Thanks for sharing your experience! We’re the same age and I’m looking into HRT too. And yeah, I have a Mohawk of those wiry white hairs! Why do they stick up so much???
And don’t get me started on the looong white nose hair I found recently!
Right On, Lisa! From your 62 year old postmenopausal friend! I am grateful beyond measure to be experiencing this chapter where it's OK to not give any fucks about the incredible bullshit in this world! Big Hugs to You. 🩵
“I’ll keep those details to myself, since that’s not a headline I want to see on TMZ — Whatever Happened to the Doubtfire Girl’s Vagina?” <— I literally LOL’d. I’m glad you’re able to keep your sense of humor despite going through all of that. I’m sorry you experienced so many uncomfortable and scary symptoms but am glad you’re finally getting the care you need. You sharing this shows a lot of strength and will hopefully help many other women who are experiencing the same thing. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Ah, Gregory. If you only knew how many times I deleted that sentence, and then put it back!!! As long as one person LOLed, it's worth it. Thanks for the kind words and for being here.
Every day I understand more why my Grandmother just wanted to watch her stories and listen to music without interruption. Guests dropping in? No thanks! I have some quiet time to tend to.
Madame- well, if you’re “crone’in”, then being a crone never looked so good! Always grateful for the authentic voice and humor you lend to the very real ouches of being human 💜. Menopause-aw fuck- (the peri/during/post) does it ever really end? Thank you for the shout out for us fierce GenX feral creatures who are pushing the WTF dialogue about this chapter. Yes, we are fortunate to be experiencing this challenge, oh girl do I feel that into my soul- the gratitude- to have survived this many passes around the sun.
Sharing your light is a generous gift I am always grateful for, and maybe next time you’ll include a sprinkling of fucks 🤣.
Xoxo Mare and Snyper (growing huge fucking cucumbers and other random produce)
Thanks for writing this Lisa! Mine started at 44 with intense vertigo as well. I am now 57 and in the throes of the end stages of perimenopause and the fatigue, joint pains and anxiety are off the charts. I have HRT but have been reluctant to start it because I too wanted to be the hippy woman who manages naturally. I need to start it though. I was chatting to my neighbour about it today because I have just had two days in bed feeling dreadful. Then I get your email and it is as if it was written for me!
Oh Sally! I hope you are able to find relief. We can still be hippie ladies, we're just not choosing to stay in suffering. (I think it's similar to if my body didn't make enough insulin, I'd replace that!) Remember that it's not a silver bullet, and it takes time to adjust, but I hope you find it helpful.
I'm a 74 year old male that is wise enough to not tell you that I fully understand what you wrote. Through your description I can only imagine how confusing and frightening your experience must be. I do understand fear, frustration, confusion, depression, desperation, anxiety and self doubt so at least that part of your experience I can empathize with. I wish you well and and I'm quite sad that there appears to be nothing I can do personally to help. I can, however, offer you the reassurance that whenever you chose to write about yourself I will be here to read it.
Lisa, you're such a fearless writer, it's incredible and inspiring. I have a feeling this Substack will do a lot of good for a lot of people. I will be sharing it with people who I think will appreciate or benefit from it. Grateful for you, your talent, and your honesty. /littlewave.
Luckily, I had a gynecologist who suggested black cohosh for hot flashes and that worked for me, thank goodness. Unluckily, she didn’t have any supplement suggestions for the constant rage…
This is great! Thank you for sharing all of this -- and inviting the dudes along (how many read it? Raise your hands, guys!). As a soon-to-be 62-year-old, I would have loved to read this in my 40s.
Great writing. Menopause came late for me, almost 56. Now out the other side with 7 years of what I think were mild symptoms, except those damn hot flashes, always at the most inopertune times. Stress brought them on like gangbusters.
If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have teased my suffering girlfriends that I was one of the 5 that didn't experience hot flashes. They were completing the transition as I was just getting warmed up. Pun intended.
It may have helped but I was too stubborn, meaning too stupid, to seek out Hormone Replacement Therapy. I guess there was already an overload of testosterone, and not enough estrogen in my system. 😉 Are ya plucking chin hairs yet?
I never thought I'd be there at all, but Reddit really has been a source of helpful information for not only my menopause, but also my type-1 diabetes.
Hi Lisa! Great to hear from you as always! Menopause is an extremely difficult "event". I went through the mood swings, night sweats, feeling miserable and just keeping it to myself. We need to accept it's ok to not be ok mind set and ask for help! I'm still feeling some of it at 55. Keeping busy and pushing forward is helping. Men have it so much better than they think! 😆 Much love to you! 🫶
Thanks for sharing your experience! We’re the same age and I’m looking into HRT too. And yeah, I have a Mohawk of those wiry white hairs! Why do they stick up so much???
And don’t get me started on the looong white nose hair I found recently!
Extra points for the nose hair! Ha! Hugs to you, Kerry.
Do ALL grey hairs stick up? [just researching my near future]
Not all. Just the ones that would be most noticeable.
Right On, Lisa! From your 62 year old postmenopausal friend! I am grateful beyond measure to be experiencing this chapter where it's OK to not give any fucks about the incredible bullshit in this world! Big Hugs to You. 🩵
Oh I love this for you, Linda! Big hugs back to you. Thank you for being here.
YES YES YES to all of this Lisa!! As always you’ve hit the nail on the head! Looking forward to seeing you soon!🥰
Can't wait to see you, Cathy! We're going to have so much fun at Kripalu.
Thank you for writing so honestly and earnestly about a subject that doesn’t get enough attention.
P.S. Yes, I read the whole column.
That's so kind of you, Ian. Gold stars for you! Thanks for being here.
“I’ll keep those details to myself, since that’s not a headline I want to see on TMZ — Whatever Happened to the Doubtfire Girl’s Vagina?” <— I literally LOL’d. I’m glad you’re able to keep your sense of humor despite going through all of that. I’m sorry you experienced so many uncomfortable and scary symptoms but am glad you’re finally getting the care you need. You sharing this shows a lot of strength and will hopefully help many other women who are experiencing the same thing. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Ah, Gregory. If you only knew how many times I deleted that sentence, and then put it back!!! As long as one person LOLed, it's worth it. Thanks for the kind words and for being here.
Every day I understand more why my Grandmother just wanted to watch her stories and listen to music without interruption. Guests dropping in? No thanks! I have some quiet time to tend to.
Grandma had BOUNDARIES!
Madame- well, if you’re “crone’in”, then being a crone never looked so good! Always grateful for the authentic voice and humor you lend to the very real ouches of being human 💜. Menopause-aw fuck- (the peri/during/post) does it ever really end? Thank you for the shout out for us fierce GenX feral creatures who are pushing the WTF dialogue about this chapter. Yes, we are fortunate to be experiencing this challenge, oh girl do I feel that into my soul- the gratitude- to have survived this many passes around the sun.
Sharing your light is a generous gift I am always grateful for, and maybe next time you’ll include a sprinkling of fucks 🤣.
Xoxo Mare and Snyper (growing huge fucking cucumbers and other random produce)
It's always so lovely to hear from you Mare -- thanks for your kind and loving words. So glad you keep going around the sun. Boop Snyper for me.
Thanks for writing this Lisa! Mine started at 44 with intense vertigo as well. I am now 57 and in the throes of the end stages of perimenopause and the fatigue, joint pains and anxiety are off the charts. I have HRT but have been reluctant to start it because I too wanted to be the hippy woman who manages naturally. I need to start it though. I was chatting to my neighbour about it today because I have just had two days in bed feeling dreadful. Then I get your email and it is as if it was written for me!
Oh Sally! I hope you are able to find relief. We can still be hippie ladies, we're just not choosing to stay in suffering. (I think it's similar to if my body didn't make enough insulin, I'd replace that!) Remember that it's not a silver bullet, and it takes time to adjust, but I hope you find it helpful.
This is a great post.
Thank you, Brendan! And gold stars to you!
I'm a 74 year old male that is wise enough to not tell you that I fully understand what you wrote. Through your description I can only imagine how confusing and frightening your experience must be. I do understand fear, frustration, confusion, depression, desperation, anxiety and self doubt so at least that part of your experience I can empathize with. I wish you well and and I'm quite sad that there appears to be nothing I can do personally to help. I can, however, offer you the reassurance that whenever you chose to write about yourself I will be here to read it.
David
Lisa, you're such a fearless writer, it's incredible and inspiring. I have a feeling this Substack will do a lot of good for a lot of people. I will be sharing it with people who I think will appreciate or benefit from it. Grateful for you, your talent, and your honesty. /littlewave.
That means so much to me! Thank you! I think all inspiring work has the phrase "boner pills" included. :)
Thank you so much for being here. All the gold stars.
Luckily, I had a gynecologist who suggested black cohosh for hot flashes and that worked for me, thank goodness. Unluckily, she didn’t have any supplement suggestions for the constant rage…
The rage is no joke! I started doing embroidery just so I could stab something.
So glad you have a supportive care team.
This is great! Thank you for sharing all of this -- and inviting the dudes along (how many read it? Raise your hands, guys!). As a soon-to-be 62-year-old, I would have loved to read this in my 40s.
Thank you so much! Big hugs to you.
Great writing. Menopause came late for me, almost 56. Now out the other side with 7 years of what I think were mild symptoms, except those damn hot flashes, always at the most inopertune times. Stress brought them on like gangbusters.
If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have teased my suffering girlfriends that I was one of the 5 that didn't experience hot flashes. They were completing the transition as I was just getting warmed up. Pun intended.
It may have helped but I was too stubborn, meaning too stupid, to seek out Hormone Replacement Therapy. I guess there was already an overload of testosterone, and not enough estrogen in my system. 😉 Are ya plucking chin hairs yet?
Be well.
Daily chin hair plucking. Daily.
I never thought I'd be there at all, but Reddit really has been a source of helpful information for not only my menopause, but also my type-1 diabetes.
I'm so glad it's been helpful! Hivemind really can be an incredible thing.
Hi Lisa! Great to hear from you as always! Menopause is an extremely difficult "event". I went through the mood swings, night sweats, feeling miserable and just keeping it to myself. We need to accept it's ok to not be ok mind set and ask for help! I'm still feeling some of it at 55. Keeping busy and pushing forward is helping. Men have it so much better than they think! 😆 Much love to you! 🫶
It's amazing how we think we just need to keep quiet and keep going. Hugs to you!