A call is being made to break the silence on menopause as there is very little understanding of what menopause is, resulting in many women suffering in silence.
This has been highlighted on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan where Head of Family Health at the Ministry of Health, Doctor Rachel Pillay and Fiji Women’s Rights Movement Executive Director Nalini Singh talked about lack of knowledge, the symptoms, the health consequences and their experiences with menopause.
Dr Pillay says menopause is a normal process that every woman may go through where her menstruational cycles basically stop and it varies within age.
Peri-menopause usually starts when women are in their mid 40s.
The hormone levels change during menopause - most significantly oestrogen, which controls the menstrual cycle and contributes to a number of other bodily processes.
A BBC Health Report states that as women age, the ovaries produce fewer eggs, oestrogen levels fluctuate and then gradually reduce, and this leads to menopausal symptoms.
Singh says there is a very little understanding of what menopause is and most women suffer in silence because in our society, we do not talk about reproductive and sexual health.
She says women do not talk about it as menstruation and menopause, as part of the life cycle, is considered dirty and impure, and something that should not be talked about even though the first menstruation is celebrated in many of our communities.
Singh says they are trying to break the silence through the FWRM report titled The ‘M’ Word: Ending The Silence – Fijian Women’s Perceptions and Experiences Journey To and During Menopause.
While sharing his own experience, Narayan says his wife has been going through peri-menopause for a few years, and during the first phase, she faced some issues where she thought she was having a miscarriage.
He says his wife thought she was dying at one stage and the scary part was that when she went to the medical professionals, not much help was provided.
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Narayan highlighted a new book by Mary Claire Haver titled ‘A New Menopause’, which outlines at least 66 symptoms associated with menopause, including anxiety, arthritis, asthma, bloating, body odour, brain fog, brittle nails, chronic fatigue syndrome, crawling skin sensations, decreased libido, dental issues, depression, difficulty concentrating, dizzy spells, dry eyes, dry mouth, dry skin, frozen shoulder, headaches, heart palpitations, high cholesterol and hot flashes, kidney stones, memory issues, mental health disorders, migraines, muscle aches, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, sleep disturbances, thinning hair and skin, unwanted hair growth, weight gain and more.
While responding to a question on the several symptoms also highlighted in the FWRM report and many women not knowing what was happening to them, Singh shared her own experience with menopause, saying that more than half of the symptoms listed in the book apply to her, as she is going through induced menopause after experiencing severe peri-menopause.
She says at the time, she did not know that prolonged heavy bleeding could lead to severe anaemia, and if not managed, it could cause other complications such as infections.
The Executive Director says we look at individual issues such aching bones, thinning hair, vision problems or watery eyes like her and get treated for that but it is not looked at in a holistic way.
Singh says when we do not present everything in that connected way, then there is no way for the medical profession to get to the bottom of what is happening.
The Executive Director says if family members, men included, are aware of what could be happening, then they could be helping get the woman to seek the right type of help rather than calling her sick.
She is encouraging more women to talk about this, even among their peers, and to seek help from professional service providers.
The FWRM Executive Director says the conversation around menstruation and menopause must start at home and be normalised within families.
Singh adds that it is important for this to also be part of the family life curriculum in schools.
Dr Rachel Pillay says the Health Ministry is definitely developing the space around menopause further, and people can be rest assured that work is being done behind the scenes.
She says the recent endorsement of a Maternal and Child Health Policy includes a focus on menopause and the broader context of women’s health.
Dr Pillay says they want to ensure that when women take their children for immunisation, the opportunity is not lost to offer additional services for the woman and the whole family, including men.
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