Women’s Month may give us a reason to talk about women’s health, but the conversation should not end when August does.
There are some things women learn to live with without questioning them. The exhaustion that never quite goes away. The period pain that is dismissed as something every woman experiences. The cycle that suddenly changes. The symptoms that come and go, leaving you wondering whether they are worth mentioning to a doctor at all.
During Women’s Month, Dr Sameera Nanabhay, a general practitioner practising in Ridgeway and Lenasia, unpacked some of these experiences, why they can be difficult to recognise and when they deserve more than simply being brushed aside.
The things women learn to ignore
Women’s health is often discussed in broad terms, but living in a woman’s body is almost never that simple. There are the obvious changes that come with puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.
Dr Nanabhay points out that women move through different stages of life, each bringing its own health needs. Some conditions affect women specifically, while others occur more frequently among women.
And then there is the practical reality of being a woman. There is work to do, families to care for, children to raise and communities to hold together. Somewhere in between all of that, personal health can move to the bottom of the list.
Until the body refuses to be ignored.
When is something actually wrong?
A menstrual cycle is not meant to feel exactly the same every day. Cramps, lower energy, emotional sensitivity, cravings and tiredness can all occur at different points in the cycle.
The question is not whether women experience symptoms. It is whether those symptoms are becoming excessive or disrupting ordinary life.
Mild cramps that settle with heat or simple pain relief can be part of menstruation. Pain that lasts beyond the first few days, requires stronger medication or makes it difficult to work, attend school or complete everyday tasks is another matter.
The same applies to fatigue. Feeling a little tired is one thing. Feeling so weak or short of breath that ordinary activities become difficult is another.
Changes in mood also deserve context. Feeling more emotional at certain points in the cycle can be normal. But significant changes in motivation, sleep, appetite or behaviour that interfere with daily life should not simply be written off as hormones.
The simplest rule may be the most useful one: if something is persistent, excessive or stopping you from living normally, it is worth investigating.
The long road to an endometriosis diagnosis
For women living with endometriosis, being told to simply put up with the pain can become part of the story.
Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterine cavity. It can affect areas including the ovaries, bladder and bowel, meaning its symptoms can look different from one person to another.
That is part of what makes it so difficult to identify. Pelvic pain, for example, is not unique to endometriosis. It can occur with several other conditions, so doctors may need to investigate and rule out other possibilities first.
For years, definitive diagnosis generally relied on laparoscopy and histology. In simple terms, this meant surgery to look for the lesions and examine tissue. It is understandably not the first step anyone wants to take, which can contribute to years of uncertainty for some women.
A normal ultrasound does not necessarily mean that endometriosis is not present either.
More recent approaches have placed greater emphasis on detailed imaging and symptoms that strongly suggest the condition, although diagnosis and treatment remain complex.
And then there is the question of fertility
Treatment may involve hormonal medication or surgery, depending on the individual. For someone hoping to become pregnant, managing the condition while protecting fertility can make those decisions even more complicated.
PCOS is a condition many women have heard of but may not fully understand. Polycystic ovary syndrome can affect much more than the ovaries. It can involve hormonal and metabolic changes, which is why its effects can show up in different parts of a woman’s health.
Irregular periods are one of the more familiar signs. Others can include acne, increased facial or body hair, hair thinning on the scalp and changes associated with insulin resistance, including increased hunger, fatigue and weight changes.
Unlike endometriosis, PCOS can often be assessed through a combination of symptoms, blood tests and imaging.
But having a name for the condition does not make living with it simple. Treatment depends on what the individual woman is experiencing and whether fertility is part of the picture.
For someone noticing a pattern of irregular cycles alongside changes such as acne, increased hair growth or unexplained weight changes, it may be worth asking whether PCOS could be involved.
When your test says “normal” but you still feel anything but
Few things are more discouraging than knowing something does not feel right, only to hear that your results are normal. But normal does not always mean nothing is wrong.
A test can only tell us what that particular test has found. A normal ultrasound, for example, does not automatically explain every symptom a woman may be experiencing.
Some conditions also come and go. Symptoms can be quiet one day and overwhelming the next, which means that an investigation performed when symptoms have settled may not tell the whole story.
This is where knowing your own patterns becomes important.
Write down when symptoms appear. Keep track of how long they last and whether they interfere with work, school, sleep or everyday activities.
And if the answer still does not make sense, seeking another opinion is reasonable.
Different doctors have different areas of experience. Sometimes another perspective can help connect the pieces that were previously treated as unrelated.
At the same time, mental health can affect the body in very real ways. The mind and body do not exist in separate rooms. Physical symptoms can sometimes have psychological roots, which is another reason a complete picture matters.
The important thing is that mental health should not become a convenient explanation for symptoms that have not been properly explored.
Learning to speak up for yourself
Self-advocacy does not mean coming to the doctor’s office with a diagnosis already decided. It can be as simple as saying, “This is not normal for me.”
A woman knows the patterns of her own body. She knows when a pain feels different and when something has changed.
Keeping a symptom diary, asking what a test actually checked and what the next step should be can make a healthcare consultation more useful. If symptoms continue despite an initial consultation, going back or seeking another opinion is also an option.
The aim is not to distrust doctors. It is to make sure the conversation does not end before the problem has been understood.
The woman who looks after everyone else
Women are often very good at putting themselves last.
There is always another responsibility, another person who needs something, another reason to postpone the appointment. For mothers, that instinct can be even stronger.
But the body eventually keeps its own score.
Dr Nanabhay describes the body as something entrusted to us, and that idea changes the way we think about self-care. Looking after yourself is not selfish. It is part of the responsibility of being here.
Sometimes taking care of your health means asking someone else to look after the children for a few hours. Sometimes it means making the appointment you have been postponing.
None of that makes you less of a mother, wife, daughter, colleague or member of your community.
It simply makes you a person who has decided that her own health matters too.
Women’s Month gives us a reason to celebrate women. Perhaps it should also remind us to listen to them, especially when they say something does not feel right. Because the conversation about women’s health should not disappear when August does.
To hear more from Dr Nanabhay, watch the video below:
Image credit: Stock.adobe.com / 639295495
