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The Good Guy’s Guide to Menopause
I’m writing this for bemused men and their frustrated partners, and also so that I can accidentally leave it open on my screen if I ever find a date I want to bring home.
The Struggle Is Real
This is not just growing older. It’s not just a mid-life crisis. Our bodies and brains have been running on oestrogen and progesterone for years, and now that the levels of those hormones are crashing, it affects every single part of our body — from our brains, to our bleeding gums, to our bladder and our bowels and our lady bits, right down to our big toes, which being made of bone are also affected.
That drop in oestrogen can mess up the temperature control system of the brain — but it’s not just about hot flushes. Sometimes it’s not even about hot flushes.
What’s worse those hormones levels don’t just drop, they spend years, spiking and falling either together or in opposition and disrupting whatever set of weird symptoms we’ve been battling, to present us with this week’s challenge!
And if you think ‘other women’ don’t go through this, you might be right some of the time. But most of the time those ‘other women’ are protecting you and keeping it to themselves. And, of course, it’s not about ‘other’ women — it’s about the one you care about.
