Others loathe the passage.
These episodes can make women in their 50s and 60s feel uncomfortable, demoralized and sometimes seriously ill.
They havent had training, and theyre not up to date.
Many of them are needlessly suffering.
“Doctor, what’s happening?”
Carrie Haine is in tears.
Sleep has grown elusive.
Hot flashes have stolen her focus.
Its a hard thing to face, says the mother of two grown sons.
Your intimate understanding of your body changes.
Haine had been trying to figure out her problem since she went off the pill four years ago.
Because birth control pills contain estrogen, they can mask the onset of menopause.
Haine consulted with the male gynecologist who delivered the second of her two sons.
I didnt feel he understood the emotional aspects of what I was going through, she says.
And I felt he wasnt attuned to the nuances of my body.
Then, last year, Haine had a horrifying experience.
One day while at work, she got so dizzy she had to sit down.
But what really concerned the school nurse was Haines sudden inability to speak.
I had the words, but I couldnt say them, she remembers.
Worried that Haine was having a stroke, the nurse called an ambulance.
But at the hospital, all her scans and blood work checked out.
Said the doctor when he signed her discharge papers, Maybe you need a hobby.
Haine tells her story from Shens meeting room in the Lutherville, Maryland, offices of Johns Hopkins.
A few months before, Haine heard Shen speaking on the radio, on NPR.
Shes looking at all the bits of me, Haine notes.
Not just my body and how its changing but also how I am changing as a woman.
Menopause is very personal.
