Menopause ‘O Menopause: Part II – by Cara Potapshyn Meyers

A few months back, I was lamenting about my period and when I would start entering menopause. My goal was to just get this whole darn thing over with and have a “Going Away” party.

Well, it looks like I may be planning my party sooner than I thought!

My Gynocologist asked me to stop taking my birth control pills (which I take for Polycystic Ovary Disease), allow my body to have it’s period, and then not take any pills to see when my next period would arrive. I stopped taking my pills. No period. Nothing. No bloating, no cramps, no sluggishness…absolutely nothing. So I called my doctor up and told her nothing happened. She said to still wait for my “next” period to come.

The very next day I was spotting. Just panty liner spotting. That continued for five days and stopped. I called my doctor again. She said, “Believe it or not, you may be at your end or close to your end of getting periods.” I was shocked and speechless. The End?? The real End?? The no more pads and tampons and cramps and bloating End?? 

I got off the phone and looked in my bathroom closet. There had been a 2 for 1 sale on a certain brand of “women’s feminine products” at my local drug store the month prior. I stocked up on every size pad, from overnight to light days. All I could think was, “huh?”

Since the spotting incident, I have had more energy. I’ve been sleeping better. I’ve lost weight. Is this what menopause does to you? If so, I like it very much!

I’ve always thought that my ovaries were the bane of my existence. I have had more problems with them every month of my life since eleven years old, with the exception of my pregnancy, which went very nicely. I have always had this intuitive feeling that once my ovaries stopped working, my body would be much happier not having to contend with fluctuating hormones. I also feel that my other hormone related problems will also settle down once my ovaries finally give up. They are due. Every single female cousin in my family went through menopause at age 48. I will be 49 in less than two months. It’s my turn.

There is one feeling I never ever expected to feel after I spoke to my doctor. That feeling that “every” woman gets when she learns that she is going through menopause: my child baring years are over. Not that I wanted nor planned on having any more children. But there is a sense of “loss” that cannot be explained until you actually realize that it’s not that you don’t wish to have any more children, you can’t. For a fleeting moment (albeit very fleeting), I felt that feeling. It is a very hollow, empty feeling. I was certain that I would never have that feeling, but it was there. A tiny flicker. But it was noticeably there.

So here I go on my merry way, tracking my “spotting” incidents over the next several months. If I am lucky, I won’t need to delve into my surplus of pads and tampons. If I need them, though, they will be there. Once a full year passes with no periods, I will have officially gone through menopause! That will be blog Part III. Then, together, we’ll plan my party!

Tags: feminine products, Gynocologist, menopause, party, Polycystic Ovary Disease