Babe in the Woods

I received a phone call from my GYN a few days back: 'You are going through menopause', he said cheerfully after reviewing the results of my blood test. The cheerful part was obviously to make me feel good about it. "NO! REALLY? Here I thought it was a bad case of flu. With all those immigrants climbing over the walls who knows what sorts of bugs we have these days," I said. Then he said something about me having a syndrome with a Japanese name, to which I asked if I should stop eating Japanese food. I don't think he got my jokes but he bravely suggested I re-checked my thyroid gland, as it seems to act out.

So I did. And it does. And my gyn prescribed me yet another chemical to adjust a gland that secretes hormones that normalize something or other that would make it all better. I dutifully went to my local pharmacy and picked up my prescription. I set it up on the shelf where I keep my current medications and two thoughts occurred to me:
a. I won't have space for real food in my stomach;
b. What's the connection between the hormone producing gland and my current non-flu condition?

Here are some of the more significant problems associated with hypothyroidism:
fatigue, cold intolerance, memory loss, poor concentration, depression, menstrual irregularities. Sounds familiar, I thought, I wish my memory would work better. Wait a minute! Aren't these the same symptoms as the ones on my menopause list? I got so excited, I got an extra hot flash!

So I went on researching the subject. My brain is fried, my body is breaking down (still looks good, but apparently not for long (gaining serious weight in the near future)), but my intuition is still intact. There certainly is a connection and while it's hardly established scientifically (aging women are HOT; someone should start that clinical study!), I continue to wonder.

A living organism is a complex and a well-designed machine, where everything has created intricate connections. The question is: do I interfere? Or do I let my body figure out how to get back on track after taking a little break from this balance thingy? Do I put chemicals or herbs into it or do I trust that nature will find its way to make it work? (On a second thought, why would I trust nature if it came up with menopause!)

I am a pacifist by nature. All that war going on in my body is not agreeing with me from a political perspective as well as physical. I find myself so far out of my comfort zone. For the first time in my life I am officially a Babe in the Woods.



After the original posting, I continued to search the internet for clues on the subject of Thyroid and Menopause and came across this article: http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/shamesmenopause.htm that you may find useful...