By my calculations, I started my Perimenopause around the age of 42, nine years ago. At that time I was in love with someone who wasn’t in love with me and unbeknownst to me I had just started the delayed grieving process of losing my mum a couple of years earlier. I was equally ignorant about the impact of grief and loss on my mental and physical wellbeing as I was about Perimenopause. All of the above can explain stress, hormone imbalance, anxiety and low mood.


I thought menopause was something that MIGHT happen to me in my 50s, I wasn’t going to think about it. Not everyone had Menopause, right? It means I’m old and decrepit and no one will fancy me anymore, right? I now know how so very wrong that it is and how important it is that we change the PR around menopause for ourselves and the younger women in the world today. 


I didn’t realise that the brain fog, anxiety and low mood that I was experiencing were three of the most common and earliest symptoms of the Perimenopause. I thought that hot flushes and dry vaginas were the only symptoms because that’s how menopause was generally depicted. 


So how did I know it was my Perimenopause? Well, I didn’t until a couple of years later when I started to track my cycle, and from that point onward my understanding of my mind and body completely changed. I was able to retrospectively tease apart and separate the impact of the grief, the heartache and the hormones. 


What I wish I’d known 9 years ago
*Every woman will have a Menopause
*The Perimenopause starts way before your periods stop.
*Menopause is a powerful and natural transition and it cannot be cured.

What I now know

I HAVE CONTROL OVER MY SYMPTOMS. If I honour the fact that my body is changing and work in harmony with these changes I can help manage my symptoms. By understanding and respecting my Menopause I am empowered. I can and will have a Merry Menopause!