Monica Conn, 53, describes menopause as “hot flashes, anxiety, night sweats, irritability.”
Instead of continuing to suffer silently through the brutal hormonal transition that 47 million women experience annually around the world, Conn has decided to do—and say—something about it.
“I want to take away an attitude that I’m looking forward to my next chapter and not that something has just ended,” Conn said.
She signed up for the Canyon Ranch Health Spa’s M/Power program, a four-day holistic menopause retreat in the Massachusetts Berkshires that promises relief, education and counseling.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines menopause as “when menstrual periods stop permanently for at least 12 months,” and common symptoms echo Conn’s description: hot flashes, trouble sleeping, mood swings and memory problems, to name a few.
M/Power’s menopause and perimenopause retreats offer respite and resolve from symptoms through activities like yoga, weight training, cold plunges and more.
For a long time, women have been suffering in silence about the impact symptoms have on their daily lives.
“I’m learning here at Canyon Ranch that I don’t know how much training our doctors even get,” Conn said, adding, “the mental health component of it, how to address that, how healthy, basic foods can help you get through the day and how they affect your metabolism and your anxiety.”
Another aspect of the M/Power retreat is medical diagnosis, which includes blood work, hormone panels, and a DEXA body scan, which can assess things like fat composition and bone density.
Dr. Jennifer Baker-Porazinski explained that a lack of estrogen, which plummets in women during menopause, causes bone density to drop—putting them at higher risk for broken bones. She says that women lose around 2% of their bone density each year for around 10 to 12 years after starting menopause.
Another option for women hoping to curb symptoms is hormone therapy (HRT) but some fear it because of preliminary findings that connected HRT to increased risk of breast cancer, though critics later found flaws in the research.
“Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for the symptoms of menopause,” said Dr. Sharon Malone, chief medical advisor for the women’s telehealth platform “Alloy” and author of “Grown Woman Talk.”
Most doctors recommend taking hormones before turning 60, or within 10 years of starting menopause.
For former TV journalist Tamsen Fadal, managing menopause is about community.
She said she began experiencing her symptoms live on-air, and felt isolated, so she wrote the book “How to Menopause.” It is essentially a “how-to” guide for women beginning the process of perimenopause or menopause.
“I think this Gen X really kinda kicked the door down and said, ‘hey, we’re suffering silently and that’s not OK.’ There has to be some type of solution,” Fadal said.
