5d ago
Okay so my cycle was like clockwork for literally 15 years and now in the past 8 months it has been 24 days, 38 days, 31 days, 26 days, 19 days. NINETEEN. I bought a 40-pack of tampons in January and barely touched them and then got blindsided at work in February with zero warning. Nobody told me this could start happening at 41. I thought perimenopause was a thing that crept up slowly in your late 40s and you had time to prepare. I did not have time to prepare. I started keeping a little notes doc on my phone after the third weird cycle because I needed to see if there was actually a pattern or if I was just catastrophizing. Logging the start date, how heavy, how long, and then just... whatever else felt relevant that week. Mood, sleep, that kind of thing. It's not fancy. It's a google doc called "period stuff" that I would be embarrassed for anyone to find. The exhaustion on weeknights has gotten so bad that dinner is basically whatever requires the fewest decisions. I used to actually cook. Now I'm doing a lot of rotisserie chicken and whatever vegetable I can roast in 20 minutes while I sit on the kitchen floor. That's not a joke, I sat on the floor last Tuesday. I have an OB appointment next month and I genuinely don't know how to bring this up without sounding like I've been doom-spiraling on the internet (I have been doom-spiraling on the internet). Does anyone have a way of framing cycle changes to their doctor that doesn't sound dramatic? I have my little notes doc but I feel like I'm going to walk in there and she's going to say "some cycles are just irregular" and send me home.