Another menopause blog post, with stuff you possibly didn’t know.

I was having coffee with a best friend last week, and we are the same age give or take a couple of years, and like most best pals, no conversation is off limits.

We go to talk about peeing.

My pal, like me, has had bladder issues in the past, and recently for her, they have started to get a bit more worthy of remark, which is a polite way of saying that it’s getting effing annoying.

We got to thinking about how, women, and peeing, and everything else that creeps up on us in menopause, is just not widely known or discussed, until everything starts to go a bit Pete Tong.

So after an enlightening talk with my friend who is a most excellent listener, I then found out about over active bladders, bladder training, and how depleting levels of oestrogen, which affects collagen levels, whcih can affect the bladder and ureters. Crikey.

Why are we never told about these things?

Reader, do you know how to do kegel exercises? Do you know how to activate your pelvic floor?

My friend spoke me through doing kegels and how, apparently women regardless of age, should be doing 5 sets of 5 contractions, 3 times a day. By set 5, there were bits of me tired that I honestly didn’t think could get tired. On top of that, I couldn’t stop raising my eyebrows at the same time, much to the amusement of my friend.

How many other women are just too busy to notice that something is not quite right? How many women are just putting up with incontinence because of their age?

If this is you, regardless of where you are in the world, look it up, ask your doctor, get help. It’s out there.

I seriously had no idea about bladder physiotherapy. I also had no idea about pelvic floor physio either. I knew about pilates for the pelvic floor, but beyond that, I had no idea it was a specialist subject.

Wow.

Here are a couple of NHS links for you to look up and do some homework on.

Urinary incontinence, and over active bladders

Let me know what you think, and how you get on.

I’m looking forward to getting less disturbed sleep.

Onward!

Elizabeth