Menopause
is a funny thing, especially if you weren’t prepared. I saw my mom experience the beginnings of it,
before she realized she wasn’t actually insane, and sought help, but it’s so
much different living it.
I don’t know
if it’s different if you experience it at the time of your life you’re
biologically designed to go through it, compared to 31 years old. I would suppose you’d at least see it coming.
I
suspect mine has been misdiagnosed for at least the past three years, as
depression. The mood swings were pretty
severe, oscillating between being teary and being angry.
Occasionally crying while angry. This sort of collided with some other major
life changes, so it crept in without my noticing it.
I
thought I was suffering from depo-provera withdrawal when the hot flashes
started. Those are fun. Walking around, minding my own business, and
then turning into the Human Torch the next moment.
Nothing quite reminds you of your own mortality
as quickly! Other super sexy symptoms
include night sweats, and some pretty odd hair in some seriously weird
places.
Oh and shedding bucket loads of
hair. Which I didn’t notice, as I have
enough hair on my head for at least three people. DO NOT IGNORE THESE.
I ignored it for far too long, I should have
been on hormone replacement a long time ago.
It may even have saved some braincells.
Before
you start sending cancer links, or try and convince me that soy supplements are
somehow better, read up on premature ovarian failure.
Those of us whose ovaries pack up and go back
to the mothership before age 40, need the hormone replacement. I read all of it, including the horrifying
package insert.
I have no experience in
hypochondria, but I did feel decidedly stroke-like after reading all the small
print.
Oh
and another side note: I forgot to add
the other glaring symptom. Short-term
memory loss. Because I forget that I
keep forgetting.
I waltzed up to the
counter at the chemist yesterday, to get my second wheel of pills, and in that
moment I couldn’t remember what my prescription was. Doh.
Thank the Lord for Big Brother, if all my details weren’t captured,
including pill names, I would have burst into tears. So safe to say while I no longer burst into
fire at random moments, my brain function isn’t quite back to normal. Which is okay, because I forget that I don’t
remember anything.
I
suspect my mother handled most of these with far more grace than I am, or she
is just less of an exhibitionist. I did,
however, get my sense of humour from her, hence describing the hormone
replacement as anti-werewolf tablets.
It’s
nice that the estrogen is definitely keeping The Hulk under control at the
moment, even if I do still tear up at a moment’s notice. Crying is so undignified, especially if it is
at your child’s acro-gym concert. Poor
kid.
Five
months to go till I find out how much longer I get to keep my (neutralized)
uterus. Here’s to many more wheels of
pills!
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