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Article Series: Menopause
Menopause Symptoms and Relief
Ladies:
Help Your Man To Understand Menopause
Menopause
can prove mystifying to the male sex; women talking about hormone changes and hot flashes, night
sweats and her yo-yoing weight. She doesn’t seem interested
in sex at the moment and she’s been short-tempered and quick
to fly off the handle at the slightest mistake. Is this the
end of a marriage? Not at all… it’s simply menopause and, in
order for men to understand it, women need to take the time
to explain.
Forest Gump may have said that life was like a box of chocolates
but, when it comes to menopause, it’s all about the chips.
Say what? Whatever your man’s focus, you need to bring it to
his level and communicate with him, not at him.
Menopause is like a bag of tortilla chips. You make up a batch
of salsa dip and wander to the living room, grab a seat, put
your feet up and start to eat those chips. And they taste really
good.
But halfway through, you discover that your salsa has disappeared
somewhere and you know there isn’t any more in the cupboard.
You’re stuck with these bland, nasty chips, while someone else
took off with your dip. At first you’re sad because you want
more. Then you feel fatigue because you don’t want to hop in
the car and drive clear down to the store tonight. You get
angry because your salsa has disappeared. Someone took your
salsa, when all you wanted was just to relax and enjoy a little
snack! Frustration sets in because your wife wants to watch
some sappy love show and you don’t have any munchies. The children
start making some sort of loud repetitive noise over and over,
while your other half is sighing and giving you dirty looks…
It’s so hard to get someone to agree to don your shoes and
look at the world from your perspective, especially when you
are going through the roller coaster of hormonal fluctuations
called menopause. Ever wonder why they call it that? Men-o-pause.
Maybe because the poor men end up standing there, paused in
confusion as their mouths form a perfect letter “o.”
While it’s tempting, at times, to just throw your hands up
in confusion... don’t. Despite how it may feel at the moment,
chances are that he truly cares about you and wants to know
what he can do to help. Don’t be afraid to sit him down at
the table, take his hand and explain to him about the process
and crazy mix of emotions. Let him know what you feel, deep
down. In honesty, chances are that your man has never even
thought about what menopause might be like.
When explaining, it’s important to stress to him that menopause
is a natural change that occurs in the body, rather than some
kind of disease. It’s inevitable, irreversible and it happens
to all women, whether they look like a frumpy housewife or
a super model. Take the time and explain to him that it pertains
to the ovaries failing to produce any more eggs and the changing
of hormones in your system; hormones that sometimes make you
angry, or ones that can make you cry. Let him know that sometimes
it makes you feel like you’re undesirable and then, other times,
you just feel old and unneeded. Don‘t be afraid to tell him
the truth of matters… and to do it in a way that he’ll understand.
Just take it slow, one step at a time.
When
discussing and describing menopause, there are any number
of subjects that you can branch out to; let him know, ahead
of time, what he might expect. Try to explain to him, the night
sweats and hot flashes, the nausea and lightheadedness. Let
him know how we all hate that drop in metabolism that means
we have to constantly watch our weight or blow up like balloons.
You might try having your husband attend a support group meeting,
to help him better understand menopause or arrange a time for
him to talk to your doctor. Either may be easier than trying
to get him to talk to you or another family member, sometimes,
it’s easier to speak with an anonymous person, rather than
one who is close. With some husbands, maybe it’s just better
to compare it all to salsa and chips, but the key point is
to open up the lines of communication and to actually take
the time to talk to him. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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