Menopause: What men need to know.

Introduction: What men need to know about menopause.

I’m writing because now at age 69, I’ve come to the realization that when it comes to women’s hormone related health, I’ve been dumb as a rock for over a decade. Most of my male friends are in the same boat. For a long time I considered myself to be a well educated person who made a living as a engineer, and published scientist. I’ve worked on medical devices, consumer products, aerospace components and parts that are currently orbiting the Earth. In other words, I thought I was hot shit. The truth I’ve been clueless on a lot of more important issues, including what women go through in perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. I’ve learned that many women never get the care they need because many PCP’s are not well educated on hormonal issues and what can be done to help women live their best lives. In fact, many suffer in silence with a high cost to their health and sometimes even their marriage. My own mother suffered terribly through early menopause and I never understood why. I was only 10 years old at the time. I was just told it was “the change of life” and she required psychiatric care as a result. She deserved better care and never got it when she needed it most.

So what opened my eyes to this health crisis? The short answer is my second bout of prostate cancer; this time advanced and locally metastatic. I’ve been on drugs for 10 months that have reduced my testosterone to the level of a woman in peri-menopause. I’m basically experiencing the male version of menopause. Let’s call it “manopause” or as Jason Brett plans to call it in his upcoming Substack thread, I’m a “MAN ON PAUSE”. Jason is a brilliant writer and producer and his life partner is none other than Dr. Lauren Streicher, an OBY/GYN that is a personal hero of mine for the work she’s done and the books she’s written regarding menopause and women’s sexual health.

What has my personal experience been with “manopause”?

I’ve experienced many of the same side effects that women experience because of menopause including hot flashes, night sweats, chills, weight gain, mood swings, depression, anxiety, sleep issues, fatigue, lessened libido, headaches, thinning hair, dry skin, brain fog, joint pain, muscle aches, osteopenia, memory issues, and probably a couple other things I can’t remember.

As you might guess life has become challenging for me in ways I never expected. I had some very frank discussions with some friends of mine who are women and appropriately shared their experiences with menopause and hormone replacement with hopes that I could learn something that would help me feel better. That became the impetus for my learning about women’s health and how I could hopefully make a difference by sharing my experience with other men in terms they could understand with the intended result of them being proactive advocates to their wives/partners.

What’s next?

My next post will attempt to teach my fellow men some of what they need to know and point them towards resources to help their partners and family members navigate menopause and live their best lives.

I won’t be endorsing products or selling books. I’m not looking for my 15 minutes of fame either. I just want to help make the world a better place.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please like, share and restack. I would be honored if you did so.

I originally wrote this as a note and moved it over to the post section as an anchor for my Substack. I hope that makes sense!