Perimenopause update, let's continue the conversation.

A little life perimenopause life update The symptoms, visits to doctors, hormone treatments, and the emotional challenges of this life stage.  I hope this chat helps you as much as sharing this helps me!

Here is the info for Felix Health and a referral code for $40 off your consultation fee.
https://www.felixforyou.ca/r/etSvM

Transcript

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Hey, everyone. Welcome back to how it's really going with Shannon wrecker. And today I am just here with a bit of a life update. I'm going to talk about a couple of things. We're going to talk about. Menopause, because I'd love to update you on some things that have happened in that space. I know a lot of you listening to this podcast are struggling with menopause yourself. Perimenopause menopause, all the things. And I want to just, yeah, just talk about a couple other things that have been going on and have been on my mind. And it's funny because with this podcast, I always feel like I need to come on with a specific topic because that's how I've just always been trained to do anything in this kind of space. And I realized that I can sometimes just even come on here and turn on the mic and just talk about all kinds of different things. And it doesn't have to be a specific thing and it's more just of a life update and it's for me to just share and. Get it off my mind and chest and get it out there into the world. And it's up to you guys. If you decide you like it and want to listen to it. And that's where I just need to let go. And so. That'll be something part of what we're going to talk about today. So we're going to do a little perimenopause menopause update. We're gonna talk about letting go. Just some of the things that have happened in my life. Because of letting go. Yeah. And we'll see, what else, what else I touch on? But to start, I would love to update you guys on where I'm at with this whole menopause thing. That episode that I did, where I talked about menopause and perimenopause and the symptoms and the struggles and all that stuff. Was probably the most responded to episode I've ever created. And I think that's because it is a really hot topic right now. I think there's a lot of women in this 40 to 50 age group. There must be a lot of us out there because I think we are creating a movement. In the sense that. On social media. It's like a huge topic. We, and maybe it's just because I'm in the algorithm of it because I'm clicking on videos and following people who are talking about this stuff. But I do feel like it is actually a movement that's happening right now because the medical space. Just needs to catch up. They need to catch up. So. For me, I, as you guys know, in that last episode, I talked about the struggles that I was dealing with, the violent mood swings, the not sleeping. Just the depression, feeling, the sadness, all that kind of stuff. I also have skin rashes. I have weight gain. I have. Just tiredness, just all the things. There's so many things. And I will say. I am doing things to help to try and help mitigate those symptoms. I am trying to clean up my diet. I am taking vitamins minerals, all kinds of. I mean, I take more pills now in the morning than I've ever taken my entire life. I work out minimum three times a week, lifting weights. I walk my dog every day, I had bought a weighted vest to help without all the things I'm trying to get to bed by no later than 9 30, 10 o'clock. I am doing all of the things that I can physically do for me personally. To help mitigate symptoms and all that stuff. When it comes to just, trying to be healthier. But it doesn't always work. It's not. I don't think that personally, I don't think that it's something that you can cure just by being healthy. I think hormones there's a lot we can do with hormones with our physical, habits. But I do believe that there are things that just, just, just are, they just are what they are and we need to get support for those things. And so I did go to my doctor. My doctor was, doing the best that he could with what he was trained to do, which is part of the problem is that there's not really any training for general practitioners when it comes to menopause. There's not really any studies that have been done on women. Oh around menopause. And so it's, it's no fault of our general practitioners. I don't think because I just, from what I understand is the education just isn't there. So they're a little bit lost and how to, to work with us. And so. My doctor did the best that he could with what he knew and what he had at his disposal. To be able to help me. But it was really a struggle. I, right now I am. As far as I got with him, I was on birth control for a year, which definitely made a difference in my mood swings, but it just made everything feel, sort of blend bland, blah. So it just made everything and it just wasn't. It was okay. So got off that. I moved to a vaginal estrogen. Which is a gel that you have, it's like a cream you put in your vagina. I don't know that I, I don't know exactly. I've tried to figure out exactly what it's doing. He did mention that it could potentially help with my mood swings and stuff. Aye. I would say it's okay. But mostly those kinds of creams are meant for things like dryness and, there's lots of other symptoms down there that can happen, which I don't have any of those. So. I think it's doing something, but I'm not really sure. Like I just kind of feel a little bit unsure about what it's actually doing, because it's a vaginal estrogen. It only affects the area. It's not something that's, I guess they call. Systemic like a systemic hormone would go through your whole body through your bloodstream where a vaginal estrogen, the estrogen is just contained into that area is how I understand it. So it just helps with things in that area, but he did mention something about potentially it helping my mood swings. So I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I just do it because I don't know. Anyhow. So from there. I got a referral to another, an OB GYN. Who. Then their office called me and said they were full and they had no room for me. So then they moved me to the OB GYN residency clinic at the hospital. I'm not sure exactly what's going to come at that appointment because I'm hopeful the fact that they're residents and it's a residency clinic. It is overseen by a, obviously a doctor. But an OB GYN, but I'm hoping that there's new research and new information and new options. That may come from that when I go. But I haven't gone yet. It's going to, it's still a couple weeks away. So. Until then. So what I did in between is I discovered online. Through social media. It was actually, Instagram was where I saw the ad for a company called Felix health. And I'm not affiliated with them. I do have a referral link. For them. Which I will put in the show notes, but I'm not being paid to talk to, to you about Felix health. I literally stumbled upon it on Instagram. They have a menopausal support. System in place at Felix health. And I I have a referral link that gives anybody who wants to go down the road with Felix and have a get there, get support from them. It gives you$40 off the consultation fee, which is$99. So I will put that in the show notes. You're welcome to use it. I don't get a kickback from it. I think I get put into a draw to win a prize or something. If you use my link, that's it. So anyhow, I went through the process with them. And so basically what you do is you take the survey. There's a survey that you go through. It's. It's very long, extensive questionnaire. You give them all the information about you and your medications you're on and your health history and all that kind of stuff. Same kind of things. A doctor would ask you if you were in a doctor's office. And you get once you're done. You that goes into their system and a nurse practitioner reviews the information. And the nurse practitioner responds to you through their online system and gives you her. Prescription. Recommendations. So from that you then agree to accept the prescription and then you pay the fee. So you pay for the prescription and you pay the$99. Or if you use my link, it's$50. And from there, they you talk to the practitioner, you go back and forth, you ask questions and whatever. And then once you're done, then they send out the prescription. And so for me, I did this. And I got after going through that, my nurse practitioner recommended that I be on progesterone because I was already on the vaginal estrogen. They recommended progesterone. So I said, yes. And then within a matter of three days, the progesterone was delivered to my door. I have been taking the progesterone for almost a month. Now you take it at night before you go to bed. I'm on a hundred milligrams of progesterone. And I will say, and I wasn't sure because when I first started taking the progesterone. I was J was just after my cycle. So I still get a cycle I'm having, I've only missed two periods in a row and that's it. I now they're back in there every month. Again. I thought for sure. When I missed those two in a row, I was like, sweet. I'm on my way to menopause. But that wasn't the case. I ended up getting it back. So yay me. So anyways, I was at the end of my period when I started taking the progesterone. And if you guys are familiar with your cycle, which I've literally just gotten familiar with this concept now in the last five years, I'd say. Is after you have your period, those first two weeks after your period, or like the spring and summer of your cycle, where things feel good and you feel good and you're happy. And like, everything's great. And then the two weeks before your cycle are like fallen winter, where the mood swing start to set in, you start to feel like garbage, you're tired. And then the week before your period, you're even more tired and everything. And then your period comes and the cycle repeats. So when I started taking the progesterone, I was in my spring and summer weeks of my cycle. So I was feeling better and I had take, started taking the progesterone and I was like waking up in the morning and I was feeling better. And everything, but I was like, yeah, but is it working or is it just because I'm at this good stage of my cycle? So I was waiting for the fall winter weeks to come to see if I was noticing, still noticing a difference. And so what I find with the progesterone now that I'm taking this is that the, it has taken the edge off. Of the anxiety waking up with anxiety, waking up with that feeling of like irritability and like anger. And like those, like, I would wake up with that already running through my system. Like I would already wake up feeling annoyed. Feeling anxious. Like pissed off with the world, annoyed with the dog, annoyed with my husband. Like I woke up like that. This is how I started my day. And I will say that I don't, I feel like it's taken the edge off. I won't, I'm not going to say that it's removed it completely. And I wake up super happy. But I will say I wake up with a Mo. A greater reduced amount of anxiety and irritability, and I feel. Just better when I wake up. So I do feel like the progesterone has made a difference. And I'm still uncertain about the estrogen I'm going to, when I go to the OB GYN clinic in the couple of weeks here, I'm going to ask them about what it's actually doing and is that the right estrogen from errors or a different one that I could be on. But cause it's not really. It's. I mean, it's okay. It's you got to, yeah, it's a whole process and it has some not so great side effects, but whatever. For now I'll just stay the course. So, but the progesterone, I have really noticed a difference and I do feel like it also has helped me sleep a little bit better. I don't think I'm waking up as much in the evening as I used to be. And so I take it at night with I take it with my magnesium. So every night I take a progesterone pill and a magnesium pill. And that has made a difference in how I sleep. And also, and how I feel when I wake up in the morning. So for now, I still have my skin rashes. I still, I'm still dealing with fatigue. I still deal with. Joint pain. I'm still dealing with some, the, some of the main issues. I still get irritable and I still have those moments for sure. But I feel like it's a little better. A little better and I've had lots of people reach out to me. About taking hormones and this whole like synthetic hormones, are they bad for you and breast cancer, all that stuff. And I'm not a doctor. So this is not medical advice at all. You obviously always want to speak to your doctor, but I have seen through, Dr. Mary, Claire Haber, and some of the other. Women, I follow on Instagram that they do have so much more research now that really just shows that the hormones that we're taking are not. Hurting us. They're actually helping to protect our bones. They're helping to protect our heart. They're helping us in ways that. Far outweigh, any of, the things and a lot of the things that we used to think that hormones were doing to us, like increasing our risk of cancer has actually been debunked. So again, Don't take my word for it. Talk to your doctor, but I've seen lots of information out there about how it's doing more for us than it is hurting us. And so. something to think about. If you really struggling with symptoms. And you're really struggling, with, the things that I've talked about and more I know some people I've seen people on social media talk about. depression to the point of,, Like really severe depression and stuff like that. And it's, we don't have to live that way. We don't have to live that way. And I would rather see someone take something to help them live a more satisfaction, like. A life that's. At least, I'd rather see someone. be able to take something and enjoy a good quality of life than to be miserable, and fearful that something might happen. when there's lots of information that shows that it's. If there's a good chance, it won't happen. So anyways, I hope you get what I'm saying there. Always talk to your doctor first, but I have personally noticed a difference. Since taking a specifically that progesterone really noticed a difference. So that's something that I've been doing. Again, it's not like end all be all cure kind of thing for menopause. And I don't think there is anything. I think that there is. This is something we have to grow through. And I did see something though. That I was really excited about. I've seen a few articles about this, talking about how actually, when we get to menopause, like post-menopausal. That we are actually, we can actually be happier than we've ever been in our entire lives. When we get to that stage. And I I sent it to my husband and he was like, oh, so there's hope. I was like, there's hope. cause like, this is very trying on our relationship. this has been hard for me. I know it's been really hard for my husband. Probably even a bit difficult for my kids to, to watch, to see their mom, be miserable too. And. It's been hard, it has been hard. And to know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel is something that I hold onto dearly. Because it is not easy. And there's so many aspects to this part of life and I've had some conversations with some friends about it. Even about like relationships, not even just with your husband, but relationships with friends, like friend, group relationships, and, Relationship with your career and your job and there's so many. Changes that are happening. And I know one of the one of the doctors out there who I follow and let me just look her up. Cause she just wrote a book and I just bought it. She's all over the internet right now. Dr. Mosconi and Lisa Mosconi and she talks about her book is called. Let me just see if I can get it up here. The menopause brain, I just bought it. I haven't gone through it all. But she talks about how our it's actually our brains that are changing more so than our ovaries and our reproductive system. Our actual brains are changing. As women and going through this stage of life. And this is why this feels like so big. Like, one of the things that I read you guys obviously can tell, I read a lot of things and watching a lot of things online. But it was about how. Women don't feel like themselves. That was the first sort of sign that I was going through. Something was, I just didn't feel like myself. I felt like. I felt like I just was in this like weird space of not even knowing who I was and not even knowing what I wanted anymore and just feeling like. Yeah, just feeling like I was just not sure of who I was or what I was doing. And that is something that in this article, and that was something that Dr. Mary Claire Haber posted about. I recently put it in my stories was about. How many women go to the doctor saying that they don't feel like themselves and like that's the first sort of sign. That we're going through something big, like we're going through something huge here and it's just seems to be in society. It just seems to be disregarded as. hot flashes and night sweats. Like I don't even get those things. I'm not even really getting hot flashes or night sweats. Maybe it's because of my vaginal estrogen. I don't know. But I don't really get those, but man, do I get all the other things? And those are like, it's tough. They're really tough. And you it's, like I say, it's hard on your relationships with your family, but also your friendship relationships, because. When you don't feel like yourself? I know for me and with my friend groups, I just don't feel like I fit in anymore. I feel like I just don't. Belong. I just feel like I don't have connection with anyone anymore. I feel like I'm like on this little life. Raft. Oh, by myself going through this thing that nobody understands. I don't have the same. I don't know, like, I used to have a nickname called fun Shana, and that was the fun person that came out when we would go out and, maybe have a couple of drinks and party and whatever. It's like, she doesn't even exist anymore. I don't even, I couldn't even pull her up. Even if I tried. Like alcohol is just, doesn't do the same things for me anymore. I just don't feel like I don't enjoy it. I get massively hung over in the next day. It's like three days to recover. So it's like, when I'm out with my friends, I just feel like I'm so guarded and so uncertain of who I am and how I relate and then I don't want to drink. And then everybody else, it's just like this weird fucking space we move into. And it's really difficult, but then to know that. When we get to the other side of this, and unfortunately the other side could be anywhere from five to 10 years, if not sometimes even longer. Away. But when we do get to the other side of it, that to know that. There's a new level of happiness. It's just comforting to know that when we get to the other side of all of this, that. There is another level of happiness and really knowing who we are. And I think that's why you hear stories about older people, in their seventies and eighties, and they, they give you all this wise advice about not to worry what other people think and all that kind of stuff I think is because they just hit that, that level of. Really knowing who they are and not letting those little things worry them anymore and not letting all of this stuff, that life sort of throws at you. make it mean anything. They're just content and they're happy and, and they're just enjoying the life that they have. And so, That's just kinda nice to know,, is what I'm getting at. It's such a transition and until somebody in it. It's really hard to explain it. And I think that's why when I do these episodes, I get such a response from you all because you, if you were going through it, you can relate to what I'm saying. And it feels like. Somebody like beside you going, I get it. I see it. I hear you. I feel you, you're not alone. And if you're not here yet, it might be something that you don't even want to hear because you're not ready to start dealing with it. And you're not ready to start thinking about it. And I don't blame you. I, it is a, it's a sad thing because here's the thing for me on top of all of this. And top of all of this. I have two older children. One's 22 and the other one's turning 20 this year. Who are leaving the nest and my 22 year old actually moved out a year ago. And my 20 year old is moving out. In a couple of weeks. And that's another whole thing that parents go through, but women. On top of being peri-menopause puzzle. And for me anyways, I'm 48 and I have, I had my kids younger. I had my first one, I was 26 and then Dylan, I had, when she was, when I was. 28, 29. So I was bit younger, but you're at the age, like I'm at the age of going through perimenopause and. Grieving this loss. Not, not that my kids are gone. They're here still, but you don't see them everyday. I see my kids once or twice a week. My older two, I still have my younger one at home, which is great, but there is a whole sort of grieving process that you go through when your kids leave the nest and they go either go off to school or move out with their friends or whatever, where you're not seeing them every day. And so you're dealing with that on top of everything else. It's like the timing of this is just impeccable. I also know some friends. Who had their kids a bit later. And they're going through menopause perimenopause while they have 14, 15 year old daughters, which is also a deadly combination because you've got hormonal teenagers. And then you're a hormonal parents. It's like a crazy mixture. I'm grateful that I wasn't in that perimenopause stage. While my daughter was going through that. Transition herself. I'm grateful for that, but I definitely am feeling the extremeness of the fact that they're moving out while I'm in this stage too. So it's like dealing with. It's like this whole transition is. Of perimenopause is as women we're moving from. From making and creating babies to no longer being able to do that from being caregivers and taking care of people to no longer having people to take care of. And we're being left to ourselves. It's like, okay, you don't have to do anything anymore. Now it's just you. Who are you? And what do you want? And you're like, fuck, I don't know. I can't even think straight. My brain fog is so thick. I'm sad. I'm depressed, I'm angry. I'm all of these things. And now you want me to also figure out who I am and what do I want? I don't fucking know. I'm just trying to get through the day right now. And I think that whole, this whole process is that. Is us figuring out who we are and what we want in life. And I think that's what we get. When we get to the other side of this is we get to really discover who we are and what we want. And then we get to go there and do that and be that. And that's why there's that next level of happiness that comes through once we're there. And so it's this messy middle part. And we're not stuck here. It's just, it may take longer for some of us to get through it than others. But at the end of the day, There are things we can do to get support through this time. And if you are somebody who's just trying to slog through it. I mean everybody to each his own, but to know that there is things out there like Felix health, if you're struggling to get help from your doctor. there are hormone therapy replacement, things that you can take. To help you feel better that are safe and that actually do so much more good. Then than what we used to think, and those things are out there for us. And like I say, if you're struggling with your doctor, then try something like Felix health, if you feel comfortable doing that, I felt I had a great experience with it. I have a nurse practitioner that I can message anytime with questions. My prescription just got refilled. It's going to be delivered today to my door, So in the pricing was reasonable. there are options out there for you. And so I think I'm going to leave it at that today. Just an update on the whole perimenopausal thing. I was going to talk about something else, but I have been jabbering on for a long time now. So I'm going to leave it at that. That's my little life update and I hope that. Wherever you are in your world right now that things are going well, that you are good, that you are healthy. And yeah, I look forward to chatting with you next time. So until then have a great day, everyone. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. For now.