When the “Man-Flashes” Enter the Chat
Ladies, Babes, Luvs, we need to talk… and now!
I don’t know where I’ve been, but only recently did some little internet birdies clue me into the fact that something called andropause exists.
What’s andropause, you say? In the simplest of words: Menopause for men, kinda.
Not gonna lie, I did smirk a little. OK, beam with cheshire-cat full glee. We women, damn near since birth, have had all kinds of shit piled on us. Coming out of nowhere is what it feels like. Jumping us. Sneak-attacking us. Sliding in like skid marks. One minute we’re playing as equals with the boys, then puberty hits both of us, but the path that women were dumped on is riddled with curves, bumps, jagged rocks, and 56 ogres brandishing knives while chucking poisonous snakes. From getting our periods, hormone changes, pregnancy (if you went down that road), to perimenopause, and menopause. Again, except for pregnancy there seems to be no way to avoid the others or reduce the impact to be anything but tolerable. It’s giving Suck-It-Up Soldier vibes, when none of us signed up for the army.
So as time goes on, we just deal with the next level of hell in front of us and mostly quiet.
And, let’s all say it together ‘Not All Men’… but even with ‘men’ in the word, men have zero interest in the hell of menopause to the other half of the human population. The men who aren’t arseholes commiserate with us and support us where they can through the hot flashes, mood swings, and random body changes (usually for the worse) even if your diet and workout are the damn same, or more intense. Like, what the actual fuck.
So when I heard about Andropause, this new plot twist for men… my ears perked the hell up. Time to share in the aging-pain.
Yep. Welcome to menopause, I mean, andropause, fellas!
And if I have any men reading this, first off, welcome to SincerelyIreneB, and second, I can hear you/them going, “Wait… what?” Exactly. That’s the point.
Andropause is often called male menopause, although it’s not exactly the same thing as menopause in women. Because of course it’s not. Women experience a much more dramatic drop in reproductive hormones over a much shorter period of time. Screwed again. In andropause, it seems that men usually experience a more gradual decline in testosterone levels as they age. And from what I’ve read, this decline can actually begin around age 30.
Women, men, humans, can we please get a user manual sometime soon?
So What’s Going Down In Andropause?
From what I’ve learned so far, as men get older, testosterone levels can naturally decrease. For some men, this change is barely noticeable. Lucky bastards. But for others, it can bring on a world of confusion. While people are aware of menopause but there’s not much relief, people, men especially, are only just getting to even hear about andropause. Go ahead, test it out, ask a man in your life about it, and clock the bewildered expression you get back.
Some of the symptoms may include:
- Feeling more tired than usual (even after a good night’s sleep)
- Lower energy or motivation
- Changes in mood, including irritability or feeling down
- Difficulty concentrating or feeling mentally foggy
- Loss of muscle mass and weight gain
- Lower interest in sex
- Overall sleep changes
Basically, a man might look around and think:
“Why am I exhausted, annoyed, forgetting why I walked into this room, sporting man-boobs, and suddenly wanting to buy a sports car I can’t afford?” They might just chalk it up to the old mid-life crisis term… hmm… methinks this was andropause all along… maybe? Umm, Sir… we need to have a conversation.
Disclaimer: Take no medical advice from me. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on these here interwebs. Do your own research lads, we women have enough on our plate.
The Midlife Mystery Nobody Warned You About
Here’s the funny thing about getting older: our bodies start sending these new-to-us messages with the volume set on max. With all kinds of symptoms that are vying to come out to play all at once. Stress, lack of sleep, body changes, new medications, vitamins and supplements, health conditions to manage, or just the realization that life in your 40s and 50s, aka Big Age, is about to be a full-contact sport from now until who the hell knows when. Just like us gals, you guys and your bodies are also going through your own “Big Age” transition.
Men, Welcome to the Big Age Conversation
And while andropause is new to me. Menopause isn’t. So to me, the biggest takeaway for all of us is that aging comes with all kinds of complications we can’t ignore, and actually need to actively understand.
We’re here in this second chapter to enjoy it to the max. We’re not winding down. We’re figuring out the things we can, dropping the shit we can’t, and rolling on through the rest.
We still have goals, dreams, and passion projects to chase. They might be big. They might be small. But they’re still ours.
Membership in this club comes with wisdom, a few surprises, and the occasional moment where you stand in the kitchen wondering why you’re there.
So get your checkups. Ask questions. Understand what’s happening. Take care of yourself.
And literally ask, not just Google: What is andropause?
