My Menopause Blog

My Menopause Blog: Moved

2006-10-13T17:11:00.000-04:00

My Menopause Blog has moved here.

Click on the link.

My Menopause Blog: Media Release

2006-05-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

Guelph, Ontario Canada (PRWEB) May 10, 2006 -- When the Women’s Health Initiative Study of Hormone Replacement Therapy was halted on July 9th, 2002 after discovering that risks greatly outweighed the benefits, the more than 6 million women taking the drug at the time were left without safe, alternative menopause relief.

Almost 4 years later, the news is still the same.

By 2026, it is estimated that women over the age of 50 will make up 22 per cent of the North American population and be entering some stage of menopause. Writer Sue Richards is one of those women.

Bothered by the lack of alternative information and support, Richards started researching menopause relief. Besides finding a plethora of suggestions, she also found a community of women who like herself did not want to medicate their menopause.

Buoyed by the interest, Richards decided to compile her knowledge in the form of a blog. My Menopause Blog was launched in early February becoming one of the only full-time menopause blogs in the blogosphere written by a menopausal woman.

Richards’ three-month blog experiment has proven one thing for sure. Support by way of her daily posts is a form of relief women love. To date, over 6000 readers have enjoyed My Menopause Blog. Unlike the HRT study, the reported side effects are not considered dangerous and include laughter, induced reflection and increased understanding.

With Mother’s Day looming on Sunday May 14th Richards is hoping to encourage computer savvy kids to introduce their hormonally challenged mothers to some safe, drug free on-line menopause support by way of.

Featuring simple to use post categories for easy information retrieval, Richards offers daily posts, recommends several book titles and links to other menopausal bloggers in her blogroll. Wired sons and daughters can help their menopausal mom navigate the blogosphere and pick up a few tips about menopause management at the same time.

According to Richards, that means everyone wins.

Richards concludes, "With 22% of the female population entering some stage of menopause, your mom may not be the only woman in your life who's flashing."

Links: www.mymenopauseblog.com
www.breastofcanada.com
Phone: 519 767-0142

My Menopause Blog: Banner

2006-04-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

My Menopause Blog: Change of URL

2006-03-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

For the continuing saga of My Menopause Blog, please join me at my new digs MyMenopauseBlog.com.

If you belong to Club Meno, let me know and I'll add you to the ranks on my new site.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Blog Guelph.

My Menopause Blog: Media Release

2006-02-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

Guelph, Canada: March 1, 2006
For Immediate Release

Menopause Blog is Hot

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada recently reported that approximately four million Canadian women have now reached menopause. By 2026, it is estimated that women over the age of 50 will make up 22 per cent of the Canadian population. Statistic presented by the North American Menopause Society tells a similar story for U.S. women.

In short, the women of the world are heating up. Many of these women are looking for understanding, information and relief.

Sue Richards, author of MyMenopauseBlog.com was one of those women. After becoming a member of the peri-menopausal club and having no clue of what was happening, Richards started on a quest for knowledge about symptoms, natural remedies and treatments.

"My first need was to confirm I wasnt going crazy. After I calmed down and accepted my new life stage, I simply wanted a heads up on what I could expect and what to do."

Richards decided to do her own research and share the results with other women by way of a blog, an on-line weblog, she writes daily. Blog popularity is currently surging. Technorati, the top blog authority, tracks over 28 Million blogs, in a blogosphere that is doubling in size every 5 and a half months.

Richards' blog postings include valuable information about the stages and symptoms of menopause, including details of clever and amusing ways to deal with the 'change'. Her trademark 'smart humor' is liberally sprinkled throughout the posts, along with cartoons and Richards' photographs. A social science graduate from the University of Guelph, she honestly delves into the psychology of menopause and aging offering insights and asking questions. Books and products that cross her path, get reviewed.

My Menopause Blog started quietly in July 2005 as a Blogger blog. In February 2006, after Richards found she had developed a following of readers, the blog moved to its new domain, www.mymenopauseblog.com, with a refreshed look and new features thanks to Barking Dog Studios of Guelph.

Publisher of the fine art photography, breast health calendar Breast of Canada, Richards is no stranger to the 'dome of silence and shame' that gets mixed into women's health issues. Using her creative sensibilities, writing skill and social entrepreneur tendencies, Richards hopes that My Menopause Blog will serve as a touchstone for women who need to know that they will survive and that they are not alone.

"I feel so much better since I started the blog. If nothing else, my attitude has improved and I'm not as confused about what is going on with my body anymore. Plus I'm so much more open about this whacky experience. If I'm having a hot flash, I don't try to hide it. In fact, I'm working on a meno-stripper routine," jokes Richards.

Other MyMenopauseBlog.com features include Club Meno, a listing of links to other menopausal bloggers, paid advertising by Google, a comprehensive post filing system of specific categories, over 160 posts and a place for readers to leave their comments.

For more information about MyMenopauseBlog.com please contact:
Sue Richards at: artjam@artjam.org

Link: http://www.mymenopauseblog.com
Link: http://www.breastofcanada.com

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

My Menopause Blog: Hot Flash! I've Moved

2006-02-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends of My Menopause,

No longer will I be posting on this site.

Instead, I will be offering up my take, tips and talk on menopause at:

www.mymenopauseblog.com

That's www.mymenopauseblog.com.

I'm still tidying up over there, but you sure are welcome to drop by.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, blog, hot flash, new blog skin

My Menopause Blog: Computer Angst

2006-02-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

My sexy new blog skin is almost ready to be hatched.

The team at Barking Dog Studios have done a sweet job with every little detail. I suspect you fine readers will be swooning when we go live.

Still, even with a team of pros, I am a bag of nerves when it comes to any of my work that requires computer technology. I can change the oil in my car, but when faced with an email error message...this chick is in the dark, huddled in a corner, with the edge of her blankie stuck in her mouth.

It all stems back to my first and only university level computer course. So keen was I too learn this 'new' way of communicating, way back in 1981, certain that I would excel, what with my excellent marks in typing, math and accounting tucked under my beaded belt. Within the second class, my confidence started dripping from ever pore. Nothing made sense. I started doing double time classes, hired a tutor, lived in the computer lab, only to end with a spectacular 32% final mark.

Thirty two percent screams: Not a fucking clue.

I hid it all rather well simply by jumping into more art and psychology courses, which I did have a natural handle on. But the damage was clearly done. My fear of computers penetrated deep into my consciousness.

Perhaps the next time I have a flash...like in about 15 minutes, I should cast my mind back to that shameful time and see if I can burn that debilitating memory to cinders.

I do hate it when I still react to things that happened 25 years ago.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, computers, hot flash, blog skin

My Menopause Blog: Sterilizing Myself

2006-02-01T00:52:00.000-05:00

Leslie thinks that the heat from hot flashes keeps germs down and illness at bay. She could very well have a point.

Moist heat may be just the thing to keep flu and colds away but I fear that it's the perfect condition for mold and fungi. So, after I'm heated into a lather, I will diligently perform a lemon rinse to rid myself of spores.

Fruit flies will be another issue.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, fruit flies, hot flash.

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Ordered

2006-01-31T23:42:00.000-05:00

My order fax just went through for one, count em, one saliva test.

The cost threw me off at first. One Hundred and five dollars in Canuck Bucks, including shipping seemed out of my range. But then a funny thing happened. My Hot Flash dial got turned up several notches and I turned into a blazing furnace.

Take Saturday for instance.

I ran the Information Table at the 25th Organic Agriculture Conference. Normally a freezing affair, this year, I darn near melted. I was soaked more than once. Red in the face several times. Flashing my stomach brought some relief as I fanned myself with my untucked shirt. But mostly, I cooked in my own juices.

How organic is that!!

Sunday was no different. I was exhausted from all the effort required to simply keep cool and sane. Today, I fished out the Saliva Test form and put these wheels in motion.

I'm also thinking of buying a fire extinguisher. Just a small one. Something I can slip in my pocket and use for the real spine burners.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, saliva test, hot flash.

My Menopause Blog: The Change

2006-01-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

Me thinks we've got it all wrong.

For some reason, women of a certain age are told that we are about to go through The Change implying that the change comes on the heels of a period of non-change.

Buying this bucket of bunk makes no sense. Change is and always will be constant.

When I met my new wee 7 pound 7 ounce neighbour, and compared our finger size, I could not help but think of the massive change before her. Heck, let's even consider the massive change she's just gone through. The gal was sperm and egg a mere 9 months ago. Up until Friday, she was inside her mom.

In reality, the new kid on my block is already growing up. Put another way. She is aging, just like me.

Children change daily. I have a door frame where my stepchildren were measured on a monthly basis, marks creeping up the wall to prove their growth. Teenagers sprout hair, new shapes and different pitched voices. Once into our twenties, our independence and social changes are mind blowing. Perhaps our thirties are the decade of least physical change. Most body parts work and energy remains constant, but attitudes shift and needs and wants reform from early, less mature ideals. Then the forties roll in. Energy levels shift again , hair greys, eye sight weakens, joints stiffen, memory gets dodgy, fat accumulates.

A life time of change is behind us, yet, we're told, that 'The Change' is before us.

So what the hell did I just live through? And who is trying to make the future seem ominously different?

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, The Change, aging.

My Menopause Blog: Birth in Guelph

2006-01-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Menopause is one end of the reproductive spectrum. Birth fits somewhere in the middle.

At 8:01am this morning, a baby girl was born on my street, right next door to my house. A few hours later, Poppa and BIG sister were sitting outside in the warm January sun. Momma and babe, tucked together, asleep upstairs. The midwives have gone, pleased to have been involved in an easy birth.

I tied pink ribbon round the ole Maple tree out front.

Everyone is excited.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards.

My Menopause Blog: My Kitchen Chair

2006-01-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

This is my kitchen chair, occupied by my butt since 1970, the same year I 'became a woman'.

In 1970, the funky Dalamation print that you see was but a dream. Said chair was covered in a dense avocado green poly-toxic material.

For contrasts sake and to bring some tangible evidence to my previously mention love of orange, I keep my chair in my dining room which is painted the colour Pumpkin.

Orange is the colour of creativity and safety. I find this juxtaposition comforting. It takes courage to be creative. How handy that the very colour I most delight in will also help protect me.

My kitchen chair has seen me through my entire reproductive cycle. Although slightly frayed and discoloured, it is as reliable and comfortable now as it first was thirty six years ago.

Same as me.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, reproductive cycle, orange.

My Menopause Day: Orangeness Day

2006-01-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

So you know and can prepare yourself for one of my personal favorite days of the year, tomorrow, January 26th, is Orangeness Day.

The colour. Not the fruit or the funny religious connotation.

Orangeness Day was invented by me, with an assist going to a newspaper guy I love reading. Scott Tracey has a knack with the English language that few can claim. He works in my town, writing for our local rag.

You do not need to get permission to make up dates if you publish a calendar. It's one of the perks of the job. All you have to do is simply publish the date and voila, everyone who owns your calendar knows to celebrate.

Clever eh??

Good way to plant cheery thoughts and fun activities throughout the year. Then, slowly but surely, take over the WWW, followed by the world, then the universe...just by directing peoples thoughts with a calendar!!! (Not so evil laugh).

Right then.

You may have noticed that I lean towards self-authority in many areas of my life...not to mention grand delusions. I've never been one to get permission. Too much red tape, people saying no because they're boring...stuff like that. Besides, who would you ask about something like a day that celebrates my favorite bright warm colour, in the dead of winter.

Me: Hello, is this the office of Making Up Dates For Nice Colours.

As you can see already, this will go nowhere. Especially if you don't believe orange to be nice.

So, Orangeness Day gives you the option of Overt Orangeness...top to bottom draping. Internal Orangeness....warm thoughts. Cheerful Orangeness...a sunny disposition. Cosmic Orangeness....glowing from within. Orangeitarian Orangeness....orange food for a day.

Pick one, none or all. Have fun, be fun or be glum. Decide for yourself. Be your own authority. You're menopausal.

Sue Richards

I've moved to: www.mymenopauseblog.com

The Breast Views Headline: Breasted Canadian Politcian

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards. Orangeness Day, authority, fun.

My Menopause Blog: Menopause Dream??

2006-01-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last nights dream went something like this.

I'm in India about to attend a course on Geography. Before checking into my hotel/room I find the class room and get a visual of the male teacher who happens to be my grade 11 highschool geography teacher.

I sit on a bench, outside the school/room, in the heat and sun. Lush plants surround me. I'm aware that I am doing this course, not to learn about geography, but to get away from my old geography of life in my city and from my relationships that are stuck.

Suddenly, I get itchy and notice a rash spreading rather rapidly across my arm. I immediately go to a clinic, where two women calmly, yet firmly get me to lie down on a bed. They are clearly concerned as they lift my shirt to find a thick, red rash spreading across my chest. Then I start to puff up like a balloon. One woman goes and gets two very large clamps like a monster plumber would use, and clamps both of my legs off at the hip, before the rash and swelling spreads in that direction.

The other woman starts spraying my body with a fire extinguisher. I'm talking a mile a minute. Telling them my next of kin, my regrets, messages that need to be given to loved ones, where my luggage is. I feel certain I am dying.

Suddenly, the Geography teacher appears in the clinic.

I take one of the clamps off my leg and throw it at him to get his attention. In my mind, he will save me.

I wake up as he turns around.

Sue Richards

PS: Are there any dream people out there?

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, dream.

My Menopause Blog: Winter

2006-01-23T14:34:00.000-05:00

Menopause is often referred to as the winter of a woman's life.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Photo.

My Menopause Blog: Vote

2006-01-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Canadians go to the polls.

At least, Canadians could go to the polls. Yet for many reasons, only 60% of Canadians go...the other 40% don't bother.

If you fall into the 40% category, please jump ship and join the 60% tribe. If you feel your voice is not heard due to our stupid, 'first past the post' system of counting ballots, you have two party choices as far as I can see. Both the Green Party and the NDP claim that they will work toward getting 'proportional representation' in place. This alone would be a very big improvement for folks that see the world as a buffet of differences and believe in a triple bottom line rather than a cut and dry view of right and wrong underlined with the belief that money is everything.

If you are tired of the three national parties and their talking heads, then a vote for the Green Party will elevate their numbers above the 'leader can be invited to televised debates' cut off mark and at least improve the dialogue for the 'next' election.

So there. Two reasons to go mark your ballot.

Please.

Pretty please.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Canada,NDP, Green Party, proportional representation

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Found

2006-01-20T11:10:00.000-05:00

All is not lost.

Two women have come forward with Saliva Test information. Both are leading me to the same test which I will follow up on in due time. I'm more curious than ever to learn how my hormone levels will stack up and what else I can do to support myself through the pause.

I like it when two people, unknown to each other, end up endorsing the same thing. There is comfort in numbers and satisfaction in knowing that if ye seek, ye shall find. Unless of course it's a damn photo of a hippo footprint ye are seeking. Then, it's seek until you turn blue and then weep with frustration.

Quickly, because I don't want to give this more ice time than it deserves, I've been nattering with myself all week about 'getting behind'. The result of such self bitching serves me poorly.

Finally, yesterday, while doing Little Boat Pose at my yoga class, I made reference to the 'behind' belief and my yoga instructor said, "getting behind what"? She went on to suggest (once again, because this is a tricky yet liberating concept that needs repeating), the idea of getting behind implies that you are currently not where you are suppose to be. When in fact, where you are is where you are, which must be where you are suppose to be. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.

For an instant, that so far, has been held over to today, I am no longer behind. I'm here.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, yoga, saliva testing.

Today's Breast Views Blog Headline: The Day My Boobs Went Bust.

My Menopause Blog: Flashback

2006-01-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have a photo that I took of my boot sitting inside of the footprint of a hippopotamus. My foot, of course is inside the boot.

I am not at the zoo.

I am in Africa. More precisely, I'm on safari, in the Serengeti, with my man, a Swedish couple, a cook and our guide, Mr. Joseph.

I have been looking for the photo for several days. I can see it, plain as day, tucked inside a book with a few other choice shots. Yet, so far, the book and the shot have eluded me.

My purpose for bring this up is not to brag. Instead I want to marvel. The one month trip happened in January 2001. Now five year's later, in my wildest dreams, I can't wrap my head around who the hell that Sue Richards was. How did she do that....just show up in Tanzania, with a return ticket, carry on luggage and a modest stash of money belted to her belly....and nothing more. How did she end up in that jeep, with those people, and her foot greatly outsized by the print of a hippo? A hippo for crying out loud. A big bloody in the wild hippo!

When my new blog skin is up and ready, I will have a photo section. It will be called Flashback. The photos will be a retrospect of sorts. From days gone by. Hippo foot will be featured, if I can find it.

There are days that I need to remind myself of myself.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Africa

My Menopause Blog: New Age Middle Aged

2006-01-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

Very likely, someone who didn't know me well, would lump me under the category of New Age. Even though I roll my eyes at the term and don't listen to sounds of the seashore on my iPod while staring at a crystal, enough whonky ideas come out of my mouth to give some folks that impression. Still, let me be clear. I don't own an iPod. I go to the beach for an authentic wave listening experience. And crystals need dusting.

I don't dust.

Still, I lean towards organic food, a non-medical model of health care, soul searching, the odd wind chime and a belief system that sees us all as interconnected.

I also think in terms of energy. Some people's energy suck the life out of me as soon as they come into my range. Other's fill me to the brim. Same experience applies to events and work. Before taking on anything, be it a walk with a friend or a work contract, I do the energy math before going forward.

One of the head honchos in the energy world way of thinking is Dr.Caroline Myss. I saw her whip a room of 1200 into a frenzy a couple years back during a talk she did in Toronto. Besides being stand up comic quality, she's quick to call your number when she sees it. Another words, she calls a spade, a spade. I love spade callers.

Yesterday, this insight of Carolyn's made it into my in box.

"What’s true is that the New Age is not new any more. It’s “middle aged” and it needs to mature and shed its “healer, victim consciousness, narcissistic” image and evolve into its next level of maturity."

Further down she adds:

"Never mind saying, I know I was meant to do something special - THEN DO IT!!!! STOP SAYING THAT ALREADY!!!! ENOUGH! Begin with blessing the life you have and every one in it and making conscious choices every day that put your spiritual life into practice IN THE MIDST OF THE BATTLEFIELD OF YOUR LIFE AND NOT THE SPA OR THE YOGA CLASS!!

There you have it. A spade.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Caroline Myss, New Age, middle age, Sue Richards.

My Menopause Blog: What You Think

2006-01-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

I've been roaming the Blogoshere? Reading comments, checking in. Checking out.

And now I'm wondering...is My Menopause Blog too much for people?

Sue Richards

My Calendar Girl Blog is way over here.

My Menopause Blog: Sand Man

2006-01-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

Guelph is covered in ice.

And I'm not sleeping.

The Sand Man would do well in this town.

Sue Richards

My Menopause Blog: Saliva Test Experiment

2006-01-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

I will refrain from further talk of sex for the time being and focus my attention back on Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy. Still, you've got to admit, once you get past the shock of the word clitoris and the base eleven minute assumption of the sex act, the notion of men 'discovering' women's body parts and our world 'rotating' around sex is pretty amusing and informative.

I am in luck. This blog has caught the attention of a pharmacist who believes whole heartedly in BHRT and is willing to share some information. Plus a second woman has been sending me info on Saliva Testing, a precursor to BHRT.

So here's what I'm going to do. I will get a Saliva Test done and reveal the process in this blog. I'm currently not taking any form of hormone replacement so I will be coming at the experiment as is. First I need to find out how I can do this in my city. Then do the test and wait for the results. So please do not hold your breath for yea might turn blue in the face and cease to be able to follow along.

The blog move that I promised a week ago is still underway, slowly, with a couple new jumps to make, but still in motion. When that transpires, I will have categories. I will be sure to have a Saliva Test category so all the facts I find can be neat and tidy packed into one easy to find place.

This all makes so much sense.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, saliva testing, Sue Richards, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

My Menopause Blog: Man Discovers the Clitoris

2006-01-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is the Sunday post of the racy weekend edition.

I'm still reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. In a conversation between Maria, the prostitute and her female librarian friend, yes an unlikely coupling, the librarian reports some findings from a collection of sex books she's glanced through.

"Did you know, for example, that the clitoris is a recent invention" queries the librarian.

"It (the clitoris) was officially accepted in 1559, after a doctor (man), Realdo Columbo published a book entitled De re anatomica."

Further down the page the librarian goes on to explain that in 1561, another doctor (man) names Gabriello Fallopio, claimed the he discovered the clitoris.

Once again I put down the book.

Sixty seven years earlier, Before Clitoris, in 1492, Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America. Apparently he and his crew were greeted by people as they beached their boats. These people of course believed they were at home, where they'd lived for hundreds of years. Intimately familiar with the hills, forests, rivers, valley's, mountains and general lay and flow of the land these people likely thought they were discovering Chris and the boys on their beach.

But I guess the first guy to plant a flag in something is the real discoverer. And I think it's telling, although I'm not precisely sure of what, that America was discovered Before the clitoris. If nothing else, it speaks of priorities rather clearly.

This may be something to be wary of as you live your life. According to history, until something is claimed, named and stabbed with a cloth topped stick, it is up for grabs. And your needs, that being the female version, may not be at the top of the list.

And so dear women, our clitoris was discovered by a man in or around 1560. Prior to that, who knew? And how could we know. 'Down there' was distinctly considered off limits despite being part of our body.

As the actual flesh and blood owner of a clitoris I am indebted to these men and eternally grateful that I was not born prior to their critical clitoral discovery. What a celebration there must have been in 1559. Dancing, singing, women laughing, bells ringing, perhaps a loud and joyous parade in the centre of every town, city and village. Ah yes, the thoughts do warm my heart. Must have been quite a party!

Where I live, we have a provincial motto that's printed on our car license plates. 'Ontario: Yours to Discover'. Please be forewarned. The descendents of Realdo, Gabriello, Christopher are amoung us. They might just be looking to discover something that is already yours.

Sue Richards

P.S. My Menopause Blog has moved to http://www.mymenopauseblog.com.

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, clitoris, Christopher Columbus.

My Menopause Blog: Sex

2006-01-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

Please consider this post the racy weekend edition.

I'm reading Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho, author of one of my all time favourite books, The Alchemist.

Eleven Minutes is about "the sacred nature of sex within the context of love". Eleven minutes is also considered to be the average amount of time two people spend performing the act of sex.

This of course does not include foreplay, undressing and what not. That would be another five or six minutes worth of time spent for sure.

Maria, the main character in the story, a young woman turned prostitute, concludes after six months of working her trade, that the world evolves around something that only takes eleven minutes. Me thinks that 'the world' to Maria, equals 'men'.

More concisely, the world of men evolves around sex, the eleven minute act.

I put down the book and started wondering. It certainly seems to be the case that menopause triggers fear in our deeply rooted understanding of our own sexuality which definitely rotates around the act of having sex. So just as the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, menopause is connected to sex.

From what I gather and experience, menopause exposes our fears of loosing our sexual desire, our sexual ability, our partner, our identity, our attractiveness, our access to partners, our reproductive ability and our sexual energy. The fearing can consume us, motivate us to have risky cosmetic surgery designed to turn back the physical aging clock, take questionable drugs to stop menopause and behave in ways that do not support our soul or spirit.

From here, my thoughts led me to this question. If the world of men is consumed by sex, the eleven minute act, is there a way that we women as individuals, can take the remaining twenty three hour and forty nine minutes in the day and consume ourselves with something else?

Maybe pick something positive, wise and complimentary to the common good?

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, sex, Paulo Coelho.

My Menopause Blog: Bioidentical Hormone Scoop

2006-01-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's a small scoop of information on bioidentical hormone replacement (BHR).

First off, one of the reasons that BHR is not sweeping the nation is money. Drug companies are not allowed to patent a bioidentical structure. No patent means no control.

Remembering that drug companies are businesses with a bottom line of making money, doing anything without a patent would be considered altruistic. Drug companies are capitalistic. So as a way of getting in on the big business of menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy was invented. Synthetic hormones can be patent. Big steaming piles of money can be made.

BHT is created to have the same molecular structure as the hormones made by your own body. There are a few branded one-size-fits-all, over the counter BHT's available. Or you can take the individual approach.

I've never thought of myself as an off-the-rack kind of gal so this feature, the dose for Sue, appeals to me on a number of levels. In fact, even though I weigh in as a 'medium' pretty much across the board, I dislike the universal herding that goes on in our society. We are much more different than the same.

'Monoism' as it is being called, exists because it is easier to distill a group of people down to one belief. Plus, it's much more lucrative. Not that I want to keep suggesting that it's all about money.....or maybe I do.....since I seem to go on about that. But back to my point, I believe that it's best to keep the individual spirit alive.

Still, 'the dose for you' approach does come with responsibility and more effort than what it takes to belly up to the pharmacy bar and get a bottle of 'Pills R U'.

Individualized BHT users are closely monitored every three months until balance is restored. Monitoring includes checking your current hormone levels.

I like the sound of 'closely monitored'. Too often we hear about people who fall through cracks in the medical stream and suffer needlessly. Call me a suck, but I'm definitely not into needless suffering for any reason.

The close monitoring is to ensure that you are taking the lowest dosage possible while getting the greatest relief available. This sounds right up my alley. Why use a bomb to kill a fly when a fly swatter will do.

So there's a bit of BHR info to carefully chew on. More in another post as my gathering continues.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Bioidentical Hormone Replacement.