The Second Talk with Poise

The Second Talk with Poise

Growing up, my parents talked very little to me about maturing. I learned most of what I knew from a few steamy romances I snuck in, the classic book by Judy Blume, “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.” and some book my mom gave me that talked about menstruation.

As far as “giving me the talk”, I never really got one of those either. Mom just handed me a book and told me to read it, and if I had questions she’d answer them. Well…I wasn’t about to ask a question so I went through my teen years a little naive.

Unfortunately when I was 24 my mom passed away and my chances to have a resource to ask question about raising kids, housekeeping, cooking and menopause type questions were lost.

When we had kids I vowed to to talk more about their bodies, my experiences and explain things to my kids so they weren’t naive. I would explain things to my girls AND my BOYS. I think it’s important. Now my kids ask anything, and they’ve learned that if they ask…I’ll answer. I honestly think talking about body functions and changes is no different than talking about a machine. After all our bodies are just a machine that carries our soul.

Recently I was approached by Poise to promote their new campaign “Pledge to Have The Second Talk with Poise”. Poise is encouraging us to be the first generation to have the “Second Talk” about the next stage in our lives including peri-menopause/menopause symptoms and solutions. I was all in and excited. I think it’s a subject that needs to talked about.

I wish someone would have been open and willing to talk to me a few years ago. As I had each one of our children things got worse and worse for me each month. By the last time our last was born, I was on pain medication for cramps and made it through my periods with it. Mind you…I am a tough farm girl who rarely even takes Tylenol. Then came the migraines and throwing up that came with my period. Then my perfectly regular periods went haywire, and I was having a period for 20 days at a time only to have a two week break and a regular period.

That’s when, at 39, I decided it was time to go back to the doctor. From there I tried birth control to stop my period…no luck. After testing and the doctor saying she couldn’t explain it, I lost it in the doctor’s office and broke down bawling. It was so embarrassing, but I was at wit’s end! Two weeks later I had a hysterectomy. The doctor came in and apologized to me that she hadn’t acted sooner. Apparently all my problems were happening because my Fallopian tubes had wrapped around my bowel. That was 8 years ago.

From there I thought I was in the clear….Nope….just some new problems, but these a bit more manageable.

Now it’s hormone replacement. If you have watched the news at all, you know that one day one study will say this and the next it will say that. So what to do? Ween myself off…stay on…step down? I had thought I would be in the clear and completely miss all the menopause problems. Nope…not all. After talking with my doctor, she halved my dose and moved me to a generic brand. That’s when the next nightmare hit.

No one told me about what was wrong when I felt like I had yeast infection after yeast infection after yeast infection, only to find out it wasn’t yeast infection but vaginal dryness instead. At the time I had slightly elevated blood sugar so the doctor thought it was related to that…After again pleading with the doctor and doing research on my own I asked the doctor if it could be because we changed my hormone. After 6 months of being completely miserable, I was right and went back on the full dose.

Then two years ago after, again hearing studies that suggested women not be on hormone replacement, I decided to again try to step myself down. I talked to the doctor, reminded her of my history, and we tried a half dose only this time, same brand. It worked. Then I stepped the dosage down another level….it still worked. Then I tried going completely off…Bad move. Back to the dryness…back to the crab…back to the yuck. I went back up to the low does and from there I have weened myself to take a half dose of the lowest does. I think this is where I’ll be hanging out.

I hope that you will be willing to talk about your experience with family and friends and be willing to “Have The Second Talk”. I sure wish I would have had someone explain to me what dryness felt like…I wish someone would have explained the struggle with weight loss that menopause brings.

I was fortunate in that I didn’t deal with spotting and hot flashes. I was fortunate that my problems didn’t last for a long period of time.

Along with their promoting to “Have The Second Talk ” Poise came out with new products that are being release and will be of help to women as they go through menopause and peri-menopause including Roll-On Cooling Gel, Body Cooling Towelettes, Panty Fresheners, Feminine Wash and Personal Lubricants.

Poise brand wants to rally 1 million women to pledge to have The 2nd Talk by World Menopause Day on October 18. By joining the conversation, women will gain more menopause knowledge, support, and solutions. Join the conversation at The2ndTalk.com.

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