Ladies, I Could Use Some Advice

My sister-in-law cracks me up! My daughter and I were visiting over the weekend and my daughter shuddered as S-I-L and I were animatedly discussing her husband’s video of her recent medical procedure. What can I say; we love that kind of stuff! My daughter, not so much. She just shakes her head and puts up with us.

S-I-L calls those her “senior pictures”. Ha ha ha! If that’s the case I just received notification in the mail that it’s time for me to get those “senior pictures” taken again…in the form of a mammogram. Hmm, these senior pictures are offered every.single.year and they aren’t the fun kind like the ones you took once in high school. 😜

You young friends/readers can shake your head and stop reading now but you middle aged folks (who are my age) and beyond know the struggle. Getting older is no joke but we have to laugh about it because we are all going through it. Being Happy is Better Than Being Smart but it’s also better being happy if you can laugh about life and have fun with it.

Why do people in our society only seem to joke about the realities of mid-life crises? Because they don’t want to over share? Because they are embarrassed or self-conscious? Because they don’t want to admit their age? Come on y'all, let’s normalize what is healthy and normal and help each other out.

Because ladies, menopause is kicking my butt! I have family members I’ve turned to first for advice but those lucky ladies don’t struggle with the issues I’m currently struggling with. (Or they do and they are as frustrated as I am without knowing what to do.) Maybe it’s because of medications they take? Don’t know but I’m really trying not to start another prescription so I’ll reach out to my community of friends who might have some practical, non drug type solutions that have worked for them instead of going to my primary care physician. He’s already offered drugs but I’ll only use that as a last resort. (I promise not to blog about every single one of y’alls comments. Heck, depending on what they are I might not even want to try them!)

What are bothering me so bad are anxiety/panic attacks, insomnia, mood swings, and the dreaded night sweats. All you ladies out there, who don’t deal with night sweats, count your lucky stars because they are DISGUSTING!

I have always had a hard time sleeping and at this age you can say a prayer of gratitude if you actually make it through the whole night without having to get up to go to the bathroom. (I shudder at the phrase “sleep like a baby” cuz y’all, no, I’m not about to concede and wear an adult diaper at night. I’ll continue to get up thank you very much.) Here’s the dilemma I find myself in…I need to sleep with it cooler but then when I wake up, usually having a bad dream, I’m drenched in sweat and soaking wet. Getting up and using the cold bathroom now has me shivering and freezing cold but still hot on the inside.

(Thankfully I have a king sized bed so no way am I changing the sheets in the middle of the night, I’d never get back to sleep, so I’ll just scoot over and find a dry spot. You might be saying “Eww, gross!” but if you deal with it, too, you know exactly what I mean! My advice, make sure you have a couple extra sets of sheets and pajamas when you go through menopause because no one wants to have do laundry every single day. Last night I tried something new, I put my robe at the bottom of the bed under the covers so I’d have something warm to slip into when I need to get up. It actually kinda helped.)

I get back to bed but now I’m wide awake and the anxiety kicks in. My body feels hot on the inside but freezing cold and shivering on the outside. Does not make a good night’s sleep and sleep is KEY to my health and happiness.

So ready, set, go, friends! Give me your advice and/or links of stuff you’ve tried to help you get through this. My doctor said it’s a process and could take up to 10 years! 😓 Let’s help each other through this chapter, ladies, and try to stay happy. Not easy to do when your hormones are fluctuating wildly.