•5:56 PM
. . . is not being very kind to me. I brought up this topic at my homeschool fellowship group last night. An interesting (and humorous) discussion ensued.
Looking back over the years, I have detected patterns regarding my health and sense of well-being, ever since I was a teenager. Patterns that had days when I felt myself and felt good, and days when I felt, well, cr*ppy, for lack of a better term. I just came out of a full week of feeling that way. But increasingly, it has been occurring to me that there is an indisputable correlation between the bad days, and where I am in my cycle. Hmmm. I am 45 right now. The correlation is definitely there. The ups and downs seem to be greater in magnitude than they used to be (or else I am just more aware of them). Maybe I have been in that pre- (or peri-) menopausal stage for awhile. It sure would answer a lot of questions.
The good days -- well, there is not much to say, there. On those days (such as today) I feel generally good, robust, fairly energetic (that's relative), and what I would consider "feeling myself". These are days when my body is not calling out for attention.
The bad days -- the best way to describe those are, ummm, days when my body feels frail and fragile. Yeah, that's it. On the bad days, I have much less energy, and even feel at times as if I have a mild virus. On those days, my pain threshold feels like it has been lowered (or is it raised?) so that I am aware of lots of generalized body aches and pains, stiffness of joints, etc. On those days, I feel especially chilled in cooler places, like restaurants and supermarkets, much more than normal. Those are days when a dull headache builds in intensity over the hours, and doesn't respond well to OTC meds. On those days, I can't remember anybody's name, and can't retrieve words to memory, and this can be rather embarrassing. On those days, I can't concentrate on my reading to save my life, even though I love to read. Occasionally on those days (though thankfully not often) I feel some mild depression. On those days, I have to have something sweet on hand to combat the trembly feeling of low blood sugar, especially in the late morning and around midday (often during church). NOTE: I do not have the hot flashes or anything like that yet.
But like I said, on the good days (I think they are the progesterone days, especially during the luteal phase of the cycle) everything is fine and okay. I am a happy camper on those days.
On the bad days, camping is the last thing I want to do. I think about how nice it would be to just sit in a recliner. Sigh..
Can anybody relate??
I am trying to educate myself on this topic now, since I suspect it ain't gonna get any better any time soon. I have reserved What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Premenopause by John R. Lee, M.D. from the library, and hope to pick it up soon. Aren't there any books out there on Homeschooling Your Kids While Approaching Menopause? If not, there ought to be. I find that this is actually a spiritual issue. It can really work against my motivation to be the good mom and wife and "mommy-teacher" that I want to be. It is a channel through which the evil one will try to attack. This is one area where I see my dependence on the Lord becoming more critical with each passing year. Wow. I really didn't see this coming.
Does anybody have any insight to this situation?
Looking back over the years, I have detected patterns regarding my health and sense of well-being, ever since I was a teenager. Patterns that had days when I felt myself and felt good, and days when I felt, well, cr*ppy, for lack of a better term. I just came out of a full week of feeling that way. But increasingly, it has been occurring to me that there is an indisputable correlation between the bad days, and where I am in my cycle. Hmmm. I am 45 right now. The correlation is definitely there. The ups and downs seem to be greater in magnitude than they used to be (or else I am just more aware of them). Maybe I have been in that pre- (or peri-) menopausal stage for awhile. It sure would answer a lot of questions.
The good days -- well, there is not much to say, there. On those days (such as today) I feel generally good, robust, fairly energetic (that's relative), and what I would consider "feeling myself". These are days when my body is not calling out for attention.
The bad days -- the best way to describe those are, ummm, days when my body feels frail and fragile. Yeah, that's it. On the bad days, I have much less energy, and even feel at times as if I have a mild virus. On those days, my pain threshold feels like it has been lowered (or is it raised?) so that I am aware of lots of generalized body aches and pains, stiffness of joints, etc. On those days, I feel especially chilled in cooler places, like restaurants and supermarkets, much more than normal. Those are days when a dull headache builds in intensity over the hours, and doesn't respond well to OTC meds. On those days, I can't remember anybody's name, and can't retrieve words to memory, and this can be rather embarrassing. On those days, I can't concentrate on my reading to save my life, even though I love to read. Occasionally on those days (though thankfully not often) I feel some mild depression. On those days, I have to have something sweet on hand to combat the trembly feeling of low blood sugar, especially in the late morning and around midday (often during church). NOTE: I do not have the hot flashes or anything like that yet.
But like I said, on the good days (I think they are the progesterone days, especially during the luteal phase of the cycle) everything is fine and okay. I am a happy camper on those days.
On the bad days, camping is the last thing I want to do. I think about how nice it would be to just sit in a recliner. Sigh..
Can anybody relate??
I am trying to educate myself on this topic now, since I suspect it ain't gonna get any better any time soon. I have reserved What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Premenopause by John R. Lee, M.D. from the library, and hope to pick it up soon. Aren't there any books out there on Homeschooling Your Kids While Approaching Menopause? If not, there ought to be. I find that this is actually a spiritual issue. It can really work against my motivation to be the good mom and wife and "mommy-teacher" that I want to be. It is a channel through which the evil one will try to attack. This is one area where I see my dependence on the Lord becoming more critical with each passing year. Wow. I really didn't see this coming.
Does anybody have any insight to this situation?
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2 comments:
Um, can I say this is the first I've heard of it? Where have I been? I thought my symptoms in that regard were due to stress. I've had lots of stress the last few years and enough now to effect me. The symptoms I deal with have become, shall we say, more intense. One week I'm fine and ready to face challenges. The next week I'm depressed and sure that I will never be happy again and there is no use in trying. Then, as quickly as it came, the depression is gone. I'll be looking for that book at my library.
No insight, just empathy. My PMS-type stuff definitely got worse when I hit forty. Not a lot of physical symptoms here other than a couple days of tiredness, but up-and-down (mostly down) emotions-- oh boy. Plus it seems that within a couple months of turning 40, all my humor cells and half my brain cells went AWOL and never returned! (They send postcards every so often.) That is indeed "peri-menopause", or so I am told. I am also told that it can last for 10 years or so before menopause actually hits.
I have learned to not just mark a :-P in my planner for the day I am "due", but also note a big fat "BEWARE" about 8 days before that! Because that last week of the cycle is definitely the worst for me emotionally, and it is good for me to be aware of it. Most of the things I've done & said that I've later regretted have occured during that week.
My kids do know that Mom has a "grouchy, teary week" followed by a "tired day", but I try not to use that as an excuse-- just a warning!
And wouldn't you know it-- today (it's after midnight) will be my "tired day", and it is also the day of our "field trip" to the zoo for Fuzz' birthday. Of course. Fortunately, our zoo is not all that big.