Sixty-one years old and my last period was eight years ago. Eight. And I am still up at 3am staring at the ceiling two or three nights a week. I feel like I aged out of the menopause conversation somewhere around year two. Everyone assumes you're through it. The GPs certainly do. When I mentioned the sleep at my last appointment the response was essentially a shrug and a suggestion I try a podcast. A podcast. What I've actually found useful, not advice just my own experience, is the strength training I started eighteen months ago. Two sessions a week with a trainer at the local leisure centre, nothing dramatic. I sleep better on those days. Not perfectly, but better. I think it's the only thing that's genuinely moved the needle and I wish I'd started it years earlier. I've also been trying to eat more protein because I read something about muscle loss after sixty and it frightened me a bit honestly. Eggs most mornings, Greek yogurt, that sort of thing. Whether it's helping I genuinely don't know but it feels like doing something rather than nothing. I have a GP appointment in six weeks and I want to actually ask properly about bone health and heart health this time, not just be fobbed off with the standard you're post-menopause now dear carry on. If anyone has navigated that conversation well I would love to know what worked. What did you actually say to get them to take it seriously? x