This post is sponsored by EQUELLE. All views and text are my own.
Recently, I shared with you my personal experience of perimenopause and the discomfort many women feel about the topic of menopause.
Today, I want to continue the conversation because I believe that the more we talk about menopause, the more we can remove the stigma surrounding it, and the less alone we will feel.
Now first, what is menopause? *Menopause is when your periods stop permanently and you can no longer get pregnant. You have reached menopause only after it has been a full year since your last period. This means you have not had any bleeding, including spotting, for 12 months in a row.*
My Personal Perimenopause Story
Personally, it’s been a few years since I started experiencing the symptoms of early perimenopause- the transition to menopause, usually starts in a woman’s mid- to late 40s. ** On average, women are in perimenopause for four years before their periods stop.
A few years ago when I started experiencing frequent night sweats, hot flashes and mood swings, I knew I had to see my doctor. I found out that I have the symptoms of early perimenopause.
I can’t tell you how many times I had to make up excuses to not go anywhere or do anything, because I was afraid my symptoms would just come back at any given time.
True story: earlier this year, my husband and I signed up for the local 5k run. We’ve done this run a few times before and we always had fun doing it. But this year was different. I had been experiencing more tiredness, hot flashes and cold sweats and even insomnia more than before (all signs of early perimenopause!). Even though my husband and I looked forward to the 5k run, we ended up not going at all because I felt so tired the morning of the run after suffering from night sweats and a bad night’s sleep.
Another true story: recently, I was on the phone with my sister who is 52 and working full-time as an accountant and we were talking about menopause and about her own menopausal symptoms. She shared how one day, while in the office, she kept having hot flashes and panic attacks that she had to excuse herself and had to leave the office early. The next day, one of my sister’s colleagues (who is a woman in her early 30’s) asked her about what happened and my sister explained to this woman about her hot flashes and panic attacks. My sister told me she felt uneasy because the woman seemed to just have brushed off the conversation and looked like she didn’t want to talk more about it by changing the topic quickly.
Now I know that we don’t always want to talk about our bodies, or the functioning of them. In the case of the colleague, I think that because she really doesn’t understand menopause completely, she felt uncomfortable talking about it. Sometimes, we feel like it’s hard to have compassion about something when we don’t fully understand.
EQUELLE: An Option for Menopause Symptom Relief
I know I’ve told you about the non-hormonal‡ menopause symptom relief product, EQUELLE, before. But here’s a little bit of info about it again, in case you missed it last time.
- EQUELLE is hormone free‡ and clinically shown to help alleviate the frequency of hot flashes and muscle aches associated with menopause.†
- The active ingredient in EQUELLE is S-equol, which is naturally derived from a plant compound, and has some estrogenic activity. With this activity, S-equol helps alleviate hot flashes and muscle aches associated with menopause.†
- Approximately 6,000 women in the U.S. reach menopause each day.
- 75% of North American women experience hot flashes associated with menopause,. ***
With EQUELLE, I’ve chosen to live (and love!) my life and not live in fear of hot flashes. For me, it’s a great option for a non-hormonal remedy and I’m so glad I no longer have to stay on the sidelines or go into hiding with my early perimenopause symptoms!
*US Office of Women’s Health. Menopause Basics. Webpage: Accessed on 04Oct2019.
**Grady, D. (2006). Management of Menopausal Symptoms(link is external). New England Journal of Medicine; 355: 2338–2347.
***US Office of Women’s Health. Menopause symptoms and relief. Available at: https://www.womenshealth.gov/menopause/menopause-symptoms-and-relief#13 . Accessed March 27,2019.
†This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
‡Free from human or animal hormones. Contains trace amounts of isoflavones, a type of naturally occurring plant hormone.
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A former school teacher, Jocelyn Brown created Hip Mama’s Place in 2007. Her motto for this blog is: get inspired, create and share! Jocelyn loves sharing about food and recipes, crafts, DIY projects and her random travels with her family. She also loves all things social media, but her latest obsession is Instagram.
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This was so interesting to read. Thanks for sharing your journey and also recommending equelle!
This is really good to know. I haven’t had a hot flash, but I know what to do if I did.
wow. that EQUELLE must really be helpful to those who are undergoing that phase. great information you have here. thanks for sharing!
Cha at Little MisadvenCHA
Nnnniiiccceeeeee….these are the initiatives I live for! I support EQUELLE all the way!!!
Menopause is a natural phenomenon and the stigma attached needs to go. Open discussions would go a long way to ease all misconceived notions.
This is an important topic and thanks for sharing the resources. Good to know about EQUELLE and looking forward to that option when the time comes.
It is good to know that there is help for when you need it. Women tend to avoid the topic of menopause and just keep the symptoms to themselves. It is not a pleasant stage to go through and it would be nice to find products like this that would offer relief from some of the symptoms.
Thanks for sharing your story. I know eventually I will also reach that journey, but I am not afraid because I know that it is another chapter that I can’t wait to embrace.
Yes I am going to hit that situation in few years. Now I know which product I need to check in, Thanks for this post.
Perimenopause can be scary but you need to face it. Always consult your doctor about it. Be brave!
I’m so glad you found something to help you with the symptoms! I saw my mom going through this phase and I wish she had known she could ease her situation..
I think I have more years to go before I’ll have the symptoms but I am so glad to know about this product. Will keep it in mind, for sure.
I am so sorry that you feel this way! And I think it’s good to talk about it. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your story! I’m glad you’re finding a relief!
This is such a great topic especially for women. Thank you for sharing. I will recommend this to my friends.
That sounds like a great relief for women! Definitely worth a try!
I’m about to turn 44 and am starting to experience perimenopausal symptoms. I will have to see if Equelle is available in Canada.
This sounds like a really good remedy for menopause symptoms. I haven’t heard of it before so I’ll check it out some more.
This is really a great topic to talk to especially for us women. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. This will be a great help.
Yeah, it is not a nice feeling! It drains your life away. Those hot flashes and night sweats are the worse and let’s not get into the emotional rollercoaster.
I’m pushing 40 next month, so while it’s not quite menopause time for me just yet, it’s never too early to start thinking about these things. I am glad to know that EQUELLE will be there for me when the changes start in my body.
Thank you for such an in depth explanation of menopause. I know and have heard of some of what you talked about but after reading your post I feel I gained quite a bit of knowledge.
This sounds like a great product. I’m going to have to keep this in mind for when I experience this. I’m really glad you shared this.
Thank you for bringing up this topic of menopause… it’s definitely on my radar now that I’m 46. I think it’s just around the corner for me.
I get major hot flashes but not sure if it is autoimmune related medication side effects or menopause around the corner. I’ll have to ask my OB/GYN on my next visit. I’d love her to take my parts as my baby factory has been closed for a very long time and I have horrible periods. But she had to try something else first bc of insurance. If I have complications again, I’m begging to have my guts taken.
Menopause isn’t pretty. I am glad there is something that can help women who have to deal with it day in and day out.
My mom is going through this now. I cannot imagine how tolling and draining it can be to have so many issues like night sweats and emotional issues over it.
Where was this when my mom was going through menopause? She was practically the human torch.
This sound like something that could help a lot of women. Menopause, and all the hot flashes that go with it, is terrible!
I am so glad there is something out there to help. I’ll keep this in mind when I am at this stage.
I need this! I’ve been experiencing hot flashes for a few months and it’s not fun. If you’ve never experienced them you have no idea what it feels like. I need relief!
I am glad that there are products out there to help with hot flashes. So many of my friends need this product.
i’m def going to be hitting that corner in a few years ha def going to look into this when i get there though