10 Jun
Hello. I'm Marion, 40, and I've been reading posts in here for about three weeks while telling myself I probably don't belong yet. But I keep recognising things people describe and I think I need to just say hello and stop lurking. So. My cycles have been doing something weird for about eight months. Used to be like clockwork, now they're anywhere from 24 to 35 days and twice recently I had spotting mid-cycle which has never happened before in my life. Nobody warned me this could start at 40. I thought perimenopause was a thing that happened at like 48 and involved hot flushes and being done with it. Apparently not. I'm also exhausted in a way that doesn't really respond to sleep, which is fun. And the anxiety. I've always been a bit of a worrier but this past year it's been a different quality, like background static that won't turn off. I keep googling at 11pm and going down rabbit holes and then feeling worse. I went to my GP in January and she ran some bloods and said everything looked normal and probably stress. Which, fine, maybe. I have two kids, a full-time job, and a commute. But I've had all of that for years and I didn't feel like this. I've started writing my cycle dates down properly instead of relying on an app that keeps asking me if I'm trying to conceive (I am not). Just trying to see if there's a pattern. Feels a bit dramatic to call it a symptom diary when I'm not even sure what I'm tracking for. Anyway. Hi. Glad this place exists x