The 10 Best Menopause Blog Posts of 2021

With all of the potentially life-changing symptoms associated with The Big Change, giving into the negativity of menopause’s many maladies can be tempting. Thankfully, more and more people are talking about The Big M, making its education more easily accessible. Awesome menopause blog posts, authentic stories, and humorous illustrated content share credible information while helping you know you are not alone as you journey through this phase of life. The better prepared you are physically and emotionally, the smoother your menopausal ride will be.

What Are the Best Menopause Blog Posts of 2021?

We’ve rounded up this year’s best of the best menopause-related articles to inform, entertain, and empower you.

If you have additional must-read stories, leave a comment with your favorite menopause blog posts and we’ll update this guide with your suggestions.

The Difference One Doctor Can Make

This heart-wrenching blog post (Ann’s Story) details one woman’s incredibly difficult life journey culminating in, what she calls, her Menopause Breakdown. What we found compelling about this article was how the primary character, similar to so many people going through the stages of menopause, kept her gynecological issues—huge problems that impacted her daily personal and professional lives—a secret from even her closest friends and family. This isolation fed her hormonal imbalances, making her problems almost unbearable until one doctor listened and heard her and changed the course of her menopausal journey.

The primary themes in this post include physical and emotional symptoms associated with perimenopause, hormonal imbalance, healthy and unhealthy coping strategies, and the importance of replacing isolation with vulnerability and connection.

“The gynaecologist on call that day really and truly saved my life. He listened to everything I had gone through, believed what I was saying and reassured me that I did not have a mental illness.”

When Menopause Rage Hijacks Midlife

Author Christine Koh wrote a post for CNN entitled: “Experiencing Hulk rage and terrible sleep? It may be perimenopause—here’s what to do.” In it, she interviewed a women’s healthcare advocate and other menopausal mavens. Then, she consolidated their thoughts into a general post about perimenopause. Symptoms they shared ranged from Hulk-like rage, sleepless nights, and irregular periods to mood swings, lack of doctor-provided information, and the need for peer-to-peer sharing. Her advice? Stop the taboo and start the discussion.

The primary themes in this article include the physical and emotional symptoms of perimenopause, women’s experiences with their doctors, encouragement and tips for how to get the help you need during the stage of life, and encouragement to speak up about your menopausal symptoms.

I recently asked about perimenopause on social media. The responses are best characterized by frustration, fury and the question, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this would happen?”

When Women’s Health Needs Go Unheard

In a recent Australian article entitled: “‘I’m only halfway through my life’: Midlife women are done with being dismissed,” author Sophie Aubrey gets women’s, including celebrity, viewpoints on menopause. Physical symptoms like joint pain, brain fog, and night sweats are just a few Aubrey highlights that people experience on their perimenopause-to-postmenopause journey. The emotional symptoms are less visible but equally painful. She writes, “While the experience of dismissal affects women of all ages, author and social commentator Jane Caro says it can be magnified for those over 50, who are also dealing with the sense of invisibility.”

The primary themes in this post include physical and mental issues surrounding menopause, aging, and midlife; hormone replacement therapy; the norm of suffering in silence; and the urge to speak out about women’s health issues.

“Women are making it happen. They’re not being silent anymore. They’re confident and informed and supporting each other. Once one woman speaks out, somebody else gets the courage and it builds up. It’s been a long time coming.”

The Raw Truth: Women’s Menopausal Stories

We love menopause advocate, Aisling Grimely, not only because she’s from one of our favorite places—Ireland—but because her website My Second Spring has a section featuring women’s stories about menopause. In one, Toshi shares about her struggles with vaginal dryness and sex. In another, Shelley shares about unresovled trauma, PTSD, and menopause. All of the stories are honest, relatable, and real.

The primary topics are based on what the women being interviewed share, including both common and more unique menopause symptoms. They are raw and approach a wide range of topics, including the highs and lows Grimely experienced through her own menopausal journey. She shares:

I was the first in my group to mention menopause and at first, I was very reticent, embarrassed and shy about talking about it. People’s reactions were interesting and most people a bit shocked … It’s still not a comfortable topic. Some women see it as weakness to have symptoms or ‘give in’ to menopause.

The Variety in People’s Menopause Experiences

In her menopause-related post entitled “Night Sweats: Are You Sick?”, blogger and book author, Kathleen Morris, shares about her menopausal journey. Her tone makes you feel like you are out to coffee with a fast-talking, fun friend. Morris tosses out tips about everything from intermittent fasting to wearing bamboo pajamas while sharing her own experiences.

The post’s main point is to take charge of your own menopause by finding what works for you.

When speaking about menopause, Morris says:

It’s left up to us [women] to figure out what is happening to our own bodies. It’s left up to us to share our findings … and help other women understand that they are perfectly okay … The main thing to remember is not to panic.

The Aftermath of Instant Surgical Menopause

In her HealthyWomen article entitled, “Surgical Menopause Hit Me Hard,” Julie Neitzel recounts her gripping experience with sudden hormone loss. She details the all-at-once side effects of instant surgical menopause. For her, these included everything from brain fog, flat moods, and sleep issues to joint pain, hot flashes, and vision changes. Additionally, low libido and vaginal dryness brought on difficult sex-related changes. She shared:

I grieved for the loss of my fertility, femininity and sense of control over my mind and body. I was overwhelmed by the fear of the invisible aging processes happening inside me, and my confidence plummeted.

This post’s primary topics include surgical menopause, sudden hormone loss, and common symptoms of menopause. Other main points cover hormone replacement therapy, how to connect with likeminded communities, and the encouragement to normalize menopause.

If Data Could Make a Difference

Popular design and parenting influencer, Gabby Blair, posed a question about perimenopause on Twitter. In addition to raw experiences and solidarity, the response was an outstanding cry for more menopause-related information. Blair summarized the virtual conversation in her blog post entitled: “We Need More Information About Perimenopause.” The comments are an added bonus to the blog’s proposal to find a formal assessment that can better prepare, diagnose, and recommend treatments for this life stage.

The post’s primary point is to address what’s wrong with the current state of menopause and what we can do to get it right. Blair states:

“…perimenopause happens to so many people (half of all people!), and this information should be so commonplace, that a doctor visit would only be required if there was something unusual or dangerous happening. BUT WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT’S UNUSUAL OR DANGEROUS.”

The Mystery Surrounding Perimenopause

The leading paragraph to the New York Times’ article “Why Is Perimenopause Still Such a Mystery?” hooked me. The article shares that “over 1 billion women around the world will have experienced perimenopause by 2025. But a culture that has spent years dismissing the process might explain why we don’t know more about it.” Author Jessica Grose explored and shared clues to shed light on why menopause is still such a mystery.

The article’s primary themes includes the history of menopause, the stigma surrounding it, the lack of women’s healthcare information, normalizing menopause, what’s currently being done, and how things can shift. She shared:

If the experience of perimenopause is this universal, why did almost every single layperson interviewed for this article say something along the lines of: No one told me it would be like this? … The shroud of secrecy around women’s intimate bodily functions is among the many reasons experts cite for the lack of public knowledge about women’s health in midlife.

Normalizing Menopause With Books and Podcasts

This LA Time article, “Why It’s So Hard to Talk About ‘Down There’: The Doctor Who Is Normalizing Menopause” reviews the recently released book, Menopause Manifesto. Lisa Boone interviews book author Dr. Jen Gunter about why she wrote the book, why menopause is such a taboo topic, and her aim to correct menopause misinformation.

If you’re interested in checking out this book (highly recommended by the way), this is a great article to get a bit of the behind-the-scenes before you read it. Here’s just one expert from the article to give you a small taste:

Talking about “down there” is hard for people. It’s hard talking about it to doctors. Doctors and medicine reflect society. It’s hard when you are in the doctor’s office and there’s a power dynamic. People want to blame everything on menopause or not acknowledge it. Menopause is not happening in a vacuum. You can trace it back to our sad attempts at sex ed. Instead of teaching sex ed, we should teach human biology. You can’t hope to sort through the data if you don’t understand basic biology.

You can buy her book online.

Classic Menopause Heart Palpitations

Meg’s Menopause is another menopause blog post that does a great job of sharing authentic stories. I have a lot of favorites but this one entitled “Am I Having a Heart Attack?” drew me in. In it, menopausal maven, Sophie Favel, shares how she discovered she had embarked on her perimenopause-to-postmenopause journey when she ended up in the hospital. She thought she was having a heart attack only to learn her heart palpitations were a common symptom associated with perimenopause. Sophie states:

I had no idea that stress and anxiety could be heightened by menopause – or, more correctly, perimenopause. In fact, I knew very little about perimenopause. I had heard the word bandied about in my magazine work, but at 47, I was too young, wasn’t I?

The primary focus of this article is how to tell if you’re in the stages of menopause. Other topics include symptoms such as dry eyes, hair loss, vaginal dryness, low energy, loss of collagen, itchy skin, cognitive issues, joint aches, low libido, and menopause rage.

It’s a Wrap!

Finding the right menopause resources and relatable content may take some digging and time. But knowing that there are people who are walking in your shoes will hopefully give you perspective on what helped, how people were supportive, and how they moved forward.

What are menopause blog posts or resources you’re reading, listening to, or watching? Stop the taboo and take time to share them with other menopausal mavens today.

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