Discover the person behind 'The not-so-secret diary of a perimenopausal woman'.

18 January 2023

Self care, cats and talking about the menopause

So I made it past Blue Monday in one piece. The sun is shining and it's crisp underfoot. I found that out when I went outside to feed the birds in my pyjamas. Wearing slightly more appropriate clothing I ventured out for my morning walk to absorb the morning rays.....following my own advice. That was in last week's blog about sleep.

A good hit of vitamin D and a nod to my body clock that it's daytime now and time to wake up. I had quite a good night's sleep last night. Just over eight hours, even though I did wake up several times. You'll see I didn't wake up until 7.51am. I've given up berating myself for not waking up and springing out of bed with the sunrise. I'm being kind to myself and responding to what my body needs at the moment. Self-care.

I actually started writing this blog ages ago but struggled to get beyond the first sentence. Why? You may ask. Brain fog? Memory problems? Concentration issues? All highly likely, as they are very common symptoms of the perimenopause and menopause, and ones that I'm very familiar with. I'll tell you about them another day, if I remember that is!

It's much more simple than that. My cat. Why is it that as soon as you sit in front of a computer they insist on getting in between you and the screen, usually on the keyboard, typing all sorts of random nonsense? I'm sure my productivity would increase tenfold if it weren't for the two cats in my life. Anyway, enough about cats. You didn't come here to read about cats. I guess you just need to know that as well as being perimenopausal, I'm also a cat lady.

Why am I writing this blog about menopause and perimenopause and why now?

I talk about perimenopause and menopause a lot.

Hang on, I keep talking about perimenopause assuming you know what I'm talking about. In short, it's the phase leading up to menopause. Symptoms generally start to appear in your early 40s but it could be earlier or later. You reach menopause when you haven't had a period for 12 consecutive months, generally around 51 or 52. After that you're post menopausal, forever. This article on the Henpicked website explains it in more detail.

Why do I talk about it a lot? Because I can and I should and because, even just a few years ago, no one else was. Not like now, when it seems as if everyone is talking about it....or is that just because I'm hyperaware of it and my social media algorithms are set to it? I wasn't content to just put up and shut up. This was having a major impact on my life and I wanted to know why and what to do about it.

It's OK, it's just a few hot flushes. How bad can it be? That's the message I was hearing in the media and from people who genuinely didn't know. If only it were just hot flushes. I'll fill you in on the numerous symptoms that you may or may not experience over the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, you can find some of the main symptoms here and might find the Balance website useful as it has a vast library of resources.

I've done an incredible amount of research, fought many battles and spent a considerable amount of money in the quest to find out more and to help myself. I've been sharing my experiences anecdotally for a couple of years and now I have my coaching business and a website I thought, why not write a blog. I've got so much to share, and if I can make life just a little easier for anyone who reads this then I'm happy.

Own your menopause journey.

If you're reading this it's because you want to know more about what to expect or how you can take ownership of your menopause journey. It is possible. It's taken time but I'm there. I'd love to hear from you too.

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