51 and something happened in my appraisal last week that I still haven't fully gotten over. My manager asked me to summarise the project outcomes and I just... sat there. I knew what I wanted to say. It was all there somewhere. But the words came out in the wrong order and then stopped altogether and I ended up saying "you know, the thing, the data thing" like an absolute liability. I've worked in this field for nearly twenty years. I don't know if this is perimenopause or burnout or both happening at the same time and honestly I'm not sure it matters because the effect is the same. I sit in meetings now and I write everything down in advance because I genuinely cannot trust what will come out of my mouth if I wing it. Pre-meeting notes, mid-meeting notes, post-meeting notes. I am essentially a one-woman paper trail just to function at the level I managed effortlessly five years ago. The other thing I've started noticing is the 3pm wall. Not tired exactly, more like someone turned the brightness down on my brain. I've been keeping a bag of mixed nuts and a couple of oatcakes at my desk because I read something about blood sugar and cognition and I'll try anything at this point. Genuinely no idea if it's helping but it gives me something to do that isn't panicking. Sleep is the other piece. I've started going to bed at the same time every night like a child, no screens after half ten, which my teenagers find hilarious. But the nights I actually sleep properly I am measurably better the next day. That much I'm certain of. Going to the GP next month and I want to explain how this is affecting my work specifically, not just "I'm a bit fuzzy". Has anyone done that? Brought actual examples? I keep wondering if they'll take it more seriously if I come in with a list of concrete incidents rather than just describing a vague feeling x