Oh Jo, feel for you. I think 40s are one of the most overrated decades of a woman’s life. I got to 50 (aided by patch slapping hrt) and turned a corner so fast I got whiplash! I was never going to be fabulous in my forties.. still raising small (ish) children, still kidding myself my career would take off if I flogged myself harder, still doing the ‘plank’ convinced this stomach would one day be flat, still swimming up stream against my greying roots. It’s a tough decade but it did get better for me. Hang in there, go see a nice female GP, there is so much better stuff to come (and it is a nightmare choosing stuff in M and S, they bamboozle us all with their over complicated picky bits!) X
Thank you for sharing this Jo, it's such an important thing to discuss. I'm 43 and very conscious I am on the cusp of perimenopause (if not already in it), and I can't deny feeling anxious about what lies ahead. But the more it's discussed and normalised the easier it will be for all of us to cope with it. x
This is absolutely me at the moment, at 44. I go between feeling strong and confident with the hard-earned wisdom from my career, and sobbing in a heap on the kitchen floor because I can’t anything and feel incompetent and judged and useless. It’s unpredictable and scary and that in itself affects my confidence. Half way through a meeting I lose the plot and the conversation we just had is a blur. HRT is helping with many things but not massively with the brain fog. I wrote about that in this piece, hope you don’t mind me sharing, I would love to hear your thoughts. https://open.substack.com/pub/annamaija487/p/lets-not-talk-about-the-menopause?r=33ghj7&utm_medium=ios
I remember nearly 25 years ago, sitting in my sorority room in college, looking at a neat video someone took of 100 people to represent each age of life, from 1-100. And I was so *struck* by how unhappy people in their 40s looked. In particular the face of a woman in her 40s has stayed with me. And now at 43 I might very well be her age and I *get* *it*.
Just catching up on your last few posts, this one struck a chord. This happened to me at 36, I had a one year old and thought I was absolutely LOSING MY MIND! After a bumpy start, with the help of HRT I can honestly say I am happy and "stable", the graphs you posted sums it up beautifully as I am now the last one. Definitely see a GP and also do your own research, this combined has worked best for me. I can't remember seeing anything about the supplement you mention but am definitely going to read up on it. PS LOVE the fringe ❤️
Oh Jo, feel for you. I think 40s are one of the most overrated decades of a woman’s life. I got to 50 (aided by patch slapping hrt) and turned a corner so fast I got whiplash! I was never going to be fabulous in my forties.. still raising small (ish) children, still kidding myself my career would take off if I flogged myself harder, still doing the ‘plank’ convinced this stomach would one day be flat, still swimming up stream against my greying roots. It’s a tough decade but it did get better for me. Hang in there, go see a nice female GP, there is so much better stuff to come (and it is a nightmare choosing stuff in M and S, they bamboozle us all with their over complicated picky bits!) X
Thank you so much Rebecca, I loved this comment! I will get myself to the GP and hang on in there for Fifty and Fabulous 😊 x
Thank you for sharing this Jo, it's such an important thing to discuss. I'm 43 and very conscious I am on the cusp of perimenopause (if not already in it), and I can't deny feeling anxious about what lies ahead. But the more it's discussed and normalised the easier it will be for all of us to cope with it. x
This is absolutely me at the moment, at 44. I go between feeling strong and confident with the hard-earned wisdom from my career, and sobbing in a heap on the kitchen floor because I can’t anything and feel incompetent and judged and useless. It’s unpredictable and scary and that in itself affects my confidence. Half way through a meeting I lose the plot and the conversation we just had is a blur. HRT is helping with many things but not massively with the brain fog. I wrote about that in this piece, hope you don’t mind me sharing, I would love to hear your thoughts. https://open.substack.com/pub/annamaija487/p/lets-not-talk-about-the-menopause?r=33ghj7&utm_medium=ios
I remember nearly 25 years ago, sitting in my sorority room in college, looking at a neat video someone took of 100 people to represent each age of life, from 1-100. And I was so *struck* by how unhappy people in their 40s looked. In particular the face of a woman in her 40s has stayed with me. And now at 43 I might very well be her age and I *get* *it*.
Just catching up on your last few posts, this one struck a chord. This happened to me at 36, I had a one year old and thought I was absolutely LOSING MY MIND! After a bumpy start, with the help of HRT I can honestly say I am happy and "stable", the graphs you posted sums it up beautifully as I am now the last one. Definitely see a GP and also do your own research, this combined has worked best for me. I can't remember seeing anything about the supplement you mention but am definitely going to read up on it. PS LOVE the fringe ❤️