Recently, my mother's mood swings have been a bit big, and I am also prone to irritability due to work pressure, and I will quarrel at the slightest mistake, and our relationship has become more and more tense in recent months.
I could clearly detect that she was getting angry with me and my dad more and more often, and we were exhausted every day by jumping and running back and forth between compromise and conflict.
Combined with her various symptoms and manifestations, I suspect that she may have entered "menopause".
And in the process of learning about menopause, I learned why my mother never wanted to talk about her menopause and all kinds of discomfort.
The pain that menopausal moms endure
There's more than we think
I thought it wasn't a big deal.
But because of long-term stigma and insufficient cognition, people confuse menopause with hysteria, nonsense, and aging, resulting in mothers unable to calmly accept that they have entered menopause, let alone correctly understand menopause.
It may seem like an unspeakable thing to say, but its essence is as vital an experience in life as the adolescence we have experienced.
Menopause refers to the period before and after female menopause, which is a special physiological stage of transition from reproductive to old age, mostly between 40~65 years old, including menopausal transition and postmenopausal period [1].
Due to the decline of female ovarian function, the level of secreted sex hormones fluctuates and decreases, and a series of physical and psychopsychological symptoms that occur during menopause are called menopausal syndrome [2].
Different from the simple emotional irritability in the public impression, through chatting with my mother, I found that she has developed many symptoms, such as: sweating, difficulty sleeping, no longer interested in the square dance she originally liked, an inconspicuous little thing may make her cry suddenly, it turns out that menopause is slowly eroding her mother's body and mind.
Later, after consulting with a doctor, I realized that all I felt was just the tip of the iceberg of my mother's menopause, and my mother in menopause suffered far more than we thought.
During this period, she faced the aging process of sagging skin and wrinkles, as well as the risk of obesity and metabolic abnormalities, as well as psychological and physical torture.
And these symptoms are like a mountain pressing on her mother, but she has been holding back and not saying anything.
My mother's whole life seems to be enduring, enduring the pain of childbirth, enduring the pain of parenting, and enduring the annoyance of menopause, and many times I hope she can say it instead of choosing to endure alone.
Unfortunately, endless patience does not relieve symptoms and can cause a lot of long-term harm, because the hormone levels in the mother's body are constantly at work.
Decreased hormone levels
The damage to the body is all-encompassing
Most menopausal syndromes are caused by fluctuating and falling hormone levels.
Before menopause, female hormones change periodically with the menstrual cycle. However, after entering menopause, the level of hormones secreted regularly fluctuates and rapidly declines, resulting in various functional disorders in the body and increasing the risk of metabolic diseases in women, which also brings other longer-term effects to the body.
For menopausal women, while solving the symptoms, it is necessary to "prevent it before it happens".
There are some "lucky" mothers who, although they may not have obvious symptoms during menopause, are also at risk because of their reduced estrogen levels.
We can take my mother for a health check-up once a year, record the results of the physical examination, and find health problems in time. In addition to the common health problems faced by middle-aged and older women, menopause also requires special attention:
➊ High blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, coronary heart disease
Menopause is a high incidence stage of chronic diseases in adults, prone to various chronic diseases, and the decrease in estrogen levels will affect the metabolic level of menopausal women, thereby increasing the risk of coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, diabetes and other diseases [4].
➋ Osteoporosis and osteoarthropathy
Estrogen deficiency during menopause can lead to increased osteoclast function and accelerated bone loss [5], which in turn can lead to osteoporosis and even fractures [6], of which hip and vertebral fractures can reduce life expectancy, and the mortality rate of long-term bed rest can reach 20% within 1 year, and the permanent disability rate can reach 50% [7].
At present, bone density examination is the most commonly used means of diagnosing osteoporosis, and can be measured in the medulla, lumbar spine and whole body [2]; Menopausal women can also use the Asian Osteoporosis Self-Screening Tool (OSTA) for screening, and the calculation formula and the corresponding osteoporosis risk level can be referred to the table below.
Seek help from a doctor if necessary
Help mom through menopause smoothly
Many of the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause can be alleviated with the right intervention and treatment. But menopausal mothers know very little about this, and they don't even know what department to see when faced with multiple symptoms.
Therefore, the first step that uncomfortable mothers should do is to seek help from menopausal clinics or gynecological endocrinologists in time and treat them under professional guidance.
The 2023 edition of the Chinese Guidelines for Menopause Management and Menopause Hormone Therapy states that hormone therapy is the only package solution to the problems associated with postmenopausal hormone deficiency [6].
In addition to the help of doctors, we should also encourage mothers to face menopause with a positive attitude in daily life, and can regulate their state through diet, sleep, and exercise.
Not just my mom, there are different women all over the world who are facing the challenges of menopause.
The following readings chronicle the real menopausal experiences of women from four different countries, hoping that mothers can be encouraged to bravely embrace the next chapter of their lives in the company of their families. Scan the code to read ↓
The drop in hormone levels not only brings serious mood swings to the mother, but also causes the body to produce a lot of uncomfortable symptoms.
And the negative emotions we can feel may be her uncontrollable release, and it is also her mother's call for help after her struggle. If we understand menopause earlier, we can receive signals from our mother earlier and accompany her to better survive this difficult period.
Maybe it's a long process, but let's take it slowly.
Today is Mother's Day, while expressing love and gratitude with your mother, don't forget to take care of your mother's emotions and changes. If your mother is also facing menopause, remember to bring her with you to seek the help of a professional doctor, and you can quickly check your nearest menopausal clinic below.
This long journey for women must go through and needs to be understood by more people, and this is also the process of reconciliation between us and ourselves and our mothers, I hope that mothers can spend this period safely and happily, and wish mothers a happy holiday to the world!
#妈妈进入更年期会面临多少痛苦 #
Bibliography:
[1] Expert Consensus on Menopausal Women's Health Management (Primary Edition) Chinese Journal of General Practice, 2021,24(11): 1317-1324
[2] General Practitioner Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Community and Grassroots Branch of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Society. Expert consensus on menopausal women's health management (primary version)[J].Chinese Journal of General Practice,2021,24(11):1317-1324.)
[3] XIE Xing, KONG Beihua, DUAN Tao. Obstetrics and Gynecology. People's Medical Publishing House, Beijing, 2019, 9th edition:354.
[4] Women's Health Branch, Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, Menopause Health Care Group. Guidelines for the health of menopausal women(2015)[J].Electronic Journal of Practical Gynecological Endocrinology,2016,3(2):21-32.)
[5] GE Junbo,XU Yongjian,WANG Chen. Internal Medicine, 9th Edition, People's Medical Publishing House, Beijing, 2018: 787
[6] Menopause Group, Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch, Chinese Medical Association. Guidelines for the management of menopause and menopausal hormone therapy in China 2023 edition. Chinese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,58(1):4-21.
[7] Guidelines for standardized anti-osteoporosis treatment after surgery for fragility fractures in China (2021). ZHANG Mileage, JIANG Qiheng, LV Houchen. Chinese Journal of Trauma and Orthopaedics, 2021,23(02): 93-101.
[8] de VilliersTJ, PinesA, PanayN, et al. Updated 2013 International Menopause Society recommendations on menopausal hormone therapy and preventive strategies for midlife health[J]. Climacteric, 2013, 16： 316– 337.
[9] ChenR. Progress on hormone therap in menopausal women[J]. Chin J Pract Gynecol Obstetr， 2014, 30： 38– 40. (in Chinese) CHEN Rong. Recent advances in menopausal hormone therapy[J]. Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2014, 30: 38– 40.
[10] Menopause Group, Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch, Chinese Medical Association. Guidelines for the clinical application of menopausal management and hormone supplementation therapy(2012 edition)[J].Chinese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,2013,48(10): 795- 799.) DOI:10.3760/cma.j.issn.0529-567x.2013.10.018.
Yong Zhou(Review),Zhenwei Xie,Hangmei Jin(Reviser).Biological role of estrogen in anti-skin aging[J].Chinese Journal of Aesthetic Medicine,2017,26(1):27-30.)
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