BOSTON/EWORLDWIRE/March 7, 2005 --- As women experience the onset of menopause (or perimenopause) they can experience a range of symptoms in a variety of ways. From hot flashes to night sweats, from headaches and joint aches to mood swings and memory loss, from vaginal dryness to insomnia, up to 44 different signs of menopause are possible. These symptoms can be subtle, unexpected and confusing, and they can set in as early as a woman's late 30's. Unless she knows what's happening with her body, a perimenopausal woman can feel like she's "going crazy" as her hormonal balance starts to shift."I really felt like I was losing my mind when perimenopause set in with me," says 'The Cycle Calendar' creator, Kay Stoner. "I wasn't even 40 yet, and I wasn't expecting my menopause to start for at least another five years. But I was gaining weight, in spite of working hard around the clock and getting regular exercise. I was really moody, my temper was awful, and I couldn't figure out why. My monthly cycles were way out of whack -- now and then they'd start 18 days apart, instead of my usual 29 days, and sometimes they'd last more than a week.
"I thought it was job stress-related, and I went to my doctor to see if there was something wrong with me, but my tests came back normal. Only when I started having hot flashes, did it sink in... I was perimenopausal. It was very traumatic for me. I was only 39! I was too young for this! But when I started reading about menopause and perimenopause, I found out my body is 'right on schedule,' and there's nothing wrong with me. When I started keeping track of my physical cycles and symptoms, a lot of my emotional distress subsided. There was something about keeping notes about my body's changes that put my mind at rest."
But in today's hectic world, the signs of change can get lost in the shuffle of everyday life. Many (peri)menopausal women are busier than ever. They have jobs to do, mouths to feed, bills to pay. And even when a woman does try to keep track of all her symptoms, her menopausal notes can get lost in the shuffle of demanding everyday life. "The problem wasn't that I didn't have enough notes," says Kay. "I had plenty -- but in too many places. I had notes everywhere, in a bunch of different notebooks and calendars and in piles on my desk at work and on my desk at home. Stickie notes... calendar entries... scribbles on whatever scrap paper I could find... There had to be a better way to keep track of my 'Change'!"
And so Kay created "The Cycle Calendar". It's a monthly minder that gives a woman one convenient place to keep track of her Change as it happens. And since (peri)menopause can take 10-15 years to complete, this monthly minder lasts for five years, so a woman can look back, after several months or several years, to see how her body has transformed. "Having one calendar for each year, wouldn't be very practical. Not with the way my memory is going," laughs Kay. "I can't imagine trying to remember where I put my calendar for 2005, when I'm looking for it in 2008. I made 'The Cycle Calendar' good for five years, starting with 2004 -- so I have a place to record all my notes from last year, and see them in context with this year... and the next, and the next. When I visit my doctor again, I won't have to look at her blankly, when she asks me what my symptoms have been or when my last period was -- the info will all be there at my fingertips."
"The Cycle Calendar" has room to record menstrual periods each month, along with a woman's own unique physical symptoms. An extended list of possible (peri)menopausal symptoms is included, along with general introductory information. There's space for notes and reflections each month, and at the end of each year there are pages to record year-end notes, illustrated with images of classic goddesses and everyday women. "With so much menopause information available to us women, in print and online," says Kay, "it's important to have one single place where we women can keep notes on what we find out about our process as we go along. Every woman is different and information that's appropriate for one, may not apply to another, so I've left plenty of blank space for recording useful websites, book titles, and other sources of information we find (on purpose or by accident) along the way. Every woman shares the fact that she will, eventually, go through menopause. But not every woman's experience is the same. I created 'The Cycle Calendar' with that uniqueness in mind."
"The Cycle Calendar" is available for $9.95 (plus s/h) at www.cyclecalendar.net. A partial preview is available for download, and additional resources and information are listed at the website. E-mail info@cyclecalendar.net for more information or to arrange an author interview.
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