The Man Shed
Sympathy and solutions for your relationships and sexlife.
All women go through the process of the menopause when they experience significant hormonal, physical and psychological changes. This is because the ovaries can only produce the important hormone estrogen for a defined time. Essentially, women now outlive their ovaries and spend an average of a third of their lives in the postmenopausal, estrogen deficient state. Although the same process may occur in men when testosterone decline takes place (the andropause), it is not universal and tends to take place gradually and at a later stage. However, men are not immune from the changes affecting their partner, mother, sister, daughter, female friends and work colleagues.
To help you understand what changes are taking place, have a look at Menopause Symptoms - what happens and when in particular, Menopausal symptoms, including Vaginal problems which are incredibly common and can significantly affect sex and relationships.
See the forum topics:
Please Note: Registration on the forum is for women only.
Be prepared to help your loved one cope with the menopause with the Menopause Matters A,B,C,D,E for Men:
Accept that changes will take place out with her control, it's not her fault
Be informed, read the information on this website and be assured that it is accurate
Consider her needs, emotionally and physically and show her that you Care
Don't necessarily offer solutions, we need time to work out the answers ourselves and Don't assume that you have done something wrong. Do talk about it and Don't go into your cave
Every women is affected differently, what worked for someone else may not be the answer and we need time to find what works best for ourselves - be patient
Links
Putting the "men" in menopause - genneve.com/putting-men-in-menopause-advice-for-men
Menopause Training For Men - menopauseexperts.com/menopause-training-for-men
Men: Misunderstanding Menopause shatters lives - gen-m.com/shattered
Menopause Matters Magazine article: Putting the men into menopause