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World Menopause Day 2024

18 October is World Menopause Day. It’s a day to raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. 

  • News
  • World Menopause Day 2024
18 OCTOBER 2024 EDITORIAL

  • By choosing this theme, the International Menopause Society aims to raise awareness around menopause and MHT, helping people make informed choices and improve health and wellbeing.

    At Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa we’re here to help you manage your menopause symptoms and your sexual and reproductive health before, during, and after menopause. We can prescribe menopause hormone therapy (MHT) to manage menopause symptoms. And we can give advice on sex at menopause, including giving you contraception. 

  • Menopause means “the end of monthly cycles”. It happens when your menstrual cycle stops — often between the ages of 45 and 55. If you haven’t had your period for 12 months, you might be beginning menopause. At menopause, your oestrogen levels drop, your ovaries stop releasing eggs, and your period stops.

    Menopause affects everybody differently — your symptoms might be mild, absent, or severe.

    The most common symptoms of menopause are hot flushes and night sweats. Severe hot flushes and night sweats can disrupt sleep — making you tired and irritable. 

    Other symptoms of menopause can include:  

    • A poor sleep pattern due to night sweats 
    • Vaginal dryness — which can lead to painful sex 
    • Loss of libido 
    • Itchy skin 
    • Mood changes

    If menopause begins before the age of 40, it is called premature menopause.

    Premature menopause can run in a family, or be caused by an infection, immune disorder, or chromosomal variation. Smoking has been linked to premature menopause. Surgical removal of the ovaries, or some cancer treatments, can cause premature menopause. Symptoms of menopause can be more severe and sudden in those cases.  

  • Menopause symptoms are often treated with hormone therapy. 
    Some alternative therapies may reduce the symptoms of menopause — but studies often provide conflicting evidence on their effectiveness.

    Menopause hormone therapy (MHT) is an effective treatment for menopause. At menopause, your hormone levels can drop or become unstable. MHT replaces the oestrogen — and sometimes the progesterone — that your body is now producing very little of. MHT comes as pills, creams, or patches.

    If you want to talk about starting MHT, make an appointment with us. We can help you work out what to do.  

    There’s currently a limited global supply of oestradiol patches, with PHARMAC suggesting shortages in New Zealand could drag into 2025.   

    Dr Beth Messenger, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa Medical Director, says the issue, which has been ongoing for the last two years, is a global shortage of patches – demand for the patches is far outstripping global manufacturing capacity.  UK data over five years show an increase from 1.5 million to 3.5 million users – that gives you a sense of the scale of increase.  

    “It feels like the world woke up from COVID and went ‘menopause sucks’. We’ve got a way of managing it and we should be using it,” she says. “The issue is an increase in demand, rather than a decline in production.” 

    Unfortunately, the current shortage means that many clients can find it difficult to get their prescription filled. 

    Learn more about the limited supply of oestradiol patches

  • Menopause FAQs

    • When does menopause start?

      • Menopause often happens between 45 and 55. But some people experience menopause earlier – this is called premature menopause. 

    • Can you get pregnant at menopause?

      • You might be fertile for up to a year since your last period — sometimes two years if your menopause began before age 50.

        If you have sex where a penis goes inside your vagina, or cum spills on your vulva, you could get pregnant. You probably won’t get pregnant if you use contraception.

        It’s a good idea to make an appointment with us — we can help you work what contraception types will be best for you during menopause. 

    • How long does menopause last?

      • Menopause affects everybody differently — your symptoms might be mild, absent, or severe. Menopause symptoms often last for several years. Some people’s menopause symptoms will last longer than two years, other people’s symptoms will last less than a year. 

    • How do I know if I've started menopause?

      • If you haven’t had your period for 12 months, you might be beginning menopause. Menopause normally occurs between 45 and 55 but some people experience it earlier. During perimenopause (the time leading up to menopause), your periods may become heavier, lighter, longer, shorter, or more irregular.

    • What is perimenopause?

      • Perimenopause is the stage of menopause before your period stops. During this stage periods often change. They may become heavier, lighter, longer, shorter, or more irregular. This stage can last a year or more. If you have heavy bleeding that is causing problems in your life, you may be able to have treatment to help with this — make an appointment with us. 

    • Is sex painful at menopause?

      • Many people produce less self-lubrication after menopause. If you are not used to using additional lubrication during sex, this can mean sex suddenly becomes painful or uncomfortable. Vaginal oestrogen cream — a kind of topical MHT — is helpful. You can get vaginal oestrogen cream with a prescription from us. Vaginal moisturisers, and water-based lubes, are also helpful.

        You can buy vaginal moisturisers and water-based lubes from our web shop. 

    • Does menopause only affect cisgender women?

      • As the International Menopause Society whitepaper Menopause and MHT in 2024: addressing the key controversies notes, “transgender men and some people who identify as neither men nor women also experience menopause”, however there is a lack of available data trans and gender diverse experiences of menopause. 

    • Does everyone get the same menopause symptoms?

      • Menopause affects everybody differently — your symptoms might be mild, absent, or severe. Menopause symptoms often last for several years. Some people’s menopause symptoms will last longer than two years, other people’s symptoms will last less than a year. 

    • What's the difference between MHT and HRT?

      • The menopause hormone therapy (MHT) prescribed at menopause is similar to the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescribed to many trans women and trans femmes — who also produce very little oestrogen and progesterone.

    • Does menopause cause osteoporosis?

      • Osteoporosis happens when your bone tissue is lost or destroyed faster than your body can replace it. This leads to decreased bone density, and a higher risk of fracture.

        Osteoporosis is not a direct symptom of menopause. But it does often begin at a similar time to menopause.

        When oestrogen levels drop at menopause, bone strength can be lost — leading to osteoporosis later in life. Osteoporosis is more likely to affect pākehā and Asian people than it is to affect Māori or Pacific people.

        Routine bone density screening isn’t recommended at menopause unless you have other risk factors — such as a personal or family history of easily fractured bones.

        As far as we know, products like calcium supplements don’t reduce the risk of hip fractures.