Health and Wellness
Tabitha Brown experienced bladder leakage. Now he wants to talk about it
Tabitha Brown is at a degree in her life where listening to her body is non-negotiable.
For example, while exercising along with her daughter recently, the 45-year-old vegan food entrepreneur and influencer reached a degree in her training where she simply had to stop.
Ultimately, Brown, who had been training along with her daughter for about two weeks before the incident, discovered that she had suffered a slipped disc.
“I’m still recovering,” she said.
As many ladies know, that is one in all the realities of entering perimenopause – the customarily prolonged period of aging in a girl’s body before she enters menopause. Although it can begin in a girl’s mid-to-late 30s, it often begins after the age of 40. Symptoms can include hot flashes, changes in sleep patterns, joint pain, hip pain and itching, which Brown describes because the “weirdest” of all.
“It’s the strangest thing. For example, your back is itchy and your legs are itchy. It’s so weird. Oh, that is so weird,” Brown said with amusing.
The co-founder of The Donna’s Recipe would really like more women to talk openly about perimenopause; particularly one symptom that goes largely undiscussed: bladder leakage, or bladder incontinence.
“When I started talking about perimenopause on social media, the engagement came to a head,” Brown noted, adding. “I realized that women suffer in silence and do not talk about the things that are important to them and that they are going through.”
Brown said that bladder incontinence, or bladder leakage, is strictly what it feels like: “Girl, I just peed myself!”
“It happens in different ways,” she continued. “Some women may not even have the ability to hold their bladder for so long as they used to. For some women, it’s simply weaker now, so once you do stuff you’re often used to, like exercising, chances are you’ll experience somewhat leakage.
Some women develop bladder leakage consequently of childbirth. However, Brown noted, many ladies who’ve never given birth develop the condition over time.
“It comes with age,” she said.
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According to Mayo ClinicHalf of girls will experience a bladder leak of their lifetime. It can start when women produce less estrogen, a hormone that helps keep the liner of the bladder and urethra healthy, which may end up in weakening of the bladder muscles.
When Brown began experiencing leaks, she was in her 30s and had just given birth to her youngest child. Initially, a typical bladder condition forced her to avoid exercising in public places.
“I feel like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to exercise around people just in case,’” she explained, adding: “I would only wear black tights, not colored tights. And I love color.”
She continued: “I do not mind it now. I placed on my little Always Discreet and go about my business.
To further the conversation around women’s health, Brown has partnered with Always Discreet, a line of pads and disposable panties designed to detect bladder incontinence, postpartum symptoms and more. Brown thought that since she was not naturally shy, “Let me be part of this conversation.”
Most importantly, the actress and media personality hopes that other people is not going to let perimenopausal symptoms, corresponding to a leaky bladder, rob them of their joy in life. While she could also be known for the phrase “It’s your business,” since she entered this stage and encouraged transparency, she has learned that many other women shrink back from normal activities like she once did.
“I want to push these women back to life,” she said.
However, Brown couldn’t cope along with her increasing perimenopausal symptoms without more significant intervention. He confirms that going vegan and going gluten-free also had an impact.
Now with multiple brands under her name, the food influencer became vegan across the age of 38 and has since been open about the numerous health advantages she has experienced, including a discount in perimenopausal symptoms.
“It was significantly better. It still happens, but it’s not like I do not know when it’s going to occur, like I sort of know when it’s going to occur, unlike after I had my son, I didn’t know when it was going to occur. It just began happening,” the mother of two explained.
She said it’s about understanding “how we listen to our bodies.” Our body reacts to various things. When he tells us something, we’ve got to listen to it.