Men and Menopause

Men and Menopause

Men often get a bad rap for misunderstanding menopause, for being unsympathetic or downright rude and demanding. I have a few thoughts on this.

First of all, I think if we want respect, then we should earn it. I have a personal motto which goes like this… “Choose not to Bitch.” My husband says I'm not perfect in this, but it is what I strive for.

Yes, sometimes our hormones are playing with us, encouraging us to behave in a certain way, but don’t you think men have the same problem? For men, it’s the testosterone that’s the culprit.

Anger and Testosterone

When women are given testosterone as a way to increase their libido, they notice a side effect which is that they become angrier. This is significant because men have a larger amount of testosterone in their bodies at all times.

But when men show their anger, we send them to anger management classes. Of course, it doesn’t help them that they are more likely to become violent than women. We don't let men off the hook with a line such as, "My testosterone made me do it."

Women need to rein in their anger as well. We need to control our moods, despite whatever it is our hormones are telling us.

Men don’t get hot flashes

cartoon of man in sauna Most men aren’t sympathetic to hot flashes because they may or may not see any changes in you. Not everyone gets flushed and sweaty. There’s a good article posted in the section “In The Media” in which a woman describes how she got her husband to understand why she doesn’t feel like making love during a hot flash. She sent him to a sauna, waited for him to get hot and sweaty, and then she came onto him. He was a little annoyed.

Sometimes it’s better to make a man feel it, than to tell him about it.

Here's another contribution for a great idea from a guest on NursingMenopause about her thoughts on men and menopause:

"My husband ALWAYS turns the electric blanket on every night before I come to bed. One day I bought a full body sweat suit. I asked him to put it on. He did, just to humor me. I had the bed awaiting. He crawled in and I jumped in on top of him to make sure he stayed as long as it took for him to realize: Now you know how I feel! We both had a good laugh and now he just puts on more clothing realizing I am already down to the birthday suit and I can not peel off the skin!"

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