DW Community Catch-up Thread
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Leslie, I have vertigo! It’s terrible. It started in the spring for me. I had it so bad yesterday while on the subway that I had to get out and walk the two miles home bc I felt so nauseous on the subway.
It’s awful right? The first time I had it literally all night and at one point sat up in the middle of a wave and the room looked like a jackpot machine spinning. I went to the ER where they gave me souped up Dramamine. Now I keep some regular Dramamine on hand in case it gets bad. They have quick dissolve tablets you can keep in your bag. That way when walking you don’t have to grab cars or the garbage sheds in front of apartments like an infant surfing the furniture.
Also, pick a spot down the block and focus on that instead of looking around. Of course, there are risks with the approach – but the super-smeller helps avoid stepping in dog poo.
I remember this one woman I worked with, we weren’t friends or anything, just co-workers, and she was 50 or 52 or something and one day she kind of cornered me and was telling me how she gained all this weight and even though she was running every day, she couldn’t lose it, and she was freaking out telling me how fat she was and like, “guess what size jeans I wear now, just guess!” And it turned out she had gone from like a size 6 to a 12, which isn’t fat at all, but sure it’s a big change to your body, I get it. And she had the hot flashes too.
I’m 47 and not really feeling it yet, except since I went off the pill I get my period every 3 or 3.5 weeks. And I do run hot so I dread dread dread hot flashes. No thanks.
My mother confirmed that she started perimenopause at 43.
Then again, my grandmother had a baby at 43.
I have a good friend who is almost 10 years older than I am. We were in the car last year going to dinner – it was cold for NC, in the 30s and rainy I think – and she put her window down because of hot flashes.
I can confirm I have definitely not started them yet, thank goodness, I have enough health issues at it is. Give me just a few more years before I have to worry about THAT too.
Leslie, that’s a great tip about dramamine! I didn’t even think of that but I’m going to go get some to have on hand. I think the vertigo is my least favorite symptom… after the insomnia. Or, maybe they’re tied. Actually, all of it is bad! If men went through menopause, there would have been so much research and so many clinical trials by now and we’d have better treatments – and info! – than what’s available now.
I do have a couple friends who are 50+ who have had hardly any symptoms besides lots of missed periods, so there’s hope for those of you who haven’t experienced the fun yet. Maybe you’ll be among the lucky ones who have a relatively easy time through perimenopause.
@TheLadyE Happy belated 40th! I’m glad you posted — I wonder about how you are doing sometimes! So how are ya!?
So the wedding I was just at, the bride is slightly younger than I am (33) and the group of gal pals I know her through ranges from 26 to 38, most of us ranging from 33-36. Anyway, at the pool one morning, us 30-somethings were talking about changes we’ve noticed as we’ve gotten older (for me, it’s stuff like running hot at night and my eyelashes on my right eye break off) and laughing about how we all packed hangover remedies because none of us can hang like we used to. The look on the 20-somethings’ faces was priceless. This thread is like the digital version of that for me, but I like knowing what I might expect next! I have friends who skew a little older, too, but they’re all just approaching 40.
Will also add, watching the 20-somethings take pictures of one another was hysterical to me. The way they all know their Insta-worthy poses and angles.
Also, I’d honestly freak out if I went up several dress sizes in a short period of time.
@TheLadyE – happy belated birthday and don’t worry too much, you can’t fight it so you do stuff like share your most personal info on a chat to see whatever works for everyone else.
But it’s the shit that you just don’t expect. Like I was at the gyno and she asked me when my periods stopped – and I was like “Yo, my uterus is still pitching a fit every month I don’t give it a baby!” and she was surprised! You see my age! It’s on my chart!
Or gray nether hair. Mother of jeebus I was not prepared for that.
Boy, that times piece made me want some hormones! And get some for my husband. I want to stay young forever. LOL.
I drench the sheets some nights, and have what I would think are hot flashes based on these descriptions but it was instead discovered to be not my hormones. About two years ago I started wake up at 3:30 am every morning, wide awake. After so many blood tests, I honestly was considering that a ghost was haunting me or something because that is not me. That’s when I started my whole medical adventures that have gone on.
Awww y’all are too sweet! Thank you for caring! I was extremely sick all last year and honestly it got pretty scary. I ended up being diagnosed with something called pulmonary hypertension as a result of my ongoing lung problems since being born prematurely. I now am on supplemental oxygen 24/7 as well as a CPAP machine at night, and lots of other medicines to reduce the pressure on my pulmonary artery and keep fluid off my heart and lungs. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital in November and had almost 30 lbs of fluid flushed out of my system by IV. I actually went home at 1am on the morning of my 40th birthday because I BEGGED the doctor to let me go; I couldn’t stand to be there one more night. It’s been pretty rough – in between my department was eliminated and I had to interview for a new role at my same company – thankfully I got it and even got a promotion! So now it’s been adjusting to taking all these meds and my new job and trying to feel like myself again.
Interestingly, not sure if I mentioned but I actually got Covid last year in May and a few weeks later went to the Mayo Clinic to try to get a diagnosis. My pulmonologist at Mayo said my lungs were not affected at all by Covid and the vaccines and booster probably saved me. Those vaccines work, as if we had any doubt!
