#menopause

- shorter time between periods

- irregular periods

- hot flashes and/or cold flashes

- fucked up sleep

- OMG NIGHT SWEATS

- Vagina as dry as the Sahara desert

- lighter periods and/or endless bleeding like it's The Flood but it's in your pants

- lack of interest in Adult Fun Times

This time of joy can last anywhere from a couple of years to a god damn decade and there's no medical way right now to predict it.

Here's some of the REAL bullshit they don't tell you about but your dinosaur aunt is here to let you know:

- You can start perimenopause in your 30s, don't listen to idiot doctors who tell you you're "too young" because they don't know your body like you do.

- Perimenopause will make you HELLA DUMB. Seriously, I'm talking Bigly broken brain. Brain fog? Check. Short term memory? Wave goodbye to it. Ability to make words form out of thoughts? Yeah, good luck to you.

- Perimenopause can cause horrible fatigue because in addition to losing estrogen, you're also losing testosterone. Oh and that also leads to muscle wasting, cool cool.

- Things might suddenly hurt more because estrogen is known to be neuroprotective.

- If you're super lucky like I am, and like to collect rare illnesses, you might even get Burning Mouth Syndrome 💀

- And meanwhile, while you're going through this bullshit, you'll be getting gaslit by doctors who are operating based on 30 year old debunked data about how HRT causes breast cancer (not really) and that they shouldn't put you on it until you're in actual menopause. (Data shows starting HRT early can potentially prevent Alzheimer's in later years.)

- There are entire online clinics right now (I use Midi Health) focused on providing care for peri and menopausal patients and they will happily prescribe you HRT even if your regular PCP or OBGYN do not (if you meet the criteria). I've been pretty impressed with how holistically they view the patient. For full disclosure, I learned about them from my integrative health doctor and they do not accept Medicare (yet).

I'm 46 years old right now and I've been symptomatic for perimenopause for the last 8 years, although it's gotten the most dramatic in the past 2 years or so, which I hope means I'm almost done, holy hell. Yeah I was on the early side, but if it can happen to me, it can happen to you, so it's never too early to think about these things. And I hope to at least spare some of you the mind-fuckery I've been through because no one told me about most of this stuff, including my own mother who just DOESN'T REMEMBER what happened to her and now I completely understand why. And because I also have a connective tissue disease, I used to just dismiss my pain and fatigue as being caused by that illness rather than the loss of hormones.

Anyways, this is why we need Elders in our lives, so they can do Grandma Story Hour like I just did and validate you when the entire medical field tries to gaslight you. I hope you've found some or all of this educational/useful. Please share with your friends because we really do NOT talk about this stuff enough. (Ewwww Moon Blood!)

But I know how to apply the gel because I saw posts from trans women how to apply it and I feel that even though are reasons for using it are different that we are not so different

My hair has been thinning. There are no obvious patches, but I've lost a lot of volume. The usual recommendation is minoxidil (Rogaine); I refuse to do the topical application as it's deadly to cats, and I don't want to take Yet Another Pill.

Did you know:

-Menopause can cause drastic suicidality and increases in mental health crises?

-Menopause can cause your skin to thin and tear?

-When menopause happens and what to do if it comes early to protect your bone health? (HRT, which can be prohibitively expensive and is controversial)

-Menopause can change the pH of your vulva and vagina and require medical washes?

-Brain fog is often a symptom, and so are memory lapses?

-Women in menopause are gaslit about the severity of their symptoms?

-Perimenopause often lasts several years?

-Hot flashes can be debilitating and painful?

-Your hair often thins?

-Post-menopausal bleeding is a typical sign of cancer that women are not educated on and is often missed?

-Migraines and UTIs can increase in severity and frequency?

-You may experience a burning mouth?

-Painful cystic acne often appears?

-Decreased estrogen means less lubricated joints and often is the beginning of arthritis?

-Your body may not produce enough keratin for your nails to not crack and break painfully?

-Some women can experience panic attacks?

-It can cause tinnitus?

-Lupron can chemically induce menopause?

-Almost all studies on aging do not account for menopause?

The national PharmaCare program will start in British Columbia on Sunday, giving residents free access to a variety of diabetes medications and menopausal hormone therapy.  Health Minister Josie Osborne says the changes will benefit more than half a million residents who are living with diabetes, and about 160,000 people with menopausal symptoms. The provincial and federal governments signed a four-year agreement last year to implement a national PharmaCare initiative in B.C. with $670 million in federal government funding.

Read more.

Your labia minora may change in appearance and seem to disappear completely!

The labia unsurprisingly have not been studied much so there's not a whole lot of information I can find to link to, though I guess this handout on genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) comes close. This came up in a discussion I was having with a friend of mine who's a nurse, who worked in OB-GYN, who taught prenatal classes, and she said that until it started happening to her she'd never heard of labial shrinkage. She also said that there's a dearth of medical research and testing done on female bodies past the age of 60 because once we can't produce babies anymore who cares.