24 Bizarre Stories From Women That Prove We Know Nothing About Menopause

Most women know what to expect during menopause. Hormone fluctuations bring about a wide variety of symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, and much more. A recent viral video of a woman literally steaming in the cold goes on to prove this point.

However, for some women, menopause brings about a literal smorgasbord of unexpected symptoms, that you would not normally connect to this phase of life. Here are some of the most shocking stories that prove menopause and the female body is still more of a medical mystery.

• Dry eyes and a nose that never stops running? It’s like my face got rewired. I had chemo-induced menopause, so within a year I got all the symptoms. This happened and never stopped. TeacupExtrovert / Reddit
• Ok, here we go: Itchy inside my ears. A constant itchy spot on my back. Pain in my hip. Vaginal atrophy (this is the WORST by a long shot).
  Haven’t found a comfortable pillow in at least 5 years (once upon a time I could have slept on a rock and been happy). Oily hair. One itchy nipple. I could go on and on with all the unexpected stuff. Lady Feckington / Reddit
• Vertigo. You will be surprised of the ailments that may be connected to being menopausal. Salty-Environment864 / Reddit
• Ghost periods. I had no idea that years after my last period I would still cycle — irritable, achy breasts, churning feeling in the lower belly. The difference? Back in the day the blood-letting would arrive, and the symptoms would dissipate, now there is no relief of a period. drivingthelittles / Reddit

• This one is embarrassing but... farting. I have had days when, if I was wearing a sailboat’s sail, I may self propel. 99% of the emissions are silent and odorless, but the amount is kind of insane. I’m hoping to up my estrogen patch dosage at the doctor at the end of this month. Silly yet humiliating daily struggle. Unknown author / Reddit
• Groin sweat... which I think is social anxiety-induced... which is also new the last couple of years. I have a semi-important meeting at work today and will have to wear black bottoms and a pad, so as not to look like I peed my pants. IllustriousCake974 / Reddit
• I just feel so much more fragile and old and stiff and sensitive. Rich foods upset my digestion instantly. I can’t eat as much. If I stay out until midnight (drinking water!) it takes me three days to recover, like jet lag.
  I can’t do half the yoga poses I could do in my late 30s. My neck and feet are always cold. I get migraines every period. It’s so weird — I’m 45 feeling like how 60-year-olds must feel?! MissPsychette88 / Reddit
• I itch everywhere. If a mosquito bites me, it’s like having an allergic reaction. I’m swelling up and itching in multiple places, usually arms and legs, scratching until I bleed. I don’t even want to speak on the vaginal problems 🥺
  I don’t feel like the same person. Rage is easily triggered. Motivation is somewhere in the dumps. This all started last year when my doc lowered my HRT. FleurDisLeela / Reddit

• Heart palpitations. Never connected them to menopause. Doctors thought it was anxiety. I can be sitting down and relaxed and have what I call “heart runs”.
  Taking medicine now for it and high blood pressure... seems to be working. Wish one of them would have mentioned this could be menopause, so I didn’t think I was dying. PippinKC / Reddit
• Hot legs. All night long. It makes it difficult to sleep. It’s not a hot flash, and it’s not on anywhere else except my legs. Mondashawan / Reddit
• OMG, the dry mouth! Started coughing during my mother’s funeral last week because I was so dry. Luckily, my brother had Altoids. I’ve got to have water with me wherever I am. mamajones18 / Reddit
• The bad: random nausea for MONTHS. I saw multiple doctors and not one suggested that it might be perimenopause even though I was 56 at the time. The good: a switch flipped in my head that now tells me that I am full and don’t need to eat anymore.
  I’d been eating as much as my husband for 30+ years, and it turns out I don’t need as much food as he does... 🤣 Once I stopped overeating, the weight started coming off, and I lost 120 lbs in about 18 months and have kept it off for over a year now. Catty_Lib / Reddit

• Word recall! A college friend asked me (I had been in a bad car accident) if I’d had traumatic brain injury. So humiliating. carefree_neurotic / Reddit
• Burning mouth, tongue, and lips. It is excruciating. Doctors have no idea why it happens. They want to prescribe nerve blockers and anti depressants.😔 kjyellow / Reddit
• I have a heightened sense of smell. I hate it. pennydreadful20 / Reddit
• I kept tripping over my own feet for like two years. I thought it was my shoes. Or not picking up my feet. Then I saw a creator on IG that was talking about menopause symptoms and that made the list. Auntie_L / Reddit
• My weirdest one is random patterns of goosebumps on my arm that look like letters. I actually considered if it was my body trying to send me a message. Like maybe ‘GIVE ME HRT!’ Coocoocachoooh / Reddit

• Chronic acid reflux during perimenopause, for years. It would get worse just before a period and just before ovulation. I had full work-up from a GI doctor, a consult with a dietician, and I was eating almost total bland diet. I was on three different meds.
  STILL, I’d have times when nothing would stop it. No one could confirm or deny it was hormonally-related, but the fact that it happened during those specific times was all I needed to know. headcoatee / Reddit
• I think I could grow a mustache now. BlueGreenTrails / Reddit
• I had severe calf pain — like a Charlie Horse. I thought I was going to die one night from it. I literally jumped out of bed like a crazy person and landed on my shins. Magnesium has helped so much. No more calf and foot cramps. RightChildhood7091 / Reddit
• My teeth have definitely shifted, and my bite has changed. I have gaps between teeth that used to be close together, and other teeth that were a little gappy are pressing against each other now. The constant aching of my jaws for a few years is probably my weirdest symptom. m4gpi / Reddit

• I fell down a rabbit hole (literally) and twisted my ankle. I sought medical help, and it was okay. Not really, actually.
  The pain from my “healed” ankle traveled to give me a bad knee, a bad hip, even a bad elbow and shoulder. Then, I started having chest pains. I was convinced I was going to die, but my doctor mocked me and told me it was all related to menopause.
  In fact, I had undiagnosed Rheumatoid Arthritis and the drop in hormones, due to perimenopause ended in a full flare. I got treated, and changed my doctor. Diagnosis is good, laughing at me, not so much!
• I had a new hygienist. I had unlucky timing and scheduled my appointment during an episode of “why are my teeth loose?” and “why are my gums inflamed?” She pretty much told me I wasn’t practicing proper dental hygiene and reprimanded me. I calmly told her that I was having these flare-ups at irregular intervals (I don’t pay enough attention) and attributed it to the hormone games.
  I wasn’t calm in my head. In fact, I was secretly wishing to be a fly on the wall when she experienced the same. The dentist must’ve had a chat with her after, as she was totally kind for my next appointment — when my teeth were in fine shape. PhoneGroundbreaking2 / Reddit
• A dramatic worsening of all my autoimmune stuff. To the point that I was napping 3 times a day. Just awful. MsDeluxe / Reddit

Bonus

It sounds scary and terrifying, but there is hope. As this Reddit user shared, “Menopause isn’t always brutal. My periods got further apart, then ended. I never had a hot flash, heavy periods, didn’t get night sweats, or any other symptom.
My period ended within a year of getting further without any pain or sweat when I turned 54. I don’t mean to rub it in for those that suffered, but I need women to know that menopause isn’t always bad.”

Women face plenty of challenges in their lifetimes, including ones thrown by their own body. Here is some surprising research about periods, that may be to your advantage.