15 Jun
53 and I genuinely cannot decide if my brain has gone on strike because of perimenopause or because I have been running on empty for about three years. Probably both. Probably impossible to separate. Work has been the thing that's really scared me. I've been in my role for eleven years and I used to be the person who could hold six conversations in my head at once. Now I sit in a meeting and the word I need just... isn't there. I watched myself yesterday say 'the thing, the report, the, you know, the one we do quarterly' to my director. She waited very patiently. I wanted to disappear into the floor. I started eating more protein at lunch about three weeks ago after reading something on here. Nothing dramatic, just eggs or chicken or sometimes just a big handful of nuts before I go back to my desk. I was sceptical honestly. But the 3pm slump where I used to basically stop functioning? It's not gone but it's less like a wall and more like a hill. That's the best I can describe it. I've got a GP appointment coming up and I want to ask specifically about the link between oestrogen and cognitive stuff. Not just 'I'm a bit tired', I want to actually go in with examples. The quarterly report thing. The three times last month I forgot a colleague's name mid-sentence. Whether what I'm experiencing is hormonal or whether I'm just burnt out and need to quit everything and move to a cottage. Has anyone actually had a useful conversation with their GP about brain fog specifically? Not just been told to rest more? x