My health has been especially limiting recently (peri-menopause has kicked off so many new and difficult things!)
So, this morning I am imagining that I am this person. On the shores of a loch, in the wind, cheeks cold, hair a mess, heart full.
#Photography #ChronicIllness #Perimenopause #WomensHealth #Women #LandscapePhotography #Scotland #BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography #FilmIsNotDead.
My ‘you’re nearly 50’ health MOT has turned up high cholesterol so my GP wants me to try to bring it down with dietary changes. Between only having access to a microwave & toaster (and zero food prep space), my diet requirements for managing my #POTS, trying to up my protein intake due to #perimenopause, the fact that often I struggle to make myself eat at all and the limitations of my #ActuallyAutistic safe foods this is a bit of a ‘mare.
But we do what we must
Maaaaybe it's a coincidence and not another fucking weird #perimenopause thing.. but my Red Ear Syndrome has gone from 99% of the time right ear only, to 99% of the time left ear only??
It feels so much more annoying because I'm not used to this ear being spicy!! 
Really not enjoying the non-restorative sleep which seems to be #perimenopause's latest gift :/
"Symptoms can start much earlier — during perimenopause, the time leading up to menopause — and go well beyond hot flashes.
The many manifestations include insomnia, migraines, brain fog, loss of concentration, memory problems, mood swings, depression, anxiety, heart palpitations, hair loss and weight gain. If that wasn’t enough, some people experience heavy, painful periods or recurring urinary tract infections."
Anyone tried wild yam cream for #perimenopause? Supposedly possibly helpful because phytoestrogens, but I thought science had comfortably established that phytoestrogens don't act like estrogen in the body??
Just for completeness because I haven't whinged about this yet: along with everything else, #perimenopause seems to have worsened my Red Ear Syndrome, and made it much less predictable 
Whilst outside earlier, I realised quite how "of a certain age" I now am.
Everyone else was in their big coats, with hats, scarves and gloves.
Me? Well the hot flush meant I took my coat and my cardi off and just had a strappy vest top.
I WAS STILL TOO WARM.
The last time my hormones were this haywire I was 7 months pregnant, it was Christmas time, there was snow on the ground and people were using me as a heat source when the heating broke down in the building.
I wish I had the option to speedrun #perimenopause. Just 2 or 3 months of feeling consistently awful, instead of this ridiculous never-ending nonsense where I can swing wildly from feeling fantastic* to feeling awful just literally at any moment, and I can't be relied upon for anything 
* Fantastic relative to my current normal - I can't remember how regular normal felt anymore 
Accidentally bought a zero sugar drink with caffeine in, thought I’d try anyway. Yep, still sensitive to caffeine and/or sweeteners.
I’ve not actually missed fizzy drinks as much as I thought I would. I think it’s better to just steer clear, I’m used to no caffeine, sweeteners, gluten now.
Things I expected from #perimenopause:
- hot flashes
- night sweats
- irritability
- low libido
Things I actually got:
- mouth ulcers
- new layer of fat over my ribcage
- foot calluses & pain
- joint pain
- 3 months of turbo libido
- intense nausea
- vertigo
- gut disruptions we will not go into
- extra sensitive sense of smell
- change in body odour unless it's just the sense of smell??
Maybe I should have read a book or something
[Edit: added 2 things I forgot]
Hey #perimenopause crew, it's my very first day on HRT! 
Over-sharing on this because perimenopause completely took me by surprise, nobody told me what to expect. Here's hoping for a reduction of the night sweats, hot flashes, brain fog, overwhelming anxiety and those other not quite right but can't put my finger on what it is feelings. I'm nervous about starting new medication though thanks to ol' health anxiety.
I know I have some #Perimenopause peeps here. I just finished my first month of LoLoestrin FE, skipping the placebo pills to go right into another set - my gyno’s recommendation for evening out hormones, hopefully reducing mood swings, hot flashes, and night sweats, while preserving birth control so I can consider getting my Mirena IUD removed. So far - still had mood swings, had some cramps, and one day of maybe spotting? Hoping all that is just 1st month adjustments. Anyone else?
Things I didn't know about menopause and perimenopause until they happened to me:
- extremely itchy ear holes
- exhausted way too easily
- suddenly growing tits after a lifetime of being flat
- feeling much more feminine than masculine
- anxiety levels cranked up to 11
- skin no longer sloughs off dead skin on its own
- bones trying to turn into talc
- ghost periods, as in all the symptoms of menstruation except for the blood
- my hair went from being really curly to slightly wavy
There are probably more, but that'll do for now. #menstruation #menopause #perimenopause
Nice explainer course on #menopause #perimenopause from the Open University https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/talking-about-the-menopause-symptoms-support-and-the-role-exercise/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab
I had various genitourinary symptoms I don’t feel like discussing here. I had much, much less patience. I felt quicker to anger. I had accelerated weight gain and my body changed shape.
I’ve had insomnia for years, where I can’t fall asleep until I’m extremely fatigued. If I tried to sleep before then, I’d have racing, almost entirely negative thoughts that wouldn’t leave me alone. I had increasing snoring.
4/
Going on hormone replacement therapy was originally brought on by obvious & recurring hot flashes and cold sweats.
Even though that was the first indicator to me that I was going through perimenopause, looking back, there were many lesser known (to me) symptoms, for years, to varying degrees.
I had cried at work a few times. I had itchy ears & recurring ear infections, which I had never had as a kid. I developed scaly, itchy areas of eczema on my scalp.
3/
They say perimenopause makes any dormant/manageable anxiety, depression, and adhd spike and become unmanageable.
And all those had. I only had started to suspect ADHD in the last couple of years, but the scattered way I felt made me seek a psychiatrist to get a diagnosis.
She diagnosed (or is in the process of diagnosing) me with a charcuterie platter of things, which I was not prepared for! 
2/
