u/handels_messiah

Does anyone else find the attitudes of other people who have sailed through menopause without many symptoms and then make sweeping comments about the process really unhelpful? I've heard quite a few in the 'I just got on with it' category but today heard a new one: apparently the trick is to 'keep busy so you simply don't have time to worry about it'. I'm sure some of it is meant to be helpful but makes me feel significantly worse when I'm crying in panic because the idea of having to wash the dishes AND put clean clothes away is completely overwhelming. Yes, it's ridiculous but adding more to the list isn't going to help!

Since starting perimenopause a couple of years ago my cycles have been all over the place.

Does anyone else avoid making plans with friends because you have no idea whether you will be your usual human self or a broken monster? I can be honest with close friends but there have been plenty of times where I have spun a web of lies to explain my absences because people will just think 'she should just take a paracetamol for PMS and get on with it' 😭

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Dear readers,

As someone who suffers with both PMDD and BPD I genuinely think I would have just written myself off as a nutter if it was not for this subreddit. Thank you to all of you who bravely share the most private aspects of your struggle, helping the rest of us recognise that this hell on earth is real and genuine and not 'just PMT'. It's because of some of you that I have an appointment this afternoon to discuss luteal only SSRIs with a GP. No medical practitioner has ever mentioned it as a possibility but after reading success stories here I am going in better informed and determined to be heard. Wish me luck!

Hello, fellow sufferers. As a woman in her late 30s I had a real struggle obtaining HRT and had to wait almost two years on the NHS (UK). However, they actually listened to my worries and wants...and the results have been absolutely astonishing.

Because the journey into peri is so slow, I hadn't fully appreciated the gradual deterioration of what had been a brightly coloured life into a puddle of what can only be described as grey, tedious, lifeless anxiety. The things I used to (music, concerts, long walks, gardening, seeing friends) felt tedious and all I wanted to do was stay at home. My work suffered to the point it has likely been career damaging and I couldn't bear the sight of what genuinely looked like 'the old woman in the mirror'.

I am one week into HRT and after just three days had the strongest urge to play the piano: I didn't even realise it had gone until it came back and literally wept with relief. I then listened to a piece of music for which I have had at best dull apathy for the past couple of years and felt a sweet return of the old goosebumps. I am bright and hopeful and positive. And, most importantly, I feel YOUNG and like my life might not be over after all.

I'm aware some people experience a temporary honeymoon period on HRT and then need further adjustments so I am not counting all my chickens yet. However, I am so used to posting negative experiences in this group that I just had to share this in the hope it might help someone else ❤️

Yesterday I full on sobbed because my new sofa cushions didn't match my recently decorated lounge. The emotional swings are so extreme and everything feels 10x magnified. I've woken up able to see the funny side but please tell me I'm not alone in this madness!!