Lately I’ve been having trouble sleeping through the night. I kick the covers off then wake up shivering. I’ve been shedding enough hair down the shower drain to knit a kitten. Two weeks ago I spent half my morning in the bathroom sobbing. And here’s how important the issue was: 14 days later I can’t remember what the hell I was crying about. It got really bad when I was called into the office at work b/c the boss said I was being mean to my coworkers. I couldn’t help myself and started crying.
I had a total meltdown yesterday while trying to install my new router. I started yelling and swearing at my dad, who is a stroke patient. He got frustrated, I got pissed and 10 minutes later everything was fine.
Some people asked if it was PMS but I’ve never had that. Turns out I’m perimenopausal. That’s the new term. It’s sooo 21st century. So I started taking herbal supplements that are supposed to even out my mood swings
and let me sleep.
Anybody know how long it will be before I stop being Totally Mental Crying Swearing Dragonlady?
Have you seen a doctor? You’re very young to be pre-menopausal and the symptons you describe sound more like thyroid problems to me.
She’s kind of young, but not too young. Perimenopause can start ten years before actual menopause, and menopause can start in women as young as 35. IANAD, but my doc places me firmly in perimenopause, and I’m 39 (until next week, anyway.) He also said that the number of pregnancies a woman has had CAN be a factor in when it starts - in general, the fewer pregnancies, the earlier it begins. My doc did a family history on me, trying to determine whether my grandmother and mother had gone into menopause fairly young - unfortunately, nobody in my family has kept their uterus long enough to go into menopause yet! My mom had a hysterectomy at 36, my grandmother at 35.
I have not had loads of success with herbal supplements. Switching to soy milk seems to have helped a little bit, but I wouldn’t call it a drastic improvement. What has helped me is tracking my cycle, and being aware of what has become truly vile PMS, and just taking extra care not to be a complete bitch. When I find myself getting furiously angry with some little old lady for not moving her shopping cart out of my way fast enough, I force myself to step back and take a deep breath. I have to repeat “it’s me, not her” as a mantra - the depth of the anger and frustration that hits me is pretty scary.