Perimenopause - don't think 'I've got heaps of time'.

So Anyway… Don’t wait to plan your health and wellbeing.

I’m not trying to be the harbringer of doom, but if you a woman, and even if you think you are NOWHERE near menopause or perimenopause, please up the ante on how much notice you give to your periods, cramps, and any other kind of hormonal upheaval you experience during the month.

Keep a health diary, make a note in your phone, or actually have a small paper diary that you use to mark things in that are worthy of remark. When I was a teenager, my periods would absolutely cripple me with cramps and feeling as if my legs both had air pressure pumps attached to them. In my 20s it was only every 3rd of 4th period that would do that, then in my 30s, my period would arrive and I wouldn’t have known any better.

When I hit 40, that’s when the ugly crying and feelings of doom started, but it was like a 2 week lead up to it, and it was the emotional side of it that would cripple me, and then all of a sudden it was permanent feelings of low confidence, not knowing how to dress, 4 changes of clothes before leaving the house, and excessive sweating due to that. Stress was a major factor.

Notice what you notice. Don’t leave anything to do with your health down to chance, or , I’ll deal with that later. Have a note of what your numbers are. Do you know what your blood pressure last was? Smart watches are brilliant for keeping an eye on heart rates etc aren’t they? When was your last smear test? Are you due another one? Has your GP even spoken about perimenopause with you, or asked you about your period?

I think as people these days, we are always aware of what everyone else is up to, and sometimes not paying enough attention to ourselves. Keep a note on your own wellness. I live on my own and have more than enough time to take care of myself, but a Mum or Dad with kids, possibly only eating their leftovers and not having a proper meal themselves, I see you.

That’s why we have thousands of women up and down the country in tears ( I read it on community facebook groups) in tears because they don’t understand why they have put on weight or just feel worn out all the time.

It’s an honour to get old, and we are the first generation of women to be able to talk about periods and menopause because most of us are lucky enough to have Mums or Aunties still alive. My own mother lost her Mum when she was 29. My Grandma was only 54. No age at all. What that meant though was my Mum had nothing to compare it to when she experienced it. No one to talk to. I’m lucky that I can talk to her.

What I would urge you to look out for as a fabulously maturing lady are:

Crying a the drop of a hat

Not feeling comfortable in your own skin and losing confidence

Explosive rage, which is basically fear and feelings of not being able to control your surroundings (why would you want to control other people anyway? We can’t police the world. It’s a difficult one)

Your period being like playing the lottery 26 days, 46, 33, 23…

I don’t have the scientific background but I do have the ‘back to the future’ mind. I do think in the next couple of years, we will have devices at your front doors to breathe on and tell us whether we are virus free, and also a little pad we can wear that will tell us daily whether we need more carbs, protein, hydration, when our cycle is due, what levels our oestrogen is at.

I’m not suggesting for a moment that we promote health anxiety, but what I am saying is that, I have been upright for 52 years now. I look after myself physically, and mentally as best as I can. To be honest the mental side of it, is the bigger struggle, just watching the news, I feel like I need a cushion to hide behind.

Start taking notice of yourself. If you knew as much about yourself, as you knew about Harry Styles (just me?), or what so and so on Instagram is up to, it would give us a massive heads up.

Onward!

Elizabeth