Awaiting A Hot Flash

Burning tongue can be a very irritating and painful symptom of menopause. Just like the name suggests, burning tongue occurs when an individual experiences a burning sensation on the tongue. Everyone has sipped a beverage such as coffee or tea that is too hot and burned her tongue. This is the sensation that those who suffer from burning tongue experience constantly.

The barely 29-yr old woman who sits down the hall from me at work knows that when she hears a scream from me in my office, that that's the signal that I've just had my first hot flash. I'm sure by the time she gets to my office, mere paces away, I will be found in a crying heap on the floor.

There are apparently 34 symptoms of menopause and the only one that I haven't had yet is the "burning tongue" described above. When that happens, I will take to my bed and never come out.

The hot flash will be a horrible reality check, a jarring wake-up call to my inevitable aging. I know that I should embrace it and feel very grateful that I'm happier than I've ever been but to me it's the true reminder that my body has been rendered rather obsolete, that as in so many cultures in this world, if you can't make babies, you are downgraded to, I'm not sure what.

There is an upside to this: the other 33 symptoms, irritability, memory lapses, fatigue and bloat can be used as an excuse and get me out of some tough situations. And gentlemen, don't blame your aging wives on opting out of sex every once in a while--loss of libido is #4 on the list.

(I have absolutely no idea why this formatted the way it did.)