Thank you. Hey everybody, welcome back to Food
for Thought, Thoughts If It Were You, with your
host, Neo Gentrics. Now, like I said, I'm going
through all these different topics and everything
that everyone has sent in. I'm trying to decide
on which is what I'm going to do next. There's
a lot of different topics out there, and a lot
of different things that can be talked about.
And as for this channel, there's always something
that you can think about, stuff that you can
cover on your own, and things that you probably
will worry about, or probably not. It just depends
on you. Everybody has something different that
they like. Everyone has a different health situation.
So, but before we move on to the current topic
of today, I want to throw this out there. If
you're having problems getting through life or
for whatever reason, you just need to help a
quick pick me up or you need some inspiration.
check out hashtag the guru the lupus survivor
she has some amazing podcasts on her channel
where you can get her podcast pretty much anywhere
podcasts are available her inspirational speeches
and like -mindedness and everything that's gone
on in her life will get you going and through
your day i just want to throw that out there
and send the shout out her way she has a wonderful
podcast thank you for all that you do and i pray
that you keep on fighting on top of that I have
three topics here. I'm trying to decide which
one I want to do. I'm going to leave it to you
listeners to decide which topic that I cover
next time. And yes, while there's many different
things I could definitely cover, I'm going to
leave it to these three. Pick one, and then we'll
move to something else, unless you want to hear
more. So the three topics you have to choose
from. One is lupus. For one, it was actually
requested way before I found out about the guru.
Again, shout out to my girl. Lung cancer and
kidney stones. For some reason, health topics
have been on the rise lately. I have no idea
why it's the end of the year. I'm assuming it's
because everyone's eating a lot. Although I have
no idea why anyone would want to know about lung
cancer, but I guess everyone's got their preferences.
So with that, we move forward. Today's topic,
believe it or not, is on menopause. This topic
was heavily requested multiple times from a lot
of different women for some reason. I don't know
why I'm getting a lot of feedback from a lot
of women. I have no complaints though. So, but
you requested it. I thank you guys for listening.
So I'll do my best with what little, uh, research
I was actually able to, uh, gather and for what
little information I already know. And from some
information I've gathered from other people as
well. Um, just a quick overview though. Excuse
me. What menopause. actually is uh it's uh their
symptoms include irregular periods hot flashes
night sweats uh i do believe uh sleep difficulties
and irritability speaking from experience on
that one ex -girlfriend and we'll leave it at
that uh menopause treatments may include hormone
replacement therapy or herbal therapy it differs
from person to person okay With that being said,
here's a question. We'll take a short break.
I want you to think about it. How do you know
if you're in menopause? I want you to think about
that. And we'll be right back after this break.
Okay, and we'll begin. we're back so before i
actually answer the other question let me let's
start with the basics basic basics of menopause
real quick so what is menopause that's the question
of the day right here it is a i'm gonna try my
best to word this as best as i can from memory
uh a new it's a normal condition that all women
experience as they age i say age loosely I know
there's some women out there that's a bit touchy
of that. The term menopause can describe any
of the changes a woman goes through either just
before or after she stops menstruating. What's
the word? Freaking hell. Menstruating. Man. Marking
the end of her reproductive period. Okay? What
causes it, though? There's the question. Let's
see here. To my knowledge, and from what little
I did manage to actually find in such a short
time span after picking this topic out of this
long list of stuff I do wish to cover from what
everyone has sent, a woman is born with a finite
number of eggs. This much I know is true. They're
stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also make
the hormones estrogen and progesterone. I forget
it. You get the idea. Which controls menstruation
and ovulation, which is a known fact at this
point. Menopause happens when the ovaries are
no longer releasing egg every month and menstruation
stops. Menopause is actually considered a normal
part of aging when it happens after the age of
40. So, good news there. For some. Others, however,
however, before I go any further, some women
can go through menopause early. Let's just go
ahead and throw that out there now. Either as
a result of surgery, and that can happen, such
as a hysterectomy. Oh man, I hate that word.
Or damage to the ovaries, which can happen from
multiple different things. I will not go into
that. Okay? Women can damage their ovaries in
more than one way. Trust me. I've heard stories.
Some I wish I'd never heard. Which is why, for
the sake of this being a family -oriented, or
at least kid -friendly podcast, I will not go
into that nitty -gritty. Uh, the other thing,
uh, one of the things that I will say that can
damage your ovaries, uh, is chemotherapy. Okay.
That's a known one. Um, it happens menopause
that happens before 40 though, before you turn
40, regardless of the cause is called a premature
menopause. Okay. And like mentioned before, uh,
it can happen naturally though. Uh, it's not
brought on by any type of medical or surgery,
uh, surgical treatment. The process is gradual
and it has three stages, but this, well, yeah,
actually, you know what, before I go into those
three stages, let's take a short break right
here. Okay, and we're back. I did say a second
ago that menopause is brought about naturally.
It doesn't take any medical or surgical treatment
to bring about. It does happen after the age
of 40, but it can happen prematurely due to other
reasons. Picking up on that, it is gradual and
it does have three stages, okay? One, the first
stage... Well, I can't really say that this is
simple, but the first stage is called perimenopause.
I'm hoping I'm pronouncing these right. I had
to literally write these words down because there's
no way in the world I'd remember these off the
top of my head. This one typically begins several
years before menopause ever actually starts,
when the ovaries gradually make less and less
estrogen than the body's needing. Perimenopause
lasts up until actual menopause starts itself.
The point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs
in the last one to two years of perimenopause,
the drop in estrogen quickens at the stage many
women start to have the actual menopause symptoms.
Which brings about the second stage, which is
obviously menopause itself. This is the point
where when it's been a year since a woman last
had her last menstrual period, at this stage
ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and making
most of their estrogen to start with. The third
final stage is what they call post -menopause.
These are the years after menopause during this
stage. The menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes
ease for most women. But health risks related
to the loss of estrogen do rise as the woman
ages. This can be a problem depending on the
person and how old they actually are. So what
conditions cause premature menopause? Let's go
back to that for a second. Premature menopause
can be the result of genetics, autoimmune disorders.
or medical procedures. Other conditions that
may cause early menopause include premature ovarian
failure. Why do women have to have such oddly
named parts? Normally, the ovaries make both
estrogen and progesterone. Again, I'm sorry if
I'm mispronouncing these words. Changes in the
levels of these two hormones happen when ovaries,
for unknown reasons, prematurely stop releasing
eggs. It can happen either through accident,
surgery, or other means. When this happens before
the age of 40, it's called premature ovarian
failure. Unlike premature menopause, premature
ovarian failure is not always permanent. It can
be resolved. cause premature menopause is induced
menopause. Induced menopause happens when the
ovaries are surgically removed for medical reasons,
such as... Do I have to say this word? I'll just
say it like this. Uterine cancer. I'll say it
like that. Or... Endo... My... Oh my god. Induced
menopause can also result from damage to the
ovaries caused by radiation or chemotherapy like
I mentioned earlier. Again, all these different
things can cause premature menopause. It is not
a bad thing, but it is... Well, we'll go into
the symptoms in a second. How about we just take
a short break here while I try my best to untie
my tongue from trying to say some of these words.
And we'll cover symptoms in the next piece. Hmm.
And we're back. I did say we were going to cover
the symptoms. I'm not going to lie. Well, let's
look at it this way. At least you'll now know
if you have it or not. So let's see here. Oh,
and before I go any further, if you haven't realized
this yet, I try my best to script most of my
podcasts. I try to write down what I'm mostly
going to say and use note cards as if I'm doing
a presentation. God help me if I forget something
or I say something out of line. So not out of
line. I mean, it's not correct because I've remembered
the information wrong. But for the most part,
most of this is exact from what I have researched,
at least. OK, I do a lot of reading. I like to
read even some of the most weird stuff out there.
OK, so. Most women approaching menopause, like
I mentioned before, will have hot flashes. This
is a known fact to every woman who's ever had
it or is about to go through it or has gone through
it. A sudden feeling of warmth spreads over the
upper body, often with blushing and some sweating.
You can have hot flashes normally too, but I
mean, they're more common during this period.
The severity of the hot flashes varies from mild
to most women. I'm sorry, mild in most women,
too severe in others. It can be really bad where
you have to be hospitalized, okay? Other common
symptoms, though, around the time of menopause
include irregular or skipped periods. This does
happen. Insomnia, mood swings, fatigue, depression,
irritability. Now you know why you're always
upset. Racing heart, headaches. Covered that
already. Joint and muscle aches and pains. Changes
in libido. Your sex drive is either lower or
increased. Believe it or not, that's a thing.
Vaginal dryness. It gets very dry downstairs.
Bladder control problems. You have issues either
going to the bathroom or not being able to hold
it. Now keep in mind, not all women will get
all these symptoms. You'll get like a cluster
group of some of them, but not all of them at
the same time. How do you know when you're going
through it? Now is the time we answer that question.
Either you'll suspect the approach of menopause
on your own or your doctor will, based on symptoms
you've told her about, or him, for those unlucky
enough to get a female doctor. To figure it out,
your doctor will do a certain blood test. It
also helps if you track your periods on a chart.
Most women do, but for those who don't, you should
probably. And they will become irregular. As
soon as they become irregular, you'll know that
your menstrual pattern will be an added clue
to your doctor about whether you're either in
pre -menopause or premature menopause. Pre -menopause
meaning you're about to go into it or something
has happened in your body that changed that caused
you to go into it sooner than you were supposed
to. Alright? And last bit we're going to cover
here. What long -term health problems are tied
to menopause? I like to always cover anything
that's long -term, anything that might be an
issue as a result of something, because I want
you to understand, if it has a severity, how
bad it is, okay? Earlier, I mentioned that there
is a loss of estrogen that's linked with menopause
that has been tied to a number of health problems
that become more common as a woman ages. So you
need to keep this in mind. After menopause, women
are more likely to have an issue of, and it's
not saying you will, it just says it's a possibility.
Hear me out when I say this. It's not a, oh,
I will get this. No, this is a possibility. This
is why you need to stay in prayer and let God
help you, okay? One of them is osteoporosis.
Another is heart disease. A poorly, I can't enunciate,
working bladder or bowel movement. A greater
risk. See, I said greater risk. It doesn't say
you get it. A greater risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Poor skin elasticity. Increased wrinkling. If
you take care of yourself, you won't even have
that problem. Poor muscle power and tone. Again,
if you take care of yourself, that's not as big
of an issue as it sounds. Some weakening in vision,
such as cataracts, clouding of the lenses of
your eyes, and what's the word I'm looking for
here? Macular degeneration. Basically, that's
the breakdown of the tiny spot in the center
of your retina that is the center of your vision.
Basically, you're going to have a... possibly
going to end up wearing glasses in the future
or reading glasses. Now keep this in mind. These
are possible risks. This doesn't say you will
get these items. Most people that I've met who've
already gone through menopause have never even
had any of these. Yes, some of them do wear glasses,
but most of them have worn glasses most of their
life to start with. And that can actually be
fixed with surgery. However... If for whatever
reason the retina in your eye starts to break
down, I don't know if we have a surgical procedure
nowadays to fix that, but again, a lot of things
can be taken care of surgically. A number of
the treatments can help lower risks that are
linked with these conditions, so you have to
talk to your doctor about those, okay? They should
be able to help you take care of it, alright?
Okay, actually, with that out of the way, let
me delve a little bit deeper before we get to
some frequently asked questions about menopause.
Let's see if I can get these answered as best
as I can. But first, let me go ahead and simplify
basically everything that I have covered already.
Menopause, let's see here. It simply means...
It means the end of menstruation for one year.
As a woman ages, there is a gradual decline in
the function of her ovaries and the production
of estrogen. At this point, I've said that about
10 or 20 times already, so it's understood. Around
the time a woman turns 40, this process actually
speeds up. The transition is known as perimenopause,
as I mentioned earlier. menstruate for the last
time at about 51 years of age okay a few stop
menstruating as young as 40 and a very small
percentage as late as 60 okay women who tend
to smoke however go through menopause a few years
earlier than non -smokers obvious reasons why
most women notice some menstrual changes such
as periods occurring closer together skipped
menstrual periods and occasionally Occasional
heavy periods, very heavy periods, up to a few
years before menstruation ceases. Women who have
menses will occur very close together, are heavier,
and last longer than normal. If that be the case,
they should call their healthcare provider because
these could be signs of cancer. Well, I really
don't like this word. Uterine cancer. Okay, it's
just signs of that. I'm going to leave it at
that. When I cover cancer, I'll cover what that
is. But until then, we'll just leave it at that.
All right. There is a great variation in how
women... Different women experience menopause.
About 75 % of women will have hot flashes. Like
I mentioned before, it's not as common, but it
does happen. Nighttime hot flashes and sweats
are more common, though, and may result in chronic
sleep deprivation, which is the insomnia I mentioned
before in the symptoms portion. Moon swings aren't
as well understood, but some women report...
An obvious change in mood. In addition, women
may experience the dryness I mentioned before.
If they try to have sex, their intercourse may
be painful. Urinary symptoms. Possible urinary
infection. Keep that in mind. These symptoms
are often temporary and they pass as your body
adjusts. So they don't stay. However, HRT. HRT,
HRT, HRT. Hormone replacement therapy. Sorry.
Can help relieve the symptoms in the meantime.
Non -hormone treatment options also are available,
but you would have to talk to your doctor about
that. Like I mentioned before, menopause does
increase your risk of osteoporosis, which is
the thinning of the bones and possible heart
disease. But again, these are possibilities.
These are not definites. If you talk to your
health care provider, they can help you decrease
these risks and prevent them from happening.
All right. Alright, everybody. Before we close
out, I want to cover a couple of frequently asked
questions about menopause. No one's asked me,
trust me. No one's asked me any of these. I've
actually legitimately looked these up for people
who have these same questions. Their answers
can be found pretty much on any doctoral website.
But I figured I'd go ahead and cover it since
I'm already covering menopause as a whole. I
got 10 questions here. I'm going to answer them.
I'm going to give you the answers that I found
for them. These are 10 commonly asked questions.
I actually legitimately have to go look up the
answers for them. So, first things first. The
first question said, my hot flashes aren't as
intense as the ones my friends describe. Is this
normal? Well, like I mentioned before, actually,
this... Hot flashes or flushes are common in
perimenopause. Not all women will experience
them and not all flashes are the same intensity.
Hot flashes can be as mild as a light flush or
severe enough to wake you from a sound sleep
and be associated with perspiration, also known
as night sweats. Most hot flashes last 30 seconds
to 5 minutes at most. They usually disappear
within a few years after menopause, but in some
women, they can continue for decades. I didn't
have to actually look this one up as I already
had the info for it off the top of my head. I
had just covered it for you guys. The second
question was, now that I've begun menopause,
should I be concerned about birth control? This
one was a bit difficult to actually look this
one up. You will know for sure that you have
experienced menopause when you have Not had your
period for an entire year. All right. Until you
have gone one year without a period, you should
still use birth control if you do not want to
become pregnant. Let me just say that right now.
After menopause, you should continue to practice
safe sex techniques by using the right equipment.
I'll just say it like that. To reduce the risk
of sexually transmitted diseases or STIs. And
I'm going to leave that one. alone right there
okay because with that you would have to still
speak with your doctor to know whether or not
you still need it the third question was i'm
a perimenopausal and i have been told i should
be taking a low dose birth control pills why
uh uh with this one actually i had to actually
this one i didn't look up i had to actually ask
a doctor it was a little uncomfortable i promise
Her reply was, and it is, it is common in perimenopause
to give medications to regulate cycles and common
medication given is the lower dose version of
birth control pills compared to regular birth
control pills. The lower dose of estrogen and
very low dose pills may be safer for perimenopausal
women. In other words, perimenopause typically
begins several years before your final period.
While regular birth control pills contain 30
to 50 micrograms of estrogen, these low dose
pills contain only 0 .3 to 0 .45 micrograms and
can be increased only if needed. The fourth question
was, what are some of the benefits of taking
the low dose birth control pills? This was an
ongoing thing, these questions. In addition to
prevent pregnancy, the pills can often regulate
heavy or irregular menstrual periods. It may
provide protection from ovarian and uterine cancer.
The pills may also prevent bone loss. So there's
actually a possibility of that, which can lead
to osteoporosis, as I mentioned before. But women
with a history of breast cancer, blood clots,
or heart disease, or women who smoke, should
never take these pills. I wish y 'all could have
seen the look on the lady's face when she told
me that. The fifth question was about HRT, the
hormone replacement therapy. Like I mentioned
before, it is designed for women who have menopausal
symptoms such as the hot flashes, night sweats,
insomnia, mood swings, the dryness. If it's severe
and affecting their quality of life, then yeah,
you should get it. These symptoms can go on for
years after your last period, okay? HRT replaces
and supplements the hormones your body doesn't
make anymore. So most women who use it take a
combination of estrogen and progesterone, in
which case estrogen is what helps most of the
symptoms, like the hot flashes and the dryness,
whereas the progesterone is added to protect
against uterine cancer and bone loss. Okay, so
they each have their purpose. All right? Besides
hormone replacement therapy, how can you treat
hot flashes? That was the next question. Again,
while HRT relieves the hot flashes for women,
there are other drug treatments that may offer
relief, and these include both over -the -counter
and prescribed therapies. You may recognize some
of these from their more common medical uses.
As for the over -the -counter therapies, It can
vary between vitamins, ibuprofen products, and
soy proteins found in food. The prescription
therapy includes, obviously, HRT, low -dose depression
drugs of fluoxetine or Prozac, for those who
know what that is, Prozacine, which is known
as Praxil, or Effexor. You can use that. Make
sure you ask your doctor before you take any
of these. Clonidine, a blood pressure medication,
uh, anti -seizure drugs, uh, Brisdel. It's a,
it's a formula of, um, Praxil, uh, for hot flashes
and, uh, Duivi. It's a congestive estrogen, um,
mesodoxfine formula. It's used to treat hot flashes.
But again, if you're going to take anything to
treat hot flashes, you need to consult your doctor
first. All right. Most of the treatments for
menopause are natural. Some are bio -identical
supplements that can be used in their place,
such as soybeans or wild yams. So those can actually
help. They may provide some of the benefits of
estrogen in releasing some of the symptoms. Because
people have asked, are there natural treatments
available for menopause? That was the seventh
question that was received. They commonly include
the soybeans and yams, estrodol, estrone, estriol,
a couple other things as well. I'm not going
to try to say all these names. The products are
not regulated by the U .S. Food and Drug Administration.
So keep that in mind. Question I didn't really
want to answer, but I'm going to go ahead and
answer it anyway. I'm assuming at this point
sex has become painful. The question is, what
do you do? The pain you're experiencing during
sex is due to the dryness I mentioned before.
It's associated with the decline of estrogen
levels during menopause. You have to talk to
your doctor about possible causes of painful
intercourse in the first place. There are a number
of lubricants you can try to use to relieve the
symptom, but again, you need to ask your doctor
and pharmacist for suggestions on this. There
are local estrogen treatments, creams, tablets,
and for the love of God, I don't know why, an
estrogen ring that treat the dryness. An oral
drug taken once a day, Asfina, is also available.
But again, check with your doctor. Don't just
go and take something just because. The drug
makes the tissue thicker and less fragile, resulting
in less pain. Okay? In your lady area. Just a
heads up. Menopause can change a woman's voice,
but it's not as common. Just thought I'd throw
that out there. That was the ninth question.
And the last one. What can I do about facial
hair I've developed as a result of menopause?
There are supplements for that. Again, like soy.
Soy is a great supplement. It may provide some
of the best benefits of estrogen since your body
doesn't have it. But research results are, again,
contradictory on something like that. So, I mean,
I figured I'd at least give you the information
on it. You'd still have to talk to your doctor
about it. Other botanicals, including black cohosh,
have shown some promise for reducing menopausal
sweats and hot flashes. However, again... It's
one of those things that they have to research
a little bit more. So there's that. And that
pretty much covers everything I have to say on
this specific topic. All right, everybody. Thank
you for listening. This has been a wonderful
podcast. I know it was a little bit weird for
you. If it wasn't great, it was a little bit
creepy, a little bit weird for me. But again,
this is food for thought. Thoughts are fit for
you by Neogentrics. If you like my podcast, please
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I missed something. Please feel free to let me
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