15 Jun
60 next month and I still come here because honestly where else are you going to talk about this stuff. For anyone who's newer and wondering if it ever settles, I just want to say: kind of yes, and also it keeps shifting, and that's not a failure. I'm four years past my last period and sleep is still the thing I manage rather than solve. Some weeks are genuinely fine. Others I'm wide awake at 3am doing mental arithmetic about nothing. What's helped me more than anything isn't dramatic. I started doing a proper strength class about eighteen months ago, two mornings a week at the leisure centre, and something about having a reason to get up and somewhere to be has done more for my head than I expected. The joint stuff is still there but it's quieter. I feel less like I'm just waiting to fall apart. Breakfast I've kept dead simple, eggs or yogurt with something in it, because if I don't eat properly before the class I'm useless by lunchtime. That's it. Not a plan, just what works for me now. I do still have a GP appointment every so often because I want to keep an eye on bones and the heart side of things long term. Worth asking about if you're heading into the later years and haven't had that conversation yet. Anyway. You're not done with this when the flushes stop. But you're also not done with feeling well. That's the bit I wish someone had told me. x