Appendix V
Handout for careproviders/patients

Midlife Issues

Menopause means the end of menstruation. By the time your client has reached menopause, she may have experienced I to 10 years of perimenopausal symptoms.

While 10-16% of American women experience no signs of menopause, another 10-15% become physically or emotionally disabled for various periods of time by conditions related to menopause.

What care givers can do

• Educate and inform
  • Prepare the clients for changes. Menopause can be confusing and frightening for any woman. A woman who does not expect or understand the changes will be even more frightened and confused than the rest of us.
  • Make clients aware of the possible changes in their bodies
  • Offer information and supplies to cope with possible flooding

   

• Be attentive to regular and new health care needs
  • Regular Gyn exams & Breast exams, including mammograms
  • Offer traditional and alternative therapies for menopausal symptoms
  • Support clients' needs for additional counseling/psychological service

   

• Encourage exercise
  • Weight bearing exercises like walking, running, weight lifting
  • Kegel exercises

   

• Encourage proper nutrition
  • Provide a good diet rich in calcium and vitamin D
  • Offer vitamin and mineral supplements

   

• Offer additional supports to clients who are sexually active
  • Emphasize that fertility is intact during perimenopause and until well after the actual cessation of periods, i.e., menopause
  • Help clients who are sexually active to obtain lubricants

What you may notice

Indicators that your clients may be in Perimenopausal, or "going through the change of life":

• Exaggeration of symptoms commonly associated with PMS
  • Urinary problems
  • Frequent urination
  • Urinary urgency
  • Stress incontinence: urinary leakage with laughter, sneezing, etc.

   

• Poor temperature regulation in the body
  • Hot flashes
  • Extreme sweating
  • Night sweats

   

• Decreased moisture in the body
  • Dry skin
  • Hair loss and thinning hair
  • Vaginal dryness
  • Painful intercourse
  • Increase in vaginal infections

   

• New aches and pains
  • Headaches
  • Achy joints

   

• Mental and emotional symptoms
  • Emotional sensitivity
  • Changes in mood
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Memory loss & forgetfulness

   

• Changes in sexual desire - either increase or decrease
• Disturbed sleep & related increased fatigue
  • Insomnia
  • Early wakening

   

• Changes in the client's normal menstrual pattern
  • More frequent periods
  • Skipped periods
  • Very heavy periods - "flooding" & "gushing"

   

• Bone loss and osteoporosis
  • Back pain
  • Loss of bone mass
  • Brittle bones, which fracture easily