14 Jun
Sixty last month and I want to say something to the women here who are in the thick of it, because nobody said this to me and I wish they had. It does not end at the last period. I know that sounds bleak but stay with me, because the other side of that is: you do not have to be done with this conversation just because your periods stopped years ago. I am still here. Still figuring things out. Still waking at half four some mornings for absolutely no reason, still asking my GP questions she wasn't expecting from a woman who's been post-meno since 57. What has actually helped me, genuinely, is the strength training I started two years ago. I was terrified. I thought it was for younger people or people who already knew what they were doing. I was wrong. I go twice a week and I feel more solid in my own body than I did at 45. Not lighter, not thinner, just more... there. More capable. Breakfast I've kept stupidly simple. Eggs most mornings, sometimes Greek yoghurt if I can't be bothered with the hob. That's it. No regime, no rules. Just something with protein because I noticed I felt better on days I had it, full stop. I'm still going back to the GP about the sleep and the joint aches. She's lovely but I always feel like I have to remind her that menopause doesn't just close a door and walk away. I'm writing things down now before appointments, symptoms, patterns, how long things have been going on, because otherwise I walk in and forget half of it under the fluorescent lights. Anyway. To anyone newer to all this: it gets quieter. Not silent, but quieter. And you get better at listening to yourself. That part I didn't expect. x