WTF Is This?
Chin hair, random crying, mood swings, memory loss, hot flashes, nausea, nipple pain, fatigue, anxiety, profuse sweating, low libido, hair loss, headaches, vaginal dryness, low metabolism, incontinence, increase in libido (🙌amen to anyone who has this🙌), insomnia, and more.
WTF is this? Side effects of a horrible new drug? Nope. It’s a shortened list of the symptoms of #menopause, the permanent end to menstruation that occurs after a woman has no period for 12 months.
But in reality it’s hell. It’s a black hole.⚫️ It’s natures way of gaslighting women.
Kidding aside it’s time we grow up and put the stigma and shame aside about menopause. It’s a fact of life that short of a medical intervention or premature death all women will go through it. It’s not a moral deficit; it’s simply a life phase.
I started early, mid 30s. I’m 50 and still have not gone a full year without a cycle. I went 180 days without one once and thought I’d finally turned the corner. Uh no. Aunt Flo showed back up uninvited and said, hold my beer!
She stayed for three months straight, and has been unreliable with her visits ever since. Serenity now.
I Didn’t Say That.
In the last year and a half I’ve grown more comfortable talking about it with friends, family and colleagues. Why? Refer back to the symptoms. Some of the worst can be wildly intense and strike without notice. Or present in less obvious and alarming ways such as total cognitive hiccups including saying the wrong words or forgetting basic things. Also, if you don’t understand something it’s hard to be compassionate about it.
I share this and what might be a rather unflattering picture to remind someone the menopause struggle is real. You can be smiling, laughing, loving, AND suffocating, underwater, barely surviving.
If and when you find yourself here you’re not alone. You’re not the only one who’s life isn’t as shiny as a perfectly curated IG feed.
I do hope we can shift the discourse as a culture to talk about it a little more easily. Not constantly — but a little more easily, without concern. I also wish for an empathy menopause suit, like the pregnancy ones. If you know where I can get one, let me know. I’d like to give one to my hubby as a gift.🤪
