Menopause sufferers find pandemic especially hard
As if life isn’t difficult enough right now, there are millions of women trying to cope with menopause during a global pandemic. How do you do it?
Hot Flashes
Is it a fever, or is it Covid?
That’s the million-dollar question every middle-aged woman is asking herself. Me included. Since the beginning of this pandemic, it’s been difficult to differentiate between Covid and menopause.
I have many hot flashes throughout the day and immediately I run to my thermometer. It’s crazy because it’s usually normal, but it sure gives me a scare. How about you?
Of all the billions of people on the planet right now, I think perhaps menopausal women are among the most bothered by this pandemic. By bothered, I mean, they already have a lot going on with their health.
Perhaps menopausal women should be categorized as high risk. I can only speak for myself here, but I had many ER visits since this pandemic started and that is ridiculous. The issues were unrelated to Covid, but related to aging and menopause instead.
Of all the times to have your body start breaking down. This is not the time. However, it is happening to many women just like you and me. So, what do we do about it?
I don’t have a lot of answers. I wish I did, but all I can say is try to stay positive no matter what you face. Menopause gives us double trouble when it’s coupled with Covid so try to stay as healthy as you can.
In the meantime, I decided to write a pandemic book called, Surviving Menopause – One Positive Thought at a time. It really helped me stay positive during this crazy time.
Weight Gain
More popcorn please!
I remember when the pandemic started. Even though I remained working full time from home for the first year, I still took every opportunity to binge watch Netflix and scarf down the goodies.
Being a woman in menopause, that’s not good. It seems any amount of junk food goes right to my belly. Needless to say, I gained a few pounds during the first year of Covid. I think a lot of us can relate.
Thankfully, I knew how to fix it. When I can’t fit into my clothes, I run to my weight loss book for menopause. Hungry Old Lady – Intermittent Fasting for Menopause.
It’s my only hope.
I have been an intermittent faster since 2014. I’ve tried different types of fasts and I like the one they call 5:2 the best. I basically don’t eat anything on Mondays and Thursdays. It’s just water for me on those days.
I’m used to it, but there is a gradual process if you want to learn how to do it. I’d suggest reading up on it.
I’ve lost those Covid pounds now, and hope to stick to eating right. You can binge-watch your favorite show, even treat yourself, just not every night.
Exercise
When I started putting on pounds due to the pandemic, I freaked out. I was so proud of myself for losing my initial fifty pounds when I first started intermittent fasting years ago, so gaining anything was a major downer. I had to do something.
Not only had I gained during Covid, but I had been lethargic as well. A combination of working from home, sitting all day, and laying around watching movies, did me in.
So, what did I do? I joined Beachbody. I aggressively started working out and ended up hurting my knee. I overdid it and nearly broke down.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Beachbody. I learned how to weight lift and box. It was incredible. But my point is, when you’re over fifty, you have to exercise in moderation.
I ended up cancelling my prescription after a year because I realized it wasn’t good for me. In fact, I wish they actually had programs that were specifically for menopausal women.
Most of us have creaky bones, atrophied muscles, and we don’t move the same as our younger counterparts. I had to realize that. It took me a while to understand I couldn’t work out like I did in the 80’s.
You might not agree with me, but many will. When you’re over fifty, you have to do things differently. I learned that lifting weights is one of the best things for menopause. I still do that, in moderation.
Instead of pushing myself to do high-impact aerobics to make me sweat, I skip that. Is sweating really that important when you take into account we sweat during hot flashes on a daily basis anyway?
I just walk for exercise now. I don’t care what people say. I like it. My body likes it. As you get older, you realize it’s more about being happy. Walking makes me happy.
Stress
This pandemic has caused a lot of stress for many people. You don’t even have to be going through menopause to experience it. It’s everywhere.
Between job stress and body stress, I was a walking stress ball when the pandemic first started. My job had a huge up-tick in business unlike many other jobs that slowed down during this time.
That’s a good thing, but it didn’t help my stress level. Of all the times to go through menopause, I had to go through it during a global pandemic.
I’m sure you understand what I mean. If it isn’t job stress you are experiencing, it’s lack of a job that is causing difficulty. Many people lost their livelihoods. They can’t pay bills. They have no idea how to make ends meet now.
With menopause, all that stress just feels way worse. So, what do you do about it? Do you curl up in the fetal position and hibernate until this is all over?
I can tell you what. When this is all over, you will still be a menopausal woman. Then what? Will things suddenly be easier?
Perhaps things will calm down once the pandemic is over, if it will ever end. But for the most part, you will still have stress. You will still experience the changes in this weird time-frame we’re in.
Menopause is all about change and body stress. So, again, I ask. What can we do about the stress? Should we drown ourselves in a glass or two of wine every night? Maybe. Should we medicate until we feel so numb, we can’t function? Perhaps. Or, should we find other ways to cope?
Laughter can help you cope. I wrote a book called, The Funny Side of Menopause, and I did just that. I laughed about myself. And you know what? It helps.
When I laugh, my stress doesn’t feel so bad. I also like to spend time with my grandkids when I can. Sure, they aren’t always available, and that was a challenge before the pandemic, but I take every opportunity to spend time with my loved ones. That is a stress reliever right there!
The Video Chat
Now this is another problem.
When I say spend time with your family, I don’t mean Zoom or Facetime, or Facebook Video Chat. Nope!
At first, when the pandemic started, we all jumped on the video chat bandwagon. It was a new thing for some, but for me it felt like an extension of work.
I had Zoom meetings all the time. A bunch of heads on a screen is not fun to me. It’s impersonal and cold. Sorry, I know some like that, but I don’t. I prefer human contact.
After a while, video chats get old. I longed to see my grandchildren and hug their little bodies before they grew too old to not want hugs from Nana anymore. It made me cry many a time.
Crying seemed to be the norm in that first year of Covid. I wanted to get together but there were so many restrictions. I couldn’t go see my grandkids and they couldn’t come over. We need to keep you safe, Nana! I was told over and over again.
At my lowest point, I just didn’t care. I remember saying I’d rather risk death than go without seeing my loved ones. I was tired. I am tired of this. Aren’t you!
I just want things to be normal. As a woman going through menopause, I certainly know that normal isn’t coming back. I will never be young again.
There are so many changes happening all at once, it’s hard to hold on to any kind of normalcy when it comes to menopause.
And so, you’d think I’d be used to change by now, so I should be able to handle this pandemic stuff. But I can’t. I can’t because it’s too much when you’re also struggling with a slew of menopause symptoms nobody seems to understand.
Pair that with isolation and all the other maladies that go with Covid and menopause, and you’ve got the perfect storm. For what, you say? To fall apart.
Covid is the one last straw that broke the camel’s back. I wonder how many other menopausal women are struggling during this pandemic. Does anyone ever talk about them?
You hear people in nursing homes have it hard. We are told the seniors are taking the brunt of this pandemic. Then we hear the children are suffering the most.
Then we hear young parents have it really hard. We hear those who are immune compromised are suffering the most. I’ve heard special needs families are having a hard time through Covid.
What about healthcare. We know those who work on the front line are suffering big time.
Well guess what, there is another group that is suffering in silence. Those women who are experiencing menopause are at the end of their rope too.
It’s very hard to cope with this pandemic when you cry at the drop of a hat because of hormones. Correction. Lack of hormones I should say.
It’s the other end of the spectrum from all those women you hear are having babies during a pandemic. It’s a crazy baby boom out there. I’ve never heard of so many women having babies during something like this.
But we’re not having babies. We are all shriveled up. There is no boom for us. We’ve just got depleted hormones and sad pathetic lives where we can’t go anywhere. We can’t even see our grandchildren.
Many of us sit in our lonely little houses in hopes to get a glimpse of children playing so we don’t miss our own so much. Yup! And Christmas without the kids is not Christmas at all. Sorry to all you people who had a Zoom Christmas.
But what is the solution to my very negative rant.
Is there even a solution at all? If I dare say it, yes! You don’t have to wallow in self-pity because you’re trapped in a Covid/Menopause twilight zone. You don’t have to suffer from loneliness. You can actually thrive during this pandemic but in a different way. You can control your brain.
Yes, as I mentioned before, I wrote about positivity.
I was going to name my book, Menopausative, but the name was trademarked so I had to choose another one that fit.
As I said before, it was my pandemic project. It took me 22 months to write. That’s the current length of the pandemic as I type this blog post out. Hopefully, it won’t go on for another 22 months.
But if it does, you ladies have a weapon. You can control your brain. Learn to choose happiness. Learn to be positive instead of negative and you will be ahead of the game.
My book, which I named, Surviving Menopause – One Positive Thought at a Time, is a way to cope through a very challenging pandemic, coupled with a very challenging life changing event like menopause.
You can do it! You can be positive in this crazy chaotic time.
If you can do that, my friends, you can change your experience. You won’t have to suffer during this pandemic, you can actually thrive.
The choice is yours.
It may be the only thing you are actually in control of during this unbelievably long pandemic.
Now go live your best life!
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