Menopause
The many faces of menopause: Why it is a unique stage for each woman
While the symptoms may be similar, women go through menopause differently
No one told me that hot flashes could start in your mid-30s and continue into your 60s, says Cindy Moy Carr, founder of mySysters app. She tells FemTech World how menopause can affect women in different ways at different ages.
The menopause is a natural time of ageing when a woman’s periods stop and the ovaries lose their reproductive function. Usually, this occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, but as Cindy Moy Carr found out, this is not the case for everyone.
“After I turned 40, I started having these horrendous migraines which I had never had before,” she remembers. “For a year and a half, they would just come and go. I went to the hospital, I had an MRI and I was told that it was all in my head.”
Her case is not singular. A Yale University review of insurance claims from more than 500,000 women in various stages of menopause states that while 60 per cent of women with significant menopausal symptoms seek medical attention, nearly three-quarters of them are left untreated.
Moy Carr had not been told about menopause until she turned 50. “I was talking to a nurse practitioner and she said ‘Well, this is all menopause-related’. And that was the first light bulb moment when I asked myself, ‘Why didn’t anybody tell me that?’
“I lived in Minneapolis – the home of big medical device companies – and if I couldn’t get any help, what chance do other women have? When I saw that none of my friends seemed to talk about it, I realised how taboo menopause was.”
Cindy’s app, mySysters, was launched as a social and self-care platform to help women manage perimenopause and menopause, helping them to track symptoms, recognise patterns and share advice in discussion forums.
“At the time there were no period trackers for women of my age,” the founder says. “That’s why we decided to launch mySysters. We made a little beta version, and after it became available in the AppStore, women from different countries started using it and about 5,000 of them still use it today.
“The app is that validation that women need to understand that they are not alone in this.”
But launching it was far from easy. “I got laughed at by men who thought it was the stupidest thing ever,” Moy Carr confesses. “Talking to the people who are making decisions about these things can be very frustrating.
“With the app, it was that community feeling that we wanted to create because most women find us after they no longer trust the medical community. Once people feel connected, life becomes easier, clearer and it feels easier to make decisions and advocate for yourself.
“We don’t know what the other person is going through, so let’s ask questions, find some information, share it and ultimately, support each other in whatever decision we make. It’s easier to feel empowered this way.”
Actively tracking symptoms has been repeatedly shown to result in greater symptom reporting and better understanding and recovery. A report from the British Psychological Society has found that a greater proportion of people were classified as high period symptom reporters after using a symptom-tracking app.
Moy Carr says that taking five minutes to check in with yourself is key. “After a few weeks, you get a checkerboard that shows the severity of your symptoms and over time, you can notice patters or triggers that influence how you feel.
“What is it that you did on Sunday that worsen your headaches on Monday? So often we say, ‘This came out of nowhere’. In fact, it didn’t. It was building up to that, but we just didn’t notice it because we weren’t paying attention to it.
“Tracking what’s happening in your body means becoming more aware of how you’re feeling. Then when something goes wonky, you will be able to recognise it quicker.”
The recent US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade may have serious consequences on tracking apps like mySysters. If there is a warrant, court order, or subpoena for the release of certain medical records, then a clinic could be required to hand them over, leaving patients and providers legally vulnerable.
“As a UK-based company, I’d like to think that our data is completely safe, but I worry about women in the US and what the current climate means for them,” Moy Carr says. “We found out that HIPAA – the US regulator providing data privacy and security provisions – will not protect women’s data.
“Roe v Wade is a step backwards for women’s health, not just for abortion, but for women’s health in general. The fact that data protection is not guaranteed can have huge consequences that we’re not even aware of.”
While the situation remains uncertain across half of the states, Cindy hopes that women will have autonomy over their bodies. “I’m hoping that at some point we can get away from these labels of menopause, perimenopause, post-menopause, fertility, age, puberty and focus on hormonal health.
“Not everybody goes through menopause at 50. Sometimes they’re 30. It’s our hormonal health and there’s no need for labels.”
For more info, visit mysysters.com.
Women with primary infertility may face a higher risk of early menopause and reach it about a year earlier, a study suggests.
The findings suggest women with primary infertility may be more likely to enter menopause before the age of 45.
The increased risk appeared most notable among women with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis.
Dr Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, said: “This study shows that women with primary infertility, specifically those with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis, were at risk for early menopause.
“Given that early menopause is linked to adverse long-term health consequences, these women may benefit from counselling that they are at risk of early menopause.
“This will allow them to monitor for early menopause and to seek treatment with hormone therapy, if indicated.”
Early menopause is usually defined as menopause before age 45, while premature menopause is menopause before age 40.
Women who experience menopause earlier may face symptoms for longer and have a higher risk of long-term health problems.
These can include cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and neurocognitive disorders. Osteoporosis weakens bones, while neurocognitive disorders affect memory, thinking or brain function.
The study, highlighted by The Menopause Society, involved nearly 700 people, roughly half of whom had been diagnosed with primary infertility.
It found that women with a history of primary infertility underwent natural menopause about one year earlier than those without such a history.
Researchers found no association between infertility and premature menopause.
Infertility affects around one in six people globally and can have consequences beyond family planning.
Previous research has linked infertility with higher rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease, although causes vary and may involve genetic, hormonal, in-utero or lifestyle factors.
In-utero factors are influences that occur while a baby is developing in the womb.
Earlier studies looking at links between infertility and early or premature menopause have produced mixed results, with some not accounting for different types of infertility.
The new study suggested that women with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis may have an increased risk of early menopause.
Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body. It can cause pain, heavy periods and fertility problems.
Known risk factors for early or premature menopause include tobacco use, low body mass index, not having given birth and starting periods at a younger age.
Women who have had more childbirths and those with a history of oral contraceptive use have previously been linked to later menopause.
The researchers said women with primary infertility may benefit from additional counselling because of the systemic and long-term health effects of early menopause.
They also said women should be encouraged to seek evaluation and treatment if they experience a new loss of menstrual cycles.
Smartwatch data may help track menopause sleep changes after researchers analysed more than 94,000 nights of Apple Watch sleep records.
The study analysed more than 94,000 nights of sleep data from 338 participants in the Apple Women’s Health Study.
It found that many participants spent more time awake during the night in the 12 months before and after their final logged menstrual period.
For the past several years, Apple has used the Apple Watch to support large-scale health studies through the Apple Research app.
These include the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study, which launched in 2019 with research partners including Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association and the University of Michigan.
In February 2025, Apple said those studies had grown to more than 350,000 participants across the US.
Recently, researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published results on how sleep patterns change during perimenopause.
The study looked at wake after sleep onset, or WASO, which measures how much time a person spends awake after first falling asleep.
In the 18 months leading up to menopause, 60 per cent of women with sleep tracking data showed increased WASO compared with the previous six months.
The average increase was 7 per cent.
Researchers also found that, in the 12 months before and after the last logged menstrual period, participants spent about 0.8 per cent more of their sleep time awake after menopause than before.
However, the findings varied widely between participants.
Some women had much larger increases in time awake after menopause, while others had no meaningful sleep change at all.
The researchers said this reflects the fact that each person experiences perimenopause and menopause differently.
Participants who tracked sleep also logged menopause symptoms.
Hot flushes were reported by 82.3 per cent of participants, irritability by 68.1 per cent, mental exhaustion by 65.7 per cent and sexual symptoms by 65.6 per cent.
Among participants with more severe menopause symptoms, the symptoms most closely linked with worse sleep were bladder symptoms, joint symptoms, heart discomfort and depressive symptoms.
The researchers also shared recommendations that may help women sleep better during perimenopause.
These include maintaining a cool sleeping environment, keeping a consistent sleep schedule, getting regular movement, avoiding common bladder irritants and limiting fluids in the hours before bedtime, and prioritising relaxation or mindfulness techniques as part of a bedtime routine.
Women are still being failed by menopause care despite a surge in online advice, with experts saying symptoms are too often minimised or dismissed.
The researchers exposed a gap between the surge of menopause information available online and the quality of medical care women receive.
A team of anthropologists and psychologists explored the physical and emotional toll of menopause, including its impact on work and personal lives, through interviews with 60 women aged 45 to 61 between March and June 2021.
The findings were published in a new book, We Need to Talk About Menopause.
The interviews showed how women continue to “needlessly suffer” as they sort through misinformation from influencers, celebrities and so-called experts.
The authors said: “You would think in an age where humans are developing commercial space flight, self-driving cars, and AI personal assistants who can project movies onto the palm of your hand, we would understand more about menopause, something a little over half of the population is guaranteed to experience in their lives.”
The interviews revealed wide variation in women’s experiences of doctors.
Some felt they could have an open dialogue, while others said they were “shut down”, including being told they were too young for menopause.
One woman said she bled heavily for a year before she was taken seriously.
The authors said menopause is still poorly understood, with disagreement over whether it should be seen as a medical condition or a natural part of ageing.
There are more than 100 recognised symptoms, although some women experience none.
Among those interviewed, 78 per cent reported weight gain and redistribution, particularly around the belly area, which was resistant to diet and exercise.
Fifty-eight per cent experienced mood disturbances including anxiety, depression, irritability and unprecedented levels of rage.
Many women said they were blindsided by symptoms they had never known existed.
One participant said she only realised rage was a menopause symptom after seeing it mentioned in a television commercial.
Women also described severe memory problems and brain fog that colleagues mistook for incompetence, leading successful professionals to question their abilities at the peak of their careers.
Brain fog can include problems with concentration, memory and clear thinking.
According to Statistics Canada, 70 per cent of women turn to the internet as their primary source of menopause information.
The authors said this information vacuum has spawned a £14.7bn global “meno-tech” industry, with influencers, celebrities and telehealth companies offering products ranging from £98 creams to unnecessary blood tests.
They said: “The growth of interest in menopause has also been accompanied by a wave of unsubstantiated information.
“Many websites market expensive creams, supplements, and weight-loss schemes that promise to keep women youthful and attractive, with little evidence to support their claims.
“Reliable, accessible information about menopause and perimenopause is still lacking. Despite increased attention to the importance of physician training and the search for menopause specialists, the medical profession as a whole continues to provide limited support in this area.”
The authors also highlighted the effect of menopause in the workplace.
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has warned that Britain is “haemorrhaging talent” because of menopause, with 14 million workdays lost each year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Despite this, studies have shown 80 per cent of UK employers have yet to implement proper support measures for menopausal women.
Some women said simple workplace adjustments made a significant difference.
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