Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly depending on who you ask, menopause and perimenopause aren’t really talked about much. Women sort of fumble through this part of life relaying on whatever information your mother or older relative can remember. For some reason what happens to women’s bodies when hormones start to decline is still a mystery, even to some medical professionals.
Thankfully in the age of the internet and middle aged women who no longer care for many societal niceties, like not talking about menopause in mixed company – women are being educated about their bodies. Kristina Kuzmic, a social media influencer and author posted a video where she and a friend discuss menopause. Out loud.
Earlier in the month, I also posted on my page about those pesky hormonal changes and the things no one tells you about. In both instances, the comments were full of women shocked at the symptoms or sharing their own wisdom. But overwhelmingly, women of varying ages were thankful that the conversation was being had.
Most people know menopause is a thing that happens and is defined by when a woman has not had a period in 12 months. But what happens leading up to that? That’s the stuff we don’t talk about and that phase is called perimenopause and can start as early as your 30s and last for up to 10 years, though some women in the comment sections are saying it can last much longer.
The symptoms are kind of all over the place, which may be why some doctors don’t put things together right away. In Kuzmic’s video they go over symptoms like hair loss, hot flashes, heart palpitations, brain fog and more, in a humorous way. For starters, they call menopause “cougar puberty.”
“Am I going to smell like my teenager’s bedroom,” Kuzmic playfully asks after being told that your body odor changes. While the video is funny, it also brings a lot of information forward in an easily digestible way and the comments prove women are happy it’s being talked about.
“Peri-menopause and I’ve got it all….thanks for making me feel semi-normal today. Some days I know in my head that these changes are normal…. some days my brain says I need to run to a doctor cause I’m totally dying,” one woman wrote.
Another woman said, “Cougar Puberty. Totally love it. Totally glad to see an educational and humorous video about it.”
“A mandatory party no one wants to attend. That sums it up perfectly. Thank you for sharing candidly all we have to look forward to and hope we don’t get 1st prize of all the symptoms,” one commenter wrote.
If you’re ready to learn all about “cougar puberty” check out the video below: