"What I didn't realize then was that carrying the fan symbolized much more than being hot. It represented entering a stage of life where I would have to advocate fiercely for my own health and body. Suddenly, concerns that felt real and alarming to me were often reduced to phrases like, "It's just hormones," "That's normal for your age," or "It's probably autoimmune-related." Those explanations may have contained pieces of truth, but they often felt dismissive, as though my lived experience inside my own body no longer mattered."
"The frustrating part is this: By the time I reached that phase of life, I had known my body for over forty years. I knew when something felt "off." I knew when symptoms were new, unfamiliar, or different. Yet too often, women are conditioned to second-guess themselves while everyone around them casually explains away their concerns."
"Since then, I've had countless conversations with women of all ages. I've read articles, watched social media videos, spoken with physicians, and listened closely to friends who were quietly struggling with many of the same symptoms. Through all of those conversations, one question kept replaying in my mind: "How come no one told me?""
"No one told me that menopause could affect far more than hot flashes. No one told me that fatigue, brain fog, aching feet, anxiety, sleep disruption, weight changes, joint pain, and emotional exhaustion could all be connected. No one explained that our bodies require different support as hormones shift."
Carrying a fan once seemed humorous, but later it symbolized the need to advocate for health and bodily experience. As menopause approaches, concerns may be reduced to explanations such as hormones, normal aging, or autoimmune causes, which can feel dismissive even when partially accurate. By the time symptoms begin, many people have known their bodies for decades and can recognize when something feels off, new, unfamiliar, or different. Women often face conditioning to doubt themselves while others explain symptoms away. Conversations with women, reading, social media, and medical discussions reveal repeated frustration: no one warned that menopause can connect fatigue, brain fog, aching feet, anxiety, sleep disruption, weight changes, joint pain, and emotional exhaustion, and that bodies may need different support as hormones shift.
Read at Psychology Today
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