<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, my friends and I met up in Japan for one last hurrah before one of us gets repatriated. We chose Japan for its unbeatable mix of shopping and food, but as a delightful bonus, we arrived just as the cherry blossoms\u2014sakura\u2014were beginning to bloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strolling under those delicate pink petals, I was struck by how fleeting yet breathtaking transitions can be. A year ago, I was in Dublin\u2019s Herbert Park, surrounded by bright, defiant daffodils standing tall against the crisp spring air. Two different places, two different symbols\u2014yet both reminding me of the same truth: change is inevitable, but it can also be beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Menopause, much like the seasons, is a transition we all navigate in our own way. Watching women in Japan and Ireland, I couldn\u2019t help but reflect on how culture shapes our approach to this phase of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Different?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Japan, menopause is called konenki<\/em>, which translates to \u201ca period of changing years.\u201d It\u2019s seen as a natural transition, something to be accepted rather than battled. Women generally don\u2019t discuss symptoms much, instead focusing on lifestyle and diet to maintain balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ireland, menopause is more openly acknowledged, often with medical interventions like Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and supplements. The Irish word for menopause is an mheanap\u00e1s<\/em>, though I\u2019ve heard some women simply call it \u201cThe Change\u201d or, more bluntly, \u201ca piece of shite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s the Same?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter where you are, menopause is deeply personal\u2014shaped by biology, lifestyle, and mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women everywhere seek community, whether through quiet understanding in Japan or more vocal, unapologetic discussions in Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And on a lighter note, both cultures seem to agree that a good drink helps. Whether it\u2019s a contemplative sip of sake in a Japanese izakaya or a hearty pint in an Irish pub, one thing is universal: sometimes, you just need to toast to making it through another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding My Own Path: A Mix of East and West<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we choose to handle menopause? Do we trust in nature and push through? Or do we embrace modern medicine and demand solutions? The answer doesn\u2019t have to be one or the other\u2014it can be both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When my Irish doctor suggested HRT, I resisted. I\u2019m the type who won\u2019t take paracetamol unless I\u2019m on the verge of collapse. My mother never used HRT, and neither did my friends back home. I filled the prescription but let it sit untouched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six months later, at my next check-up, my doctor asked how I was doing on HRT. I admitted I hadn\u2019t taken it. \u201cI\u2019m managing menopause without it,\u201d I said. \u201cI think I\u2019m doing okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. M gave me a look. \u201cYou do know you don\u2019t get a rosette for that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That stopped me. Was I treating menopause like a competition I needed to win? A gold medal in unnecessary suffering where the only loser was me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I finally tried HRT, and suddenly, it felt like a fog had lifted. The sky was blue again\u2014metaphorically speaking of course, because in Ireland, it\u2019s mostly cloudy. I had been fine without it, but with it, I felt great<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That didn\u2019t mean I abandoned the konenki <\/em>approach. I still prioritized a good diet, exercise, stress reduction, and better sleep. And most importantly, not admonishing other women for making different choices about how they managed their symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that I\u2019m in the Philippines, my access to HRT is limited. I\u2019ve had to find other ways to cope, but suffering in silence is not one of them. More than ever, I believe in talking about menopause openly\u2014with friends, with strangers, with anyone willing to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No woman should go through this season alone. Whether over sake, Guinness, or a Coke Zero (no more sugar for me), we can all share, learn, and laugh along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, my friends and I met up in Japan for one last hurrah before one of us…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[9],"class_list":{"0":"post-405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-menopause","8":"category-personal"},"authors":[{"term_id":9,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jvinculado73","display_name":"Jasmin Vinculado","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1a.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1a.jpg"},"author_category":"","first_name":"Jasmin","last_name":"Vinculado","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.secondspringph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}