- How ignorance of symptoms is putting relationships in disarray
- More women misconstruing condition for mental/spiritual attack
Menopause is often not well understood. Many people think it just means the end of a woman’s monthly period. But for many Nigerian women, it brings a lot of strange changes, like confusing health problems, mood swings, and a loss of their usual self. Because there is not enough correct information and people hardly talk about it, most women go through this difficult time alone and are misdiagnosed. In this report, Chinyere Okoroafor looks into the hidden pain many women face during menopause and how wrong beliefs and lack of knowledge make it even harder and lonelier.
I didn’t know what was happening to me,” Mrs. Adeoye, a 55 year-old mother of four (not the real name) said, her voice low as she sat across facing this correspondent. “I was gaining weight so fast, always tired, and I couldn’t sleep at night. My mood was everywhere, I’d cry for no reason, shout at people, then feel guilty right after.”
She paused, pressing a hand to her chest. “Everyone around me said it was a spiritual attack. Some said maybe someone in my family had cursed me. I got scared.”
Desperate for help, she travelled all the way to Ilorin to see a herbalist. “The Baba gave me all sorts of concoctions, bitter roots, strange leaves, and I spent money, thousands. Nothing worked.”
It wasn’t until she joined menopause support community through a friend and spoke to the Founder of the Menopause Support Initiative (MSI) and the convener of Nigeria’s first dedicated menopause support community, Pharmacist Mosunmola Dosunmu, that things started making sense.
“She explained it to me that it was menopause. Just menopause. Not a curse. Not madness. Just a natural phase of life. I cried. I had suffered so much because I didn’t know.”
It was a tale of mental disruption when our correspondent encountered Mrs. Ukoh.
A mother of two in her mid-40s recalled how her period had always been irregular. But what she didn’t realise at the time was that the strange changes she felt in her body, fatigue, mood swings, and hot flashes, were signs of something deeper.
“I just thought it was stress or maybe something spiritual. It never occurred to me that my body was preparing for menopause. Sometimes when I don’t understand the things I’m feeling in my body, I would think I was going mad. It started slowly, first the mood swings, then the panic attacks, the confusion. Some days I couldn’t remember the simplest things. I’d find myself crying alone in the kitchen and not knowing why.”
Her voice trembled as she continued. “My family didn’t understand. They said I was losing it. My husband stopped talking to me the way he used to. My children avoided me. I was taken to different hospitals, and they said it was depression, anxiety, even early signs of schizophrenia. So they put me on pills. Antipsychotic pills. I took them for years.”
She looked away, wiping a tear. “I lost so much, friends, my job, even my sense of self. And all that time, no one ever said the word ‘menopause.’ Not once. It wasn’t until one evening, I was tuning the radio and just stopped on this voice. A woman was talking about menopause. She mentioned everything I’d been going through, mood swings, anxiety, memory lapses. I froze. It was like she was talking directly to me.”
She paused, then gave a small, sad smile. “That night, I couldn’t sleep. I just kept thinking, ‘What if this has been it all along?’ The next morning, I called the number they gave.
Like Mrs. Adeoye, Mrs. Ukoh said she spoke to someone, in the person of Pharm Dosunmu who really listened to her for the first time. And for once, I didn’t feel crazy. I felt understood.”
For Edith Obioma, the mood swings and irritability brought on by menopause took a heavy toll, eventually costing her, her marriage.
At 35, she noticed that her body changed, but she didn’t recognise the signs. Her periods became irregular, but doctors, focused on her IVF treatments, never mentioned menopause. They only said her eggs were “not great” or “too few.” She clung to hope because she still saw her period sometimes.
In a low, trembling voice that nearly brought her to tears, she told of how she poured her heart into trying for a baby, enduring failed IVF cycles that left her emotionally broken. “Each failure broke me,” she recalled. “I withdrew, avoiding people, sinking into loneliness.”
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According to her, seeing mothers with children felt like torture. She resented their joy, questioned her fate. Her marriage suffered. She snapped at her husband at any least irritation, consumed by anger and grief.
At 40, the IVF finally worked, and she had her daughter, thinking the struggle was over. But that was just the beginning of the real battle.
Her period stopped completely. Panic attacks, hair loss, and relentless anxiety set in. Doctors dismissed her concerns. Even during COVID, when symptoms worsened, she assumed it was the virus. It wasn’t until her younger sister experienced the same that Edith realized, she was experiencing menopause.
By then, her marriage was already over. Her husband had tried to be patient, but he didn’t understand her anger, her distance. One day, he left.
“Looking back, I regret so much,” she says. “I fought so hard, but for what? The women I fought ended up in Lekki with houses. I lost everything.”
Her family offered no support. Friends took sides. She was alone, except for the church. Healing took years. Then, one day, her husband returned, not to stay, but to say:
“If this was the woman you were when we moved back to Nigeria, I wouldn’t have followed another woman.”
The words stung. Not because she wanted him back, but because they confirmed her fear, menopause had changed her, and no one had understood.
Mrs. Vivian Duru faced a similar battle. At 42, menopause hit suddenly, sleepless nights, mood swings, and a relentless heat coursing through her body. She felt restless, forgetful, and irritable. At first, she blamed stress, then a spiritual attack. She fasted and prayed, but nothing changed.
One day, convinced she was pregnant, she went for a scan. She had the bloating, dizziness, and hormonal shifts she associated with pregnancy. But when the doctor read the results, he shook his head.
“There’s no baby.”
She left the hospital in tears, convinced something had stolen her child. Only after meeting another woman with similar experiences did she understand, this was menopause. No one had told her it could come so early.
Adeola’s story was even more devastating. At 42, she changed. The warm, loving wife she said she was to her husband Ladi, became irritable and withdrawn. Family gatherings brought no joy. Then, the illnesses started. One hospital visit led to another, draining their finances. Nothing helped.
For 10 years, she suffered one health crisis after another. Her marriage crumbled. Intimacy faded. Her husband, exhausted from trying to love a woman who had become a stranger, was ready to leave.
Then, he finally learned the truth. His wife’s suffering had a name, menopause.
But it was too late. He was drained, past the point of caring. Even knowing her pain wasn’t her fault, he couldn’t bring himself to fight for their marriage anymore.
Before Pharmacist Dosunmu discovered that her long struggle with bloating, mood swings, and irritability were symptoms of menopause, her son had endured several unwarranted beatings as a result of her unpredictable temper.
According to Pharm Dosunmu, her journey with menopause began long before she experienced its symptoms firsthand.
She recalled how her mother, at 45, was once misdiagnosed with pregnancy, a mistake that created confusion and shame within their family.
“As a pharmacist, I used to think menopause happened only around age 50. No one educated us about it.” She said.
Years later, at 42, Dosunmu found herself facing a wave of unfamiliar symptoms, mood swings, depression, memory lapses. A single mother of two boys, she became unexplainably angry, particularly toward one of her sons who resembled her.
“I didn’t understand why I kept lashing out until one day, my son looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Mommy, you need help.’ That was my wake-up call.”
Her condition worsened. She began hearing voices, battled suicidal thoughts, and was often locked indoors, crying for days. Her work suffered. Brain fog made it impossible to concentrate or manage her business. She lost weight rapidly and struggled to stay mentally and physically stable.
“I tried enrolling for a master’s degree in Mass Communication,” she added. “But I couldn’t read or retain anything. Eventually, I dropped out.”
In hindsight, Dosunmu believes that a support system could have made all the difference.
“If someone had just told me, ‘It’s menopause, you’re not alone,’ maybe I wouldn’t have felt so lost.”
Just like Mrs. Adeoye and Mrs. Ukoh, Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Halle Berry also went through a similar ordeal.
Another woman, who gave her name only as Mrs. Joy, shared her difficult journey. At just 44, she had visited several doctors but received no clear diagnosis. “I was tired all the time, gaining weight fast, my business was falling apart, and my marriage was suffering,” she recalled. “I didn’t know what was happening to me.”
Overwhelmed and in tears, she eventually met Pharmacist Dosunmu. After carefully listening to her symptoms, he told her she was likely experiencing menopause.
“She didn’t just give me medicine, she explained what was going on in my body,” Mrs. Joy said. With lifestyle changes and the right supplements, her health improved quickly.
But when she stopped the routine months later, her symptoms returned. “That was my wake-up call,” she said. “Now I know better. I stay on track, and I tell every woman I know to take menopause seriously.”
In a recent appearance on Good Morning America, Berry revealed she was misdiagnosed with herpes at the age of 54, only to later discover she was actually in perimenopause.
“I was 54 years old, 54, I wasn’t aware of it, and none of my doctors had even mentioned this time of life to me. It was as if this would never happen to me. I was probably 10 years into it and had no clue. I thought I was going crazy. I had really bad memory loss. I had a hard time concentrating, I flooded my laundry room three times, and I would leave my keys stuck in doorways.
“I could never find my phone. I was walking into rooms and not remembering why I was there. These were things that were not a part of my makeup before this time period. I started to think, Oh God, am I starting to have early onset dementia? Is something happening to my brain?
I got very aggro. I was wanting to argue with everybody about every little thing, and that was so not me. I was always the chill one in the conversation or in the room. I had a hard time sleeping, and I guess sleep deprivation is a form of torture. It felt like I was falling apart at the seams, and nobody seemed to be able to relate. Everybody just said, “Oh, it’s just a time of life. You’re getting old. Just deal with it.” But I didn’t feel old. I didn’t feel like it was time for me just to pack it up and wander off to pasture, but yet that’s kind of what everybody started to tell me. I felt crazy and alone and afraid. I felt ashamed.”
“When I realized I was in perimenopause and could put a name to it, I started investigating and doing my own research and reconnaissance. I realized, Oh, this is what’s been happening to me for a decade. It was so enlightening.” She said.
These women’s stories are just a few examples, but countless others face this life-altering transition without the support or information they urgently need. While menopause is a natural stage in every woman’s life, women like Mrs. Adeoye, Mrs. Ukoh, Mrs. Duru, Mrs. Dosunmu, and even Halle Berry should not have had to navigate it without the knowledge that could have helped them seek proper care, avoiding unnecessary health struggles, broken relationships, and a loss of identity.
Behind these personal stories lies the complex science of menopause
According to the Mayo Clinic, menopause is the cessation of menstrual periods, specifically after 12 consecutive months without a period, vaginal bleeding, or spotting. It typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, when the ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
The drop in these reproductive hormones triggers a host of symptoms, including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings, sleep disturbances, anxiety, forgetfulness, and reduced sexual desire.
An obstetrician and gynecologist at Mushin General Hospital, Dr. Solaja Olufemi, described menopause as “a time of emotional and physical upheaval.”
He explained that the emotional turmoil many menopausal women experience is deeply rooted in hormonal changes that affect brain chemistry and emotional regulation.
“For many women, menopause brings unexpected health issues. During menopause, there is a significant drop in estrogen and progesterone, hormones that influence mood, memory, and sleep. This shift can trigger intense emotions like anxiety, irritability, sadness, and even depression,” she said.
“Women often feel like they are losing control of their emotions or sense of self. For some, it feels like they are ‘going crazy,’ especially when symptoms like mood swings, brain fog, and sleep disturbances are not properly explained or managed.”
Dr. Olufemi added that the lack of awareness and social support makes it worse. “When women don’t understand what’s happening to them or are made to feel ashamed, it adds a layer of emotional isolation. What they need is compassion, open conversations, and access to medical support.”
Explaining the biological basis of menopause, Dr. Olufemi said it lies in the natural depletion of a woman’s egg supply. “As women age, their egg reserves begin to decline,” he said. “This decline triggers a drop in estrogen and progesterone levels, which gradually leads to irregular periods and, eventually, the complete cessation of menstruation.”
While menopause is not a disease, it comes with a wide range of symptoms that can significantly affect a woman’s quality of life. “Some women barely notice the transition, but for others, it can be overwhelming,” the gynecologist noted.
He highlighted the three key phases of menopause: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.
“The perimenopause stage usually starts in a woman’s 40s,” he said. “During this phase, hormonal fluctuations can lead to irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, and mood changes.”
He explained that menopause is officially diagnosed after a woman has gone 12 consecutive months without menstruation. “After that, she enters the postmenopausal phase, where the symptoms may persist as the body continues to adjust to its new hormonal baseline.”
Dr. Olufemi mentioned the long-term health risks associated with menopause, including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, weight gain, and a slowed metabolism. “The loss of estrogen makes women more vulnerable to these conditions, which is why regular medical checkups and a healthy lifestyle are crucial,” he advised.
He also drew attention to premature menopause, which occurs before the age of 40. “This can result from medical treatments like chemotherapy, certain health conditions, or sometimes for no identifiable reason,” he said. “Women who go through premature menopause face unique challenges and often require specialized care.”
Shockingly, Pharm Dosunmu added that menopause can start earlier than expected, sometimes in women as young as 28. “Many people assume menopause happens later, but early menopause is common,” she said.
Why menopause information matters
The women stories underscore a critical gap in awareness and care. According to a 2023 report by the Nigerian Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics, 7 in 10 women lack adequate knowledge about menopause, leaving them vulnerable to stigma, poor health outcomes, and social isolation.
A 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) report showed that around 26% of the global female population is made up of women aged 50 and older, signifying a growing postmenopausal population, with this percentage increasing from 22% a decade earlier; this indicates that the number of women experiencing menopause is rising globally due to increased life expectancy.
The global health agency also projected that over 1.2 billion women will be menopausal or post-menopausal by 2030. This projected increase could put pressure on healthcare systems to address the needs of menopausal women.
According to Pharm Dosunmu, the implication of the WHO projection by 2030 means that a very large number of women worldwide, over 1.2 billion, will be going through or have passed menopause.
This significant rise means that healthcare systems everywhere may face greater demand to provide proper care, support, and treatment for menopausal women and without adequate preparation, health services might struggle to meet these needs, potentially leading to gaps in care and worsening health outcomes for this growing population.
Dosunmu emphasized that lack of awareness often leads to misdiagnosis, treating hormonal changes as mental illness, pregnancy, or mysterious ailments. “When women and healthcare providers understand menopause, they can avoid harmful labels and offer the right care, saving lives, relationships, and dignity,
“In one church where I spoke, a pastor’s wife approached me later, saying she wished she’d met me earlier. Her condition was menopause-related, not a spiritual attack or mysterious illness. Had she known earlier, she might have avoided diabetes or other complications,
“There was a time when I developed keratinized, ( lizard-like skin), a condition I later discovered was related to menopause. When I realized there was a name for my suffering, I was relieved. Naming the problem gave me the power to manage it.” She said.
Dr Olufemi added that, “When women don’t have access to accurate information, they’re vulnerable to exploitation. They turn to self-medication, herbal mixtures, or misinformed spiritual solutions that often worsen their condition.”
Nigerian healthcare providers lack menopause training
Despite the growing number of menopausal women worldwide, Nigeria’s healthcare system remains largely unprepared to meet their needs.
A 2019 study conducted at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital found that only 16.3 percent of doctors had received any formal training or updates on menopause or menopausal hormone therapy (mHRT) in the preceding five years.
Shockingly, 83.7 percent of respondents, drawn from departments such as obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine, family medicine, and public health, reported receiving no formal education on menopause management.
The problem extends beyond general physicians. A 2009 national survey of Nigerian gynaecologists revealed that only 7.9 percent had ever prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for patients with severe menopausal symptoms. The low usage of HRT, a standard treatment in many developed countries, underscores a broader gap in knowledge and confidence among specialists themselves.
Global data from the World Health Organization (WHO) further supports this concern, noting that menopause “receives limited attention in the training curricula for many healthcare workers,” particularly in developing countries.
There is currently no nationwide curriculum requirement or Continuing Medical Education (CME) standard that mandates training in menopause care for doctors or nurses.
Menopause myths
These misconceptions often stem from cultural beliefs, lack of education, and limited access to accurate health information.
For Dosunmu, one of the myths, which is shocking to her, is the belief that having intercourse with a menopausal woman causes infection in men. “That is completely false, but unfortunately, it’s still believed in some religious circles. The truth is, due to lower estrogen, there’s reduced vaginal lubrication and thinner vaginal walls, which can cause discomfort or infections related to poor hygiene, not because the woman is ‘contaminated.’
One of the most harmful myths, Dosunmu said, is the idea that menopause marks the end of a woman’s value. “People assume that once a woman can no longer have children, she becomes irrelevant. This is not only wrong but deeply unfair. Women still have dreams, strength, and purpose after menopause.”
Another common misconception, according to Dosunmu, is that menopause only affects older women. “Many Nigerians think it only starts at 50 or beyond, but I started experiencing symptoms in my early 40s. Some women begin even earlier due to genetics or medical procedures like chemotherapy. This myth leads to misdiagnosis and silence.”
She also addressed the widespread belief that menopausal women completely lose interest in sex. “It’s not that women suddenly stop wanting intimacy. The drop in estrogen can affect libido and cause discomfort, yes, but with proper care and understanding, intimacy can still be fulfilling.”
Dosunmu emphasised that cultural silence makes the transition worse for many women. “In many homes, menopause is a taboo subject. No one wants to talk about it, and so women suffer in silence. They don’t seek help because they think what they’re going through is either spiritual or shameful.
“There’s a severe lack of understanding and dangerous misconceptions about menopause in Nigeria. For instance, when I started talking about it publicly, a man from the UK called me, shocked that men also experience hormonal changes, what’s known as andropause.” She said.
Menopause stigma
Dosunmu noted that menopause is often viewed through a lens of stigma and misunderstanding, which deeply affects how women cope with this natural life stage.
She said that many perceive menopause as a sign of aging that marks the loss of femininity, fertility, and attractiveness, leading some women to feel diminished in their identity and self-worth.
“Menopause is not just a biological change; for many women, it comes with an emotional burden because society wrongly associates it with loss. This perception can make women feel less valued or invisible,”
Adding to this challenge is the culture of silence surrounding menopause, discussions about it are rare within families and communities. Dosunmu emphasized that this lack of open conversation fosters ignorance and misinformation about the symptoms and management options available to women.
“Because menopause is rarely talked about openly, many women don’t understand what’s happening to their bodies or how to seek help. This silence only deepens confusion and fear,” Dosunmu explained.
Moreover, menopausal symptoms such as mood swings, forgetfulness, and irritability are frequently misinterpreted as signs of illness or mental instability. This results in unfair labeling of women as “crazy” or “unwell,” which only increases their social isolation.
“Women experiencing normal symptoms of menopause are sometimes wrongly seen as mentally unstable, which is deeply unfair and harmful,” Dosunmu emphasized.
This stigma is further compounded when women face blame or judgment in their relationships for emotional or physical changes associated with menopause. They are often unfairly characterized as difficult, which adds to the burden of stigma.
Dr. Ike urges women hesitant to seek menopause treatment due to societal stigma or misconceptions to understand that menopause is a natural and normal stage of life, not a disease.
He emphasizes that every woman’s experience is unique, with some facing mild or no symptoms while others experience more intense challenges.
“Menopause can be a liberating phase, free from menstrual cycles and their associated difficulties,” Dr. Ike said. He advises women to find knowledgeable and empathetic healthcare providers who can offer proper guidance and support.
Dr. Ike also highlights the importance of connecting with other women experiencing menopause to gain emotional support and empowerment.
“Society recognizes that menopause is a universal phase for women, and there should be no shame or stigma attached,” he added. Early medical consultation, he notes, enables women to manage symptoms effectively and enjoy this new phase of life with greater comfort and freedom.
For Dosunmu, “Menopause is not an illness, but a natural transition. Every woman should understand her body, so she can take care of herself and strengthen her relationships.”
Menopause care
To manage menopause symptoms and improve well-being, Dosunmu stressed the importance of lifestyle changes, especially regular exercise, a healthy diet, and proper hydration.
“Menopause isn’t just about hormones; it’s about the whole body,” she said. “Simple things like regular physical activity, eating the right foods, and drinking enough water can make a huge difference in reducing symptoms like mood swings, hot flashes, and insomnia.”
She explained that regular exercise helps regulate mood and improves sleep, while a balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and calcium supports hormonal balance and bone health. Staying hydrated, she added, helps manage hot flashes and fatigue.
“Many women don’t realize how much control they can have over their symptoms by making small, consistent changes in their daily routine,” Dosunmu noted. “Supplement medication is helpful, but lifestyle plays a powerful role too.”
A practising pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America, Dr. Christian Ike, advises avoiding known triggers such as alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods, which can worsen symptoms like hot flashes.
Ike notes that some women turn to supplements like soy isoflavones, flaxseed, St. John’s Wort, vitamin E, and evening primrose oil to alleviate symptoms, but stresses that these are not FDA-approved specifically for menopause treatment.
He stresses the importance of maintaining bone and heart health through adequate calcium intake (about 1200 mg daily) from sources such as dairy products and leafy greens, sufficient vitamin D (600–800 IU daily), balanced protein and fruit consumption, reducing sodium, alcohol, and fatty foods, regular physical activity and smoking cessation and routine medical check-ups to monitor overall health
Pharmacist Ike outlines the available medication options for symptom relief, including non-hormonal treatments such as low-dose antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and neurokinin 3 receptor antagonists, which help regulate body temperature and mood.
Additionally, over-the-counter remedies like melatonin may assist with sleep difficulties.
Another treatment option he highlighted is Hormone Therapy (HT), which effectively replaces declining estrogen and progesterone levels.
“Hormone therapy can relieve hot flashes, reduce vaginal dryness, and help prevent bone loss. HT is available in multiple forms, including pills, patches, creams, and gels.
While hormone therapy is beneficial, Ike cautions about potential risks.
“HT is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, breast cancer, gallbladder disease, and dementia,” he warns.
He advises women to consult their healthcare providers before starting treatment, especially those with a history of cardiovascular disease or women who still have their uterus, as they may require a combination of estrogen and progesterone to protect uterine health.
Pharmacist Ike encourages women to be proactive about their menopause care. “Menopause is a natural transition and with the right knowledge and care, women can navigate it with minimal discomfort and maintain a healthy, fulfilling life.”
Global govt support for menopause awareness, care
Governments in many countries now see menopause as an important health and women’s rights issue. They are creating rules, education programs, and support services to help women going through this stage of life. These efforts, like better healthcare and support at work, show that more attention is being given to reducing the shame and health problems linked to menopause.
The United Kingdom has taken a leading role by launching a Menopause Taskforce aimed at improving care pathways and reducing societal stigma. Their National Health Service (NHS) offers standardized guidance on menopause, and workplaces are encouraged to adopt policies that support menopausal women. Parliament is also debating ways to make hormone replacement therapy (HRT) more accessible and affordable.
Australia’s Department of Health has integrated menopause awareness into its Women’s Health Strategy, offering national resources and public health campaigns. The country also boasts specialist menopause clinics and encourages employers to adopt supportive workplace guidelines.
Health Canada invests in education and research around menopause, including funding studies on midlife women’s health. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) plays a key role in training healthcare professionals and developing resource materials for both providers and the public.
Across Europe, menopause care is commonly embedded within their universal healthcare systems. The European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) leads efforts in professional education, research, and policy development, ensuring best practices are shared across EU member states.
Although the U.S. lacks a centralized menopause policy, federal agencies such as the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) provide extensive, research-backed educational resources. Menopause is also gaining attention in national conversations around workplace rights, insurance coverage, and women’s long-term health.
Collective responsibility for government, women, and healthcare personnel
Taking care of women going through menopause should be something everyone helps with, but the government should take the lead. Menopause is part of women’s health and should be included in health plans and programs.
Women need to pay attention to their bodies, talk about what they’re feeling, and ask for help when needed. But the government must make sure support is available. This means teaching the public about menopause, training doctors and nurses to help women better, and making sure women, especially those in villages or poor areas, can get care.
Menopause shouldn’t be something women suffer through in silence. If the government makes clear plans and supports local health centers, then talking about and treating menopause can become normal. This will help women feel stronger, live healthier lives, and show that the country cares about all its people.
According to Dosunmu, her mother’s experience with menopause, and her own confusion due to lack of information, led her to start the Menopause Support Initiative and a radio show called “Menopause Unveiled with Mosunmola” to educate women and guide them toward proper care.
“Seventy-five percent of Nigerian women, and even men, don’t understand what’s happening when the body starts to change,” she said. “Even many medical professionals miss the signs of perimenopause, the early stage of menopause. My journey into advocacy began with my own experience.”
For Dosunmu, better education, healthcare access, and a shift in cultural attitudes are crucial to empowering women through this stage of life. “We need to educate both men and women, support women in the workplace, and ensure healthcare providers are trained to offer compassionate care. Imagine if 75% of businesswomen are dealing with this silently, the economic impact alone is immense,” she said. “With the right knowledge, menopause doesn’t have to be a time of isolation and fear, it can be a time of strength.”
For women in rural communities, however, the situation is even more dire. Limited access to healthcare and economic hardship often leave them suffering in silence. “Some don’t even know what menopause is,” Dosunmu noted. “They mistake it for a spiritual attack or a strange illness. It is very important that they get educated on menopause.”
Dr. Olufemi also stressed the role of family and community support. “This is a stage in life that requires understanding, not judgment,” he said. “We must make it easier for women to seek help without shame.”
Marriage counselor, Pastor Reginald Nwabinwe emphasized the importance of male support during menopause.
“Many husbands don’t truly understand what their wives are experiencing,” he said. “If they were more aware of the symptoms and challenges, they’d offer support rather than pulling away.”
Despite the importance of these interventions, there remains a gap in national policy. While the National Reproductive Health Policy approved in 2010 addresses sexual and reproductive health, it lacks any specific focus on menopause.
In the absence of strong government initiatives, NGOs like Marie Stopes International and Menopause Support Initiative have stepped in. However, their reach remains limited, especially in rural areas where awareness is lowest.
Berry, now 58, has since become a vocal advocate for menopause awareness, education, and research. Standing outside the U.S. Capitol in May last year, she boldly declared,
“I’m in menopause,” urging other women to speak out and normalize the experience.
“It’s a normal stage of life. It’s what we’re going through. It’s not a disease. Don’t make it a negative,” she said. “Let’s talk about it, and let’s figure out what we can do.”
Berry’s call for women to be “fearless” about menopause helps amplify the urgent need for open dialogue and better-informed healthcare systems.
“When I found out that I was in perimenopause and that none of my doctors had even mentioned this time of life to me, it just got me on fire to get all the information I could about myself, for myself. I realized if I knew so little [about menopause], I’m sure so many other women have the same little information,” she said.
“Women need more support, we need more therapies, and we need to be studied. More doctors need to understand it. I realized the menopausal body is only a chapter in medical school for doctors. I mean, how can they help us when they know nothing about it? It’s not been made important, and it’s just time for that to change. It really has become my life’s mission.”
