The Menopause is starting to take hold.

I have reached that age, the age many seem to dread, the end of my youth, my body deciding I'm past my best, with bits starting to creak and other bits stiffening up. The eye sight is not being quite as clear as it use to be and the hearing not as sharp. I often wonder why the print in a list of allergens and ingredients is made so small on packets, is it not about time manufacturers realised that the "not quite" old ones amongst us don't  put on our reading glasses when we go shopping?

But what exactly is the menopause? According to Armand Grimshaw

Menopause is the period of life when women stop having menstrual cycles. In general menopause could come at 50-55 but sometimes women could have early or late menopause.   At menopause,  women’s ovaries are not ovulating any more,  and levels of female hormones   produced by the ovaries are decreasing.   If  a woman (after 48-50) does not have menstruation for one year – it means she is entering to the menopause period. 

As a result of these hormonal changes,  many women experience both physical and emotional symptoms.  If the menopause occurs in a woman who is under 45 years of age,  it is known as premature ovarian failure.   The period of life leading to menopause  is called peri-menopause, and is associated with some decrease in estrogen production.

Most women reach the peri-menopause and menopause without seeking medical  advice.
However, modern treatments are available that can ease menopausal symptoms which are severe or distressing.Menopause SymptomsAbout 75-80% of women experience some  symptoms  of menopause.
Some  women find menopause symptoms very disturbing and they seek  medical treatment.  

 First symptoms of peri-menopause are disturbances of the menstrual cycle - irregular periods 

In some respects I am quite looking forward to it, never particularly saw the need for a period every  month once I decided I wanted no more children. Seems a shame nature just cant give you a switch of some sort to turn them on and off as you require them. Could save a fortune in sanitary protection of nothing else.

Im not fussy about getting old(er), I don't feel my age, but my granddaughter no longer believes I am 29, she is getting to smart for her own good that one!!


As I said I notice a few more creaks as I move around, I often fall asleep in an afternoon for ten or fifteen minutes and find I am really grumpy and irritable of I don't get that chance.

I suffer from hot flushes but so far have avoided the night sweats. My skin is drying out and I am using moisturisers more often. My concentrations levels are limited and following the various characters in a book has become nigh on impossible so I have given up reading novels.I rarely watch a film any more for the same reason.



My memory is poor and the girls at work chuckle with me ( as most of them can sympathise) as I walk down the corridor talking to myself so I don't forget what I am actually going down the corridor for and  I get up off the couch and walk the six feet to the kitchen I have forgotten what I am going for - which ends up with me getting annoyed at myself.


But like any other phase of life there are things you can do for yourself that may help lesson the effects, and I thought I would share with you an article I found on line the other day written by Woman and Home Magazine.

They recommend trying to help yourself through diet and lifestyle.  I was pleasantly surprised by how many I actually do already. Of the twelve items they recommend you eat/drink I already consume nine of them, and all five of the things they recommend you to avoid I already do. So who knows I may be worse if I didn't.