5d ago
52, perimenopause confirmed last year, been in a demanding job for twenty years and I genuinely cannot work out if what's happening to my brain is hormonal or if I've just finally hit a wall. The thing is, the fog started around the same time the sleep went properly wrong. Not insomnia exactly, more like I wake at 3am completely wired and then drag myself through the day on fumes. By 2pm I'm almost useless. I've started keeping biscuits in my desk which is not ideal but I was getting so desperate I'd have eaten the stapler. I've got a GP appointment next week and I want to actually come prepared for once rather than sitting there going blank (ironic). I want to ask specifically about whether oestrogen affects cognitive function because I've read things but I don't know what's credible and what isn't. And I want to describe what this actually looks like day to day, not just "I feel tired and foggy" which sounds like nothing. So I've been writing it down. Lost a word mid-sentence in a meeting on Monday. Sent an email to the wrong person on Wednesday. Sat in a Teams call and genuinely could not hold the thread of what was being discussed for more than about ninety seconds. That's what I want to hand over. Has anyone managed to have a useful conversation with their GP about this specifically? Not just being told to rest more. An actual conversation about whether hormones could be driving the cognitive stuff? x