“ .......we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
When I undergone hysterectomy (total) surgery due to my ovarian cancer in Oct 2008, I expected myself to experience severe menopause symptoms due to the sudden and big drop in hormones production in my body post-operation.
Last 3 weeks these symptoms have become very pronounced and occurred every day. They can be depression, poor concentration, sleep disorder, memory lapse, anxiety, headaches, hot flashes, irregular heartbeat, panic ,night sweats etc( website states at least 34 symptoms). However, the most unbearable symptoms for me are depression and sleep disorder. For example, I can become depressed and sad even when I half-way reading newspapers. Also, I can suddenly wake up at night sweating as though I just have a nightmare. On the average, I only sleep about 4 to 5 hours.
My friend told me that her mother had such symptoms till the day she died. Her cousin overcomes by exercise every day. I now try to do more outdoor exercises like brisk walking. I hope to see some results in 2 weeks time or so. Medication is my last resort as drugs deal with hormones-control can be undesirable for my type of cancer. Even for natural remedies that may be helpful like ginseng, Dan Quai and evening primrose, I will avoid them because they have hormones stimulant properties.
I wonder how older generation of women managed these symptoms. May be they are too busy to think about them or they are expected to suffer in silence. People often lament that women after 50s tend to be cranky and difficult to get along with. There are reasons behind these at least from the medical point of view. I hope more will sympathize and understand us.
I believe many women out there experience the symptoms mentioned by you as they go thru menopause. It is only the severity of the symptoms differs. Many just bear and suffer with it in silent instead of talking it out. This is part of aging and life. Some can choose to improve their quality of life thru HRT or supplements.
ReplyDeleteMooi Lan,thanks for sharing what you're going through. Like Mui Huang, I've observed many women just grit their teeth and suffer in silence when they go through their menopause symptons. My two older sisters in their 60s both took HRT, in small porttions because they found it unbearable. They did not talk about it until I expressed my 'suffering'! I believe it talking about it as it helps me to psychologically bear with it. In addition, I expect people to understand why I get cranky because I've already told them what i'm going through! 5-6 decades ago, when women did not live past their menopause, there was nothing to talk about, ha!
ReplyDelete