What is menopause? 5 myths debunked

This is the unequivocal finding that emerged from our survey:

Before menopause, in perimenopause (35-45 years old): most women do not feel concerned and above all do not want to define themselves in relation to menopause, or even think about it!

In the midst of premenopause and menopause: in the midst of premenopausal symptoms (from 30/35 years old) and in menopause, most women are sometimes so disrupted in their quality of life that they simply no longer want to hear about it! And the stigma bothers them.

After menopause (12 months without periods): phew, we no longer feel concerned by this “scourge”, all the better…

Menopause therefore has a rather poor reputation!

It must be said that the term is rather poorly chosen: in what way is it a “pause” exactly? And why does it have such negative connotations? All of this is ultimately very cultural; it is nothing more and nothing less than yet another taboo about the female body in our Western culture.

And yet…

I wish every woman to reach menopause, because it is rather a good sign 😊

As a reminder, it is not a disease but rather a natural physiological phenomenon of transition into a new phase of life, highly valued in some cultures: in some tribes, women finally become the equal of men! Not to mention that there are natural solutions for menopause.

And yet it is a social phenomenon that remains too taboo and is passed over in silence.

In France, we estimate that 2.5 million women are in premenopause and 13 million women are menopausal.

Two thirds of them will experience significant physiological and/or emotional effects, and 44% say that this period has negatively affected their quality of life.

Perimenopause occurs on average around age 47 and lasts about 4 years.

Every woman will experience the symptoms of menopause very differently, and the luckiest will only feel a slight, passing discomfort.

Among the most commonly reported symptoms: hot flashes, mood swings, sleep disturbances, headaches, dizziness, hair loss, lethargy, nervousness, vaginal dryness …

A woman’s psychological and hormonal story generally unfolds in three stages:

• At the beginning, the drop in androgens can have an effect on libido
• Then signs of excitability and irritability linked to an excess of oestrogen (oestrogen dominance relative to progesterone) may appear
• And finally, the fall in oestrogen at menopause can lead to a drop in energy or mood

Fortunately, all the symptoms will eventually fade, the transition phase comes to an end and women settle into a new hormonal balance.
The pace varies greatly from one woman to another.

The period that follows menopause can therefore be a period of great stability, with a return to a different, but very stable, hormonal balance, with lower hormone levels.

Menopause therefore heralds a period of release from hormonal fluctuations and their constraints, provided it is well accepted and the metabolic terrain is good!

Well, no, precisely.
On average, the symptoms felt during menopause last between 6 months and 7 years, 5 years on average, and sometimes more than 10 years.. and all of this surrounded by a rather astonishing, almost shameful silence..

So, a few definitions to begin with:

• Perimenopause: phase of hormonal decline that has begun, from 30/35 years old on average
• Premenopause : phase of accelerated hormonal decline and stronger perception of the symptoms heralding menopause ( 40-50 years old): 5 to 7 years on average
• Menopause (between 45 and 55 years old, 51 on average): after 12 months without periods.
• Early menopause or POI (Premature Ovarian Insufficiency): when menopause occurs before 40/45 years old, it affects about 10% of women ( 2% of women before 40)
• Late menopause : after 55 or even 60 years old. It can be linked to being overweight in particular (which sustains the secretion of oestrogen)

And 44% of premenopausal women feel a negative impact on their daily lives.(1)

Again according to the KANTAR study, 59% of women see more advantages than disadvantages in it; however, women who are already menopausal are more numerous than women overall (notably those in premenopause) in saying that menopause has more disadvantages than advantages.(1)

The main advantage, by far, for 55% of women?
“Being freed from the constraints and pain linked to periods.”

On this point, there is apparently still some work to do!

One third of menopausal or premenopausal women have already heard jokes about menopause, and negative remarks.(1)

In this context, one premenopausal woman in 5 says she has already hidden the effects linked to her condition in her private life (1)

And only 1 premenopausal woman in 10 would be willing to tell her manager about her symptoms (1)

34% of women find the subject tiresome and do not want to talk about it (1)

29% find the subject taboo, delicate.

27% find that the symptoms are not easy to identify (1).

This is a misconception that can do harm, literally.

While women identify the increased risk of osteoporosis (69%) fairly well, they are not well aware of the rest: only half have heard of cardiovascular risks (yet the leading cause of death among women today!), and fewer than half of cancers and metabolic risks (diabetes, high cholesterol..) (1)

But, good news, the balance of our hormones depends 75% on our lifestyle habits, so we can influence it significantly: read our article on the essential nutrients for hormonal balance.

To support the bones, skin and joints, which also change with the drop in oestrogen, discover MY Essentials Bones, Skin & Joints, to be integrated into an overall healthy lifestyle.

Actually, it can, by quitting smoking in time!
A study of 90,000 women smokers aged 50 to 79 shows that nearly half of them reached menopause before the age of 50.

Menopause was brought forward by:

• nearly two years in smokers who started before the age of 15;
• one and a half years in those smoking up to 25 cigarettes a day;
• a little over a year in women exposed to passive smoking.

But also.. on a lighter note, several decades of research have established that having intimate relations at least once a week reduced the chances of entering menopause by 28% compared with women who have sex less than once a month ( Published in Royal Society Open Science.)

According to the study, this could be explained by the body’s response to evolutionary pressures.

“If a woman has infrequent sex as she approaches forty, her body will not receive the physical signals of a possible pregnancy”, and the woman’s body will then invest more of its energy in caring for her family rather than in ovulation. ” (2)

Natural solutions are part of an overall healthy lifestyle: diet, sleep, movement, stress management. To complement these habits, MiYé offers:

• MY Essentials Women’s Balance, to support the hormonal variations of perimenopause and menopause.
• MY Essentials Bones, Skin & Joints, to support the body’s structure during this period.
• MY Intimate Moisturizing Balancing Gel, for intimate comfort.

To go further: our full perimenopause and menopause selection.

Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet. We are not doctors and our products have no medical purpose: please seek advice from your doctor.

1. Santé.fr, French public health information service: Menopause and perimenopause (in French).
2. Avis NE, Crawford SL, Greendale G, et al. : Duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms over the menopause transition, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015;175(4):531-539.
3. Hyland A, Piazza K, Hovey KM, et al. : Associations between lifetime tobacco exposure with infertility and age at natural menopause: the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, Tobacco Control, 2016;25(6).
4. Arnot M, Mace R. : Sexual frequency is associated with age of natural menopause: results from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, Royal Society Open Science, 2020;7(1):191020.
5. Kantar for MGEN and the Fondation des Femmes: Survey “Les Français.es et la Ménopause” (French people and menopause), 2020 (in French)