Over the last week or so my wife and I have started to watch the US TV series “House of Cards”.  If you have any interest in politics and the goings on of the US Congress I’d really recommend it.  But TV reviewing is not really part of the remit of this blog.  The reason I bring the subject up is that Claire Underwood (brilliantly played by Robin Wright) is portrayed as going through the menopause.

Now this really interested both of us.   While the menopause is a reality for so many women it does not seem to feature much in dramas and books.  It is almost seems to be intentionally ignored.  Which is odd for an event which almost all women will experience and  is referred to by some as the “change in life”.

This leads me to the point of this blog.  We are asking our readers to share their experiences of the menopause and how it has affected their lives.

In a nutshell the menopause is when a woman stops menstruating.  This means that she no longer produces eggs and thus ceases to be able to have children.  According to the UK’s NHS web site “The menopause is caused by a change in the balance of the body’s sex hormones.  In the lead up to the menopause (perimenopause) oestrogen levels decrease, this causes the ovaries to stop producing an egg each month (ovulation). Oestrogen is the female sex hormone that regulates a woman’s periods.”

In practice this can mean:-

• Heart palpitations i.e. a change in heart rate
• Mood swings
• Night sweats
• Insomnia
• Hot flushes
• Loss of sexual desire
• Urinary tract infections

So how is the menopause treated? In fact for many women no treatment is necessary as symptoms can be very mild. But for those women who have stronger symptoms there are a number of treatments. Most notable is Hormone Replacement Therapy  or HRT. This is where the oestrogen produced by the women’s body is replaced by an artificial source. This could be in the form of a patch, tablet or even an implant.  Other women can be treated with a synthetic hormone called Tibolone which acts in a very similar fashion to HRT.

Some women have tried herbal treatments and vitamin supplements to deal with the symptoms of the menopause.

So over to you.  We are very interested in your views and experiences in and around the menopause.  Anything you wish to share will be of great interest to our other readers.  But it would be great if you could consider some of the following questions.

1)      Why does such a major event as the menopause seem to be brushed under the carpet by the mass media?

2)      What symptoms of the menopause have you had?

3)      How did the menopause affect your lifestyle?

4)      What treatments did you use and how successful were they?

5)      What one piece of advice would you give to a woman who has just started the menopause?

Thanks very much in advance.