A free resource to share in workshops and on websites to help people better understand he Menopause transition. Please like and subscribe to show appreciation and to help us make more films like this one.
How we talk about menopause has to change. We created Cycle of Change: Understanding Menopause, a short film to empower women and share real-life experiences from all stages of the menopause transition.
Menopause will affect half of the population, though so many of us are unprepared and don’t know what to expect, it’s not just hot flushes! Menopause can indirectly affect the other half of the population too: partners, family, friends and colleagues.
This film is made with the support, experiences and advice of over 450 people through survey and with workshops and interviews. 32 women share their voice from the start to the end of menopause in this film.
Visit www.cycleofchange.org to hear more interviews, see the full film, shorts, interviews and to learn more about menopause.
Directed by Emma Lazenby
Produced by Liz Harkman
Executive Producers - Diane Danzebrink and Hazel Hayden
Thank you to The Burdett Trust for Nursing, Menopause Support and Bristol Menopause for funding this production, and to The National Lottery community fund for funding workshops, survey and interviews.
Chapters:
00:00. Periods
00:20. Perimenopause is difficult to spot, there are lot of symptoms including tiredness, aches joints, sleep disturbance, low libido, head aches, migraines, brain fog, anxiety, depression, night sweats. It can often be misdiagnosed when not looking at the whole picture.
01:36. Tracking periods, they can be closer together, further apart, heavier or lighter. They often move a little bit closer together before they move apart and become erratic. Sometimes people don’t notice menstrual changes, they can be very small or they can be affected by birth control. Perimenopause can start before you expect (80% of people begin somewhere in their 40’s) and can last for a few years before you get to Menopause (the day one year after your last period)
02:04. Coming to terms with major life change, coming to the end of fertility. Finding thing to help you through the change, talking to your partner and friends, diet, exercise, medication, holistic medicine, taking time out, noticing stress levels.
03:16. One year after periods end is the menopause - anytime before this is Perimenopause and any time after is post menopause.
03:29. During Post menopause, changes continue.
03:45. As hormones stop fluctuating, people can sometimes come to a calmer time of clarity and freedom.
04:10. Advice - everybody has different experiences in the menopause transition, different things help different people. Be open about it, speak to people, acknowledge that you are going through it, it can be a challenging time, a time to be kind to yourself. Talk openly to family, workplace, community. Menopause effects everybody - not just the 50% of people who will go through it.
04:50. Credits