from their various medicines, the more money they make. And make. And make.

And no, they are not thinking about your well being. Most business operates on a single bottom line. Profit. Profit comes before people. Always has. Always will.

The day businesses across the board, start looking at a triple bottom line; profit plus social and environment factors, then we can spend less time looking over our shoulders.

Here's the gist. Menopause is not a hormone deficiency disease. There are natural remedies to help ease the way. There's nothing wrong with getting older.

Your body is very smart. We just have to listen.

Sue Richards

Other pity comments on women's health can be found on my Calendar Girl Blog.

My Menopause Blog: Estrogen Level

2005-11-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

So here I am, on a rainy day, looking out my new office window, thinking about my estrogen level.

I'm imagining I have a dip stick just like my 66 Chevy has. Very easy to find with a red handle and a really long wand. When I pull it out, only the tip is wet. The marker says ADD A QUART.

Right then.

A low estrogen dip stick reading may offer the following life experiences for you as a menopausal woman.

Skin thinning and wrinkling.
Vagina dryness and constriction that may make intercourse painful. More susceptible to infections too.
Urinary tract more susceptible to infection and the loss of muscle tone can cause incontinence.
Gum inflammation and a higher risk of tooth loss.

That's enough good news for one day don't you think?

More glad tidings about the exciting world of estrogen will be forth coming over the next few posts. I'll try to be as gentle as possible.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Keeping Regular

2005-11-08T14:12:00.000-05:00

My 96 year old Granny died due to the complications of a fall. Not her fall. Someone, a much larger woman, fell on Granny in the nursing home they both lived in. Granny's injuries were more than she could recover from. She died a few days later.

I was 15 when Granny passed away. Although we never formally talked about 'womanly things', her influence on such matters made an impact. Born in 1877, an orphan in Britain, her and her younger sister Annie married brothers and immigrated to Canada with their young children. My mother being one of them. Both sisters set up house in Toronto, on the same street.

By the time I was born, Granny was already over 80 and widowed. To my delight, she came to live with us at our cottage in the summer.

I remember one summer in particular. I was 5 and Granny and I shared my room. Both of us early risers, and extremely short (Granny was well under 5 feet) were like two peas in a pod, paling around, fishing in my aluminum row boat, having tea parties and playing Crazy Eights. Granny always wore a dress, with a giant broach at her bosom, a colourful hat, coke bottle thick glasses and tissues and hankies stuck up, in and down ever crevice.

Granny's claim, when asked about her extremely good health and longevity, was very simple. Eat good food. Particularly important was breakfast. Her specific recommendation, All Bran cereal, warm milk and blackstrap molasses. Every morning, without fail.

This, Granny instructed, set up your entire body for the day. Protein and fiber gave her energy and a bathroom routine you could set a clock to. She insisted both were the most important things. Keeping regular and having get up and go.

If she could, I'm sure she'd add one more. Keeping out of the way of big people with poor balance.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Asking Questions

2005-11-07T12:56:00.000-05:00

This is me making lemonade out of lemons.

When I was 6, my mom went into the hospital. Forty one year's ago today in fact. She died a short time later on Remembrance Day.

Growing up without a mom...still to this very day.......is not a course I would recommend, although I've managed to get here and be me just the same.

It's true that my bushy eyebrows did grow back after I unwittingly shaved them as a twelve year old girl....and my period came with little explanation or preparation. With some help from random women in my life, I figured out fashion, hygiene, boys, sex, bras, makeup, bladder infections, birth control, housekeeping, broken hearts, broken engagements and grieving. And best of all, I figured out that 'no one person was going to tell me what I needed to know.'

Instead, I took on the task of learning everything I could about being a woman.

By the time I was 17, two more key family members, that I lived with, had died from disease, one due to a significant mis-diagnosis. My lemonade jug got filled some more. I developed a healthy degree of skepticism of the medical system on a whole and doctors in specific.

Given my doctor sees me about once a year for 20 minutes, it was clear to me that I would know more about my body, how it felt and what changes were going on than she would. Plus her knowledge, as a GP, was...general. My knowledge about myself is specific.

It is not uncommon for me to tell my doctor what is wrong and for me to be right about my assessment. My interest in myself makes her and I that much better at working together.

To round out my health team, and not to put all my eggs in one basket, I've invested my time in finding a slew of other health specialists. Intermittently I use the services of a Shiatsu Therapist, Herbalist, Massage Therapist, CranioSacral Therapist, Reike, Holistic Energy, Physiotherapist, Psychologist and Yoga Teacher.

I'm all about disease prevention. I love my body. I want to stay well. And I'm willing to ask questions.....even stupid ones. Sometimes it's smart to be dumb.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Saying NO

2005-11-05T11:35:00.000-05:00

I hope I didn't put anyone off with my graphic description of Sudden Menopause this week. (please check previous posts) I'm not one to sport rose coloured glasses. Yet my nature is to see the glass as half full. Still, when a spade is a spade it's unlikely I'll call it a shovel.

If you get my drift.

So Sudden Menopause.....not pretty in my books. Not just because of the direct impact that I reported either.

Women in this menopause boat continue to be moms, wives, employed, students, responsible and fully functioning as though nothing was different. Sudden Menopause is not a head cold that will clear up if you just lay down for a day and drink hot tea. It goes on and on and on and on....dishing up mood swings that a trained acrobat would be reluctant to try......hot flashes that melt flesh.

Collectively, we have created a society that has no space for anything but full speed, straight ahead. We don't have or make time to grieve our losses, reflect on our life course, take in profound changes in our world or bloody well breath deeply. Instead we soldier on, ignoring our own health and cutting an even wider swath because our world is upside down.

This to me is insanity. And a tragedy.

We, the menopausal women of the world, can change that.

Here's the ticket: Start saying NO.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Dealing with Sudden Menopause

2005-11-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

So you've been hit broadside by a speeding menopause bullet train to hell and you're up to your eyeballs with symptoms that make whacking yourself over the head with a 2x4 seem like a fun idea.

What now?

Alas, there is no special treatment for you my friend. You get BIG symptoms, but no quick fix.

And....yes there's more.... you also get to face the emotional trauma of losing your fertility during your child bearing years.

Please put down the 2x4.

Again, this is not my story. I'm a lucky peri-menopausal duck. But this maybe the story of someone you know and love. Or perhaps you live this reality. Whatever the case, you have my compassion and a suggestion. Here's what I've read.

Get ye into a support group. Likely the group will be focused on the primary health issue that lead to the treatment that resulted in sudden menopause. And the group may be connected to the medical institution that you use. Or, and this is very likely, you may have to spearhead your own support group. It will be important to make sure the group is age specific to you.

Some west coast women I know started a group called "The Young and the Breastless" after finding no solace in typical breast cancer support groups. They wanted to talk about sex, fertility, dating, relationship issues and being young moms and could not relate to older breast cancer survivors. Typically the the Y and B's are under 40.

This would be an example of, if you build it, they will come.

If you can afford it, a private therapist may be your thing and the perfect touch stone as you wind your way through sudden menopause.

Depending on your family dynamics, sitting down with family members and giving them the low down may help. Know that grieving a loss like fertility will take time and happen in stages. Having daily, unconditional support during your grieving process is wise.

And finally, as with every part of life, your approach and attitude will effect the outcome of your experience. I do not suggest that you stick an artificial smile on your face when quite the opposite feels more authentic. Try to be aware and true to your experience.

Be kind to yourself.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Causes of "The Pause"

2005-11-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

I'm on a roll here.

My own experience with "the Pause" is rather tame and easily paced. I'm 47. My biological clock is ticking as it should. I moan about my missing mane and spend to much time trying to find things that I've forgotten the name of. My period comes, goes, goes, goes, pops back in for a quick visit and goes again. Over all, and to date, I'm managing just fine.

But not all women will experience menopause equally. I'm on the slow, scenic boat to China. Some gals are hit up side the head by a speeding menopause bullet train to hell.

I shall continue with my information download on menopause that arrives prematurely, without invitation and bearing no gift.

There are three main reasons for women to experience premature or sudden menopause.

Premature Ovarian Failure (POF): Typically the result of an autoimmune disorder. Your bodies immune system mistakenly attacks itself. From what I gather, some wires get crossed and your body believes disease has arrived. It then reacts by sending out an army of antibodies to combat the perceived threat. If the antibodies are directed to your reproductive system, your ovarian function my be seriously damaged. Or worse..... completely destroyed. Entire countries have been known to do this too.

Surgery: If you have your ovaries removed ...Oophorectomy.... or have your ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes removed...Hysterectomy... your hormone levels drop like a rock and you will experience instant menopause. Instant menopause is not easy like the name suggests. Think instant hell.

Here's the picture. First you are recovering from major surgery....maybe as result of a serious disease like ovarian cancer.....and you have immediate menopausal symptoms that are extreme due to the sudden loss of hormone production in your body. Your estrogen production line shuts down. Everyone is fired. You get physical and emotional pain all rolled into one ugly severance package. Ouch.

Even if your ovaries stay put during a hysterectomy, they may be damaged during the operation. Having a tubal ligation ("tubes tied") may also lead to ovary damage and sudden menopause.

Radiation Therapy, Chemotherapy and Tamoxifen: All three treatments disrupt ovarian function. Sometimes your ovaries will return to normal after the chemical treatment has been completed. But not always. Even though your period returns, you may no longer be fertile.

Tamoxifen, which is often prescribed for women who have certain types of breast cancer, serves to block your bodies ability to make estrogen. No estrogen production equals sudden menopause. And again, once Tamoxifen treatment has been completed, ovarian function may resume. Or maybe not.

Sudden menopause can also be a result of excessive weight loss (anorexia). This is yet another complex, female specific condition that requires serious attention. It's just not healthy to starve yourself.

So there's the basics. I'm no doctor. But I can read and gather information.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Sudden and Premature Menopause

2005-11-02T12:34:00.000-05:00

Not everyone comes to menopause naturally and in their own time.

Sudden or early menopause is common and usually very traumatic for the woman and her family. Sudden menopause can be brought on by or be due to an autoimmune disorder, a hysterectomy, anorexia, chemotherapy, a reaction to medication or radiation.

Women younger than 45, who experience full menopausal symptoms (not perimenopausal symptoms) are considered to be experiencing sudden menopause.

Premature menopause is menopause that occurs before 40 and as a result of Premature Ovarian Failure (POF).

Sudden menopause is as the name suggests....sudden. Hormone levels drop over a period of days, weeks or months. Due to the early and abrupt nature of this type of menopause, more time and attention is required to develop coping strategies that will help alleviate intense symptoms.

Premature menopause is less abrupt but can be equally devastating.

Because of the nature of both sudden and premature menopause the woman will experience a different level of emotional reaction to her situation than someone who comes to menopause in due, natural course.

If the disease or the treatment that is prescribed has contributed to the onset of sudden menopause, (like breast cancer), then the individuals situation is that much more challenging and complex.

Psychological issues will likely need as much attention as the physical. Often, a woman facing sudden or premature menopause has a deep sense of being ripped off, feelings of intense anger and deep frustration.

If you know someone facing sudden or premature menopause, try to recognize the full picture they are facing and act with compassion toward them.

If this is your story, be as kind to yourself as possible. Seek support. Accept help and comfort whenever offered. Breath deeply.

You've got a pile on your plate.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Shame, Shame, Shame

2005-11-01T09:47:00.000-05:00

With one third of the world's population of women entering or in full menopause as I type, I'm curious why we don't have menopause festivals, conferences, talk shows, stores, fashion shows, movies, sitcoms, parades, magazines, songs and traditional dances around the world.

Instead, we barely have honest, non-drug pushing, basic information.

My Granny lived to be 96 years old. She did not use Hormone Replacement Therapy. And yet, she did go through menopause. Besides her daily bran and molasses breakfast of champions, what would Granny have to share with me about the stages of menopause if she were alive today?

Women know so much about their bodies. Our intuition is a remarkable early warning system that can be trusted.

And yet, some form of shame keeps us tight lipped, doubting ourselves and silent.

I simply don't get it.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Change

2005-10-31T13:59:00.000-05:00

So many people tell me they hate change.

Which must mean they really hate life. After all, life is constantly in a state of change.

Everything in the world is changing every second of everyday. Right down to the cellular level. All the hate in the world ain't going to stop that. In fact, my bet is that by hating change, we just make matters worse. For ourselves. And everyone around us.

Could this be why some women have such a hard time with menopause?

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Get Naked

2005-10-28T12:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's post was intended to (un)cover a hot flash strategy, should you find yourself publicly melting and needing relief. It's a funny human trait that I've noticed...reluctance to take off our clothes. Instead, we suffer through, maybe roll up our sleeves or loosen a neck line. But striping down? Rarely seen that in any situation.

Which of course makes no sense. When your hot, you're hot. It's perfectly okay to do something as practical as remove a few layers of warmth producing clothing.

At home, depending on your comfort level and situation, you may want to let it all hang out, take it ALL off, bounce around in your Birthday suit.

Being naked is one of the best ways to cool off. Your skin, ever last pore of it, gets to breath. And you get to spend some time getting to know this body which you are, but likely ignore or even worse hate.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Menopausal Woman's Hot Spot

2005-10-27T13:03:00.000-04:00

Here's the thing. Layers of clothing is where it's at. Especially if you need to cool down fast from a hot flash attack.

The bottom layer is the most important. It should be sleeveless, low front and back, and short. Another words, something that covers your breasts and a bit more.

There should be no shame in stripping down to this layer, as quickly, sexily, haphazardly or publicly as you need to.

You are roasting alive. Boiling in your own broth. Your burning flesh needs close contact with fresh air.

Of course you realize that I write this from a Canadian perspective. We have an abundance of cool, fresh air much of the year. Like six months too much.

This could be a new Canadian tourism hook..... market Canada as the Menopausal woman's vacation hot spot so to speak. "Get cool, come to Canada."

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Be Your Own Fan

2005-10-26T11:43:00.000-04:00

It was dramatic. Sexy too. Most definitely fun.

In mid conversation, my hot flashing, menopausal friend started to turn red, like a tomato ripening in the sun. Without skipping a beat and before beads of sweat formed on her brow, she whipped out the most elegant, black, lacey, folded, hand held fan I've ever seen, cracked it open with an easy flick of her wrist and proceed to fan her neck, down her low cut top and beneath her long glorious hair.

It was a breath taking performance art piece of the highest degree.

The fan, she explained, came from South America and cost pennies. She owned several. A couple from Japan, some from other Asian countries. All beautiful, compact and effective.

And no need to get on an airplane either. (Although, an exciting, round the world fan buying trip would likely cure what ails you too.) Simply head on over to Chinatown district of any city.

So here's the gig. If you want to be a fan of a hottie in your life, buy her a fan. It's a real cool gift.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Women We Love

2005-10-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

Rock Bitch posts some funny stuff on her blog. I scoped the following wee passage for obvious reasons, but left ten other 'reality Barbie' descriptions for you to check out at her digs.

Hot Flash Barbie. Press Barbie's belly button and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead. Comes with handheld fan and tiny tissues.

Now I'm wondering about Wilma Flintstone. Does Peri-menopause Wilma forget that she's married to that lug head Fred, strip off the two inch waist sized dress and ride off into the night on Dino the Dinosaurs back, leaving a trail of falling red hair?

Maybe Menopausal Minnie the Mouse stops dying her fur black, kicks the ridiculous shoes habit, and joins a yoga ashram, becoming both vegan and lesbian.

Cinderella? Mood swings, shape shifting and joint stiffness end Cindy's ballroom blitz. Prince Charming is no longer charmed. Yet Cinderella goes on to invent the first, compostible car, The Pumpkin Pacer.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: What is Menopause

2005-10-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

My menopause and I took the weekend off. I didn't start out with that intention. I merely followed my nose.

You know how companies do that 'been in biz this long' thing by putting a "Since 1950" or whatever year under their company name? I did that on Thursday night. Sue Richards, Home Based Business Since 1989.

When I did the math and realized that I had been generating my own pay cheque for 16 years, primarily working in various arts disciplines, all from some corner of my house, I had an epiphany in the form of a voice that said, "yah done good."

So when the sun was shining like a kid with an ice cream on Friday afternoon, and the autumn leaves were flashing orange, red and yellow glory, I put on my new purple hat, closed down said 'home based business since 1989', and struck out for downtown. I had other fish to fry.

I wandered, gathering as I went. Five junk stores, one liquor store and a cafe later, my step was leisurely and relaxed. By evening I was sitting by a roaring fire, in conversation with three delightfully articulate 20 something year olds, enjoying a Guelph brewed beer and laughing heartily.

Saturday's damp dawn promised a day of drizzle. I barely took noticed thanks to an afternoon house warming party invitation across town. I set off on foot, token gift in hand, marveling at the difference a day makes.

My arrival was met with extreme grinning from the host and hostess. Much to my surprise and amusement, the house warmees, (my mentee and a canoe partner from the summer) had eloped! This was their wedding reception.

Again the exuberance of youth bounced around the room, leaving no old fart stone unturned. Like showering outdoors on a hot August afternoon, I felt invigorated by my newly married friend's energy. Keen to suck that vibe up, I was the last to leave the party.

Sunday could have been grim. The carpet in my home based business office came with it's own disgusting Since 1969 tag. The long 'brown to hide the dirt' shag, with toxic underpad turned to dust had to go. The evil cover on my floor was messing with my breathing.

With help from a dear, muscular friend, we chopped that sucker up into a dozen manageable pieces, bagged, vacuumed, dusted and wiped for three hours. Even though the tile and plywood beneath holds no charm or character, neither does it hold 36 years of foot odour, dust and crusty stuff.

This morning, my home is lighter. I feel blessed to have young pals. And I'm grateful that my muscled friend was willing to join in the fight against evil carpet.

If this is menopause, I'm good to go.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: For Sex Sake

2005-10-21T12:34:00.000-04:00

My neighbour, Gareth Lind, is a fabulous comic strip artist. He also designs the Breast of Canada calendar.

Gareth's October 21st edition of Weltschmerz.ca dives into the world of sex between couples. Since I've been wandering around the orgasm aka sex corral in recent posts, and because we know that a picture is worth 1,000 words, it seemed timely to let Gareth's work illustrate a point.

How Often? speaks to the different ways men and women understand their sexual relationships. In the comics case, pre-menopausal sexual relationships.

So imagine the results of an additional menopausal flush of hormones, mood swings, hot flashes, other aging issues, and perhaps a waking up to our own mortality.

My bet. The sexual relations department will be even more over worked and likely under paid. This means even less understanding.

Perhaps our best strategy is to accept that there is infinitely more than one way or rather, more than our way, of looking at something. This of course requires each of us hell bent on being right, to remove our own heads from our own arses, rinse off the crap and take in a slightly bigger picture of the world.

Wheeeeee!!! Pardon me as I take a ride on my mood swing!

But really, what do we gain from being cemented in our corners. Women and men do not think the same way. Best we make room for both points of view.

For sex sake.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Evening Primrose Oil

2005-10-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

Lest you think I spend all my time vacuuming up my thinning hair and losing my nouns in a flap of female helplessness, I will share some menopause remedies that I have come to know.

Evening Primrose Oil is a natural estrogen promoter. Since dwindling estrogen is a key contributor to menopausal symptoms, it's a good idea to help your own natural estrogen production. A little hired help if you will.

I take one 1000mg gel tab of Efamol Evening Primrose Oil a day and have for several months. I started pretty much when my period was missing in action the first time. It's part of my nature. Prevent disaster, be prepared, stay healthy.

Apparently, Evening Primrose Oil helps reduce hot flashes too. Which may very well be the case since I've only had a couple. And Primrose is a source of essential fatty acids which everyone and there mother will tell you is good for you.

For the horticulturally curious amoung you, the plant is tall with multiple bright yellow flowers, about the size of a flattened quarter, densely spaced on the single stem. Every evening, just at sunset, the tightly closed flowers pop open like popcorn kernels to the delight of anyone watching.

Hence the name. Evening Primrose.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Readership Down

2005-10-19T16:13:00.000-04:00

My readership went down after yesterday's post.

Bet I know what you were doing.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: An Orgasm A Day

2005-10-18T13:48:00.000-04:00

I have not read this book. But according to the beat on the street, the author of The Menopause Bible recommends 'an orgasm a day.'

Every day. An orgasm. You. Me too.

Is it Christmas already?

Two thoughts sped through my mind.

That will bring up the old batting average.
You've got to love a bible that preaches that kind of action.

No doubt lots of do-it-yourself- tips for the handy woman.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Body Types

2005-10-17T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Great Bathers (The Nymphs) 1919

Painter: Augusta Renoir

Less than 90 year's ago, these women were deemed voluptuously beautiful. The ideal body image of the times involved flesh, love handles and rolls of womanliness.

Did our body image ideals change because people were concerned about women's health? Or does motivating the female population to chase the skinny mini, big breasted body type so coveted by today's society, generate more money making opportunities in the marketplace?

Sue Richards

Other Links and Blogs of mine. That maybe even of interest to you....I'm just sayin.

Breast of Canada Calendar
Calendar Girl Blog
The Breast Views Blog

My Menopause Blog: Thinning

2005-10-17T08:41:00.000-04:00

Semantics make all the difference.

Imagine this. Instead of taking a 'coffee break' at work, you had 'recess'. Or rather than 'living by the rules', you used 'guidelines'.

The choice of a word can make a huge difference in the way we approach a situation.

So I'm not going bald like I've reported over and over again.

My hair is thinning.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Menopositive in Mainstream

2005-10-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm ahead of the curve.

This story made it into our National Newspaper's Saturday edition which I've just finished reading.

Yes I know it's Sunday. But a menopause story isn't the type to get stale now is it?!

The notion of 'sexy older woman' seems to be the crux of the piece. Which turned out to be perfect timing given my experience at the B-Day party last night.

I have no problem seeing and commenting on the beauty of the women in my circle. This particular party featured a plethora of thirty-something to fifty ish gals decked out and dancing in a whirl of sex-o-let energy.

Given my melancholy mood, I held back and watched for a time, sipping my vodka and tonic. But slowly, like any good vibe worth it's weight, I found a new mindset wrapping me in a funky rhythm and I joined the flock.

Sexy older women don't rock.

They ooze.

Sue Richards