My heart rate has always been above average, but before menopause, I never had palpitations in the morning. At first, I attributed it to anxiety, but then I realized the rapid heart rate was producing the anxiety. Once I started puttering around the house after rising, the palpitations usually stopped.

     It was not every morning, but the mornings I did have them, I woke up to them.

     It never crossed my mind to go to the doctor. It was just something I experienced. I never tied it to my dwindling estrogen.

     Fast forward several years and now I have sensations of my heart feeling like it is stumbling. Okay, now it is time. Here comes the stress test and the echocardiogram. 

     These tests clear me of any major heart disease and fortunately, there are not any blockages. However, the one-week Holter monitor showed several episodes of tachycardia.

     I was prescribed medication that keeps the tachycardia and the palpitations at bay.

     I wish I would have decided to be evaluated when I first started having the palpitations. I just did not have any idea that it could have been related to menopause. The cardiologist never said they were caused by menopause, but I now know that a possible connection exists after doing my research. When we know better, we do better. I am really grateful for the information that is more accessible now that I wish I had then.

     So many women suffer in silence like I did. When the information is not readily available, it results in so many questions. Ignorance is not bliss. Instead of waiting for a woman to present with symptoms, there should be some way to know, right off the bat, that menopause is what is happening. Every woman's experience may be different, but the umbrella of symptoms should be known.

     The foundation should be a part of the curriculum in high school, college and various educational forums. 

     It is kind of like society devaluing women once a certain age is reached by not having the information needed to help women along in our journey to middle age. Just think, if all women were equipped with the knowledge of what may be experienced in menopause, when the symptoms happen, we will not be in the dark like I was-literally in the dark, staring up at the ceiling wondering why my heart was taking off like an airplane.

     I live and I learn. Hindsight is 20/20. Foresight should be the same.

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                                                                GOD FIRST, FAMILY SECOND, CAREER THIRD