Sara Chavarria went into a meeting with the board, sat down and said: “We need to talk about menopause.”
Never mind that the board was almost all older men in that 2023 meeting.
They all fell silent.
She told them that the majority of women over 50 didn’t know that dry mouth and sensitive teeth were due to menopause. Less than 2% of them have discussed menopause with a dentist.
And with her recent appointment? Her own dentist was reluctant to tell her about it.
“The board went through the first five minutes of being surprised and saying, ‘Are we really talking about this?’ And then something amazing happened,” she says. “They had the science and information about menopause to connect with their wives and daughters in new ways.”
Chavarria doesn’t shy away from sharing her menopause story, whether it’s with her board of directors or her 5,000 employees.
“When half the population goes through menopause, you can’t ignore it,” she says.
Even though more women than ever are over 55 in the workforce, women are often afraid to talk about menopause in the office. They fear that their brain fog will reveal that talking to younger or male colleagues who may not understand closure will lead to discrimination.
Employer support is still low, with less than 5% offering meaningful programs, but adding improvements to hormone therapy, time off, and even regulation of office thermostats. This summer, Rhode Island became the first state to require businesses to provide symptoms of menopause.
The Institute for Human Resource Management says one in 10 women leave the workforce due to menopause, and one in five faces a menopause penalty in consideration of retiring early. There are likely to be fewer female leaders when they occupy less than a third of the spots.
Chavarria, who introduced Delta Dental’s first menopause report three years ago, says policies like remote work can help. But what’s most important is that women see their health care providers, that practitioners from dentists to primary care physicians know how to help, and that treatment is covered.
“By sharing my own story, I can encourage others to talk about menopause in the workplace, get help or see a doctor,” she says. “But first we can talk about it.”
Menopausal care is lacking, leading to delays in care professionals
Dr. Stephanie Faubion of the Menopause Society says medical schools need better menopause training to prevent misdiagnoses and improve patient care.
When it’s time to quit, it feels like the only option
For Khris Rogers, the symptoms that consumed her during her menopause cycle stole her ability to continue working.
Her periods became so heavy that her 90-minute commute as an office manager in Southern California became impossible without a break. She had joint pain and frozen shoulders and hot flashes that interrupted her sleep. Her patience seemed short.
“Everything became difficult,” says Rogers, 52. “I had to be realistic. I couldn’t deal with it.”
Menopause and menopausal cycle disorders can result in more than 103 symptoms ranging from fatigue to severe tooth decay to brain fog, causing women to miss more work days, lower productivity, and lower earning potential. They often suffer for years before diagnosis or treatment.
Rogers was in the middle of a divorce. Her two children are grown. It took several frustrating medical appointments before she finally found a provider online for hormone therapy.
“There were days I just wasn’t in, and I thought I wasn’t coming back,” she says.
She moved in with her mother, sat down and started a coaching business.
She now has three employees, giving her the flexibility to set her own schedule and better manage her condition.
“I can go home during the day and take a nap if I need to,” she says. “We should have done it before this year.”
Don’t call it menopause, call it aging
Jennifer Gibbs is an attorney for a firm with more than 100 attorneys in Texas.
For the first time, two of the three executive committee members are women over the age of 40. She is fortunate, she says, that her experience is valued in insurance litigation. “You often want the gray-haired lawyer in the room who’s seen it all before,” she says.
Still, at 53, she skips using the word menopause at work.
“There’s this stigma because we give this name to women. But it’s just getting old,” Gibbs says. “I still have these conversations, but I don’t use the word menopause. That can turn some people off. It’s not disingenuous, it’s reframing.”
She says men aren’t afraid to talk about aging in the workplace. She wants women to feel just as comfortable.
“Don’t call it menobrain. It’s just age,” she says. “You’re still bright and smart at any point in your life. For the same reason, I don’t want to say pregnancy brain. You don’t want to discount anyone.”
menopause penalty
Stanford economist Petra Persson found that women over 50 see a menopause penalty similar to the maternity tax.
“It was surprising. Women with menopausal symptoms were hit hard,” she says. This study shows that women’s earnings can decline by 10% as they approach retirement.
According to Persson, researchers found one bright spot in this study. Women who had knowledge about menopause, access to care, and treatment faced fewer economic losses.
“Ultimately it’s a hopeful message,” she said, adding that her upcoming research looks at the success of government and company policies for this group.
Decline thermostats and remote work
Andrea Donsky, a nutritionist and co-founder of Morphus, a menopausal supplement and vitamin company, says companies need to do more. Her recent research shows that almost 80% of menopausal and perimenopausal women indicate that their symptoms have a negative impact on their symptoms at work.
“Many women don’t feel comfortable talking about it at work with their bosses, so they often keep how they feel to themselves and don’t share what’s really going on,” she says.
Her current research explores which programs and policies can help at work.
Chavarria has found that visiting offices and not being afraid to share their stories is one of the best ways to learn what employees need.
One morning, after a particularly bad menopausal migraine that Advil and Dramamine couldn’t reduce, she wasn’t ready for a big meeting.
“I told my team I needed to lie down for a while. I was honest about what menopause was doing,” she says. “That doesn’t mean I’m not capable. I think I’d be a better leader by saying what’s going on. Not underestimating the opportunity and power as an older woman to make things okay for the women coming up.”
Employees tell Chavarria what they’ve heard from their own doctors if the office thermostat is set to the right temperature. She also trades tips with the women about what supplements she takes and the best portable fans. She swears by Jisulife Ultra2.
Menopause is natural. And now more employees are discovering that they can talk about it at work, too.
Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focused on health and wellness. She is the author of “Back from the Shelf: A Daughter’s Quest for Truth and Renewal” and can be reached at ltrujillo@usatoday.com.
