Perimenopause and working

[Anonymous]

Get sun first thing in the morning, eat my fiber and protein, strength training and cut corners in childcare, extracurricular to give yourself time for hobbies and sleep.

[Anonymous]

I dont know - I just cried and swore in a conversation with my boss yesterday, and announced that I'm taking a mental health day. I sleep deeply but am wide awake fr long parts of the night. Coffee is essential. I can't do HRT because I'm high risk of BC.

[Anonymous]

I have the same issue – my doctor put me on a continuous birth control pill (I’m still having a fairly regular period) which will hopefully even out my estrogen and progesterone levels and allow me to sleep through the night again.

[Anonymous]

49 year old here. I have a demanding job and was really struggling last year. I feel better than I have in a long time. What’s helped:

-HRT. I can fall asleep and stay asleep now.

-consistent bedtime. I also need much more sleep than I used to.

-Exercise. I strength train 2-3x per week. Heavy weights, fewer reps. Cardio and Pilates on other days. I aim for 4-5 days of exercise per week.

-eating well. I love sweets and salty snacks but I feel like absolute garbage when I eat them too frequently.

-cutting back on alcohol.

-creatine. I take 5mg per day. It’s been shown to support cognitive function.

[Anonymous]

Leaning out. Sick days. Wine.

[Anonymous]

Get treatment

[Anonymous]

I’m in survival mode. I work 7am-6pm most days. I’m exhausted and I spend too much time finding the will to keep going. I take crying breaks. Regularly. Usually in the bathroom at work.

I plan my life around weekends away, which happen about every 3 months. They are the light at the end of this miserable tunnel.

[Anonymous]

Ambien and quiet quitting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:49 year old here. I have a demanding job and was really struggling last year. I feel better than I have in a long time. What’s helped:

-HRT. I can fall asleep and stay asleep now.

-consistent bedtime. I also need much more sleep than I used to.

-Exercise. I strength train 2-3x per week. Heavy weights, fewer reps. Cardio and Pilates on other days. I aim for 4-5 days of exercise per week.

-eating well. I love sweets and salty snacks but I feel like absolute garbage when I eat them too frequently.

-cutting back on alcohol.

-creatine. I take 5mg per day. It’s been shown to support cognitive function.

47 here and similar. I do need to exercise more. Cutting back on sweets, alcohol, and caffeine intake have helped me.

The progesterone in HRT has particular helped with sleep. And getting better sleep helps with brain fog. I also take magnesium glycinate with L theanine before bed.

I loved the brain effects of testosterone but even tiny amounts of it were giving me acne.

OP, have you been to your Ob gyn? If they aren’t helping you, find one who will.

Focus first on fixing the sleep issue and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t worry too much about succeeding.

I don't know if you're joking or not but I think most people understand what's happening with women in their 40s and 50s and give them grace or I hope so.

No you don’t get “grace” for two decades of your career. Just figure out how to get some sleep.

[Anonymous]

Go to your doctor. This isn’t normal and you don’t have to live like that. For me, Sleep test, CPAP, glp-1 and weight loss, plus progesterone fixed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t worry too much about succeeding.

I don't know if you're joking or not but I think most people understand what's happening with women in their 40s and 50s and give them grace or I hope so.

Grace? Are you kidding me? Who do you think get called “Karen’s?” This world is a misogynist mess especially against white women of a certain age. Grace? Pfft!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:49 year old here. I have a demanding job and was really struggling last year. I feel better than I have in a long time. What’s helped:

-HRT. I can fall asleep and stay asleep now.

-consistent bedtime. I also need much more sleep than I used to.

-Exercise. I strength train 2-3x per week. Heavy weights, fewer reps. Cardio and Pilates on other days. I aim for 4-5 days of exercise per week.

-eating well. I love sweets and salty snacks but I feel like absolute garbage when I eat them too frequently.

-cutting back on alcohol.

-creatine. I take 5mg per day. It’s been shown to support cognitive function.

This is really helpful. Can I ask what your bedtime is and when you wake up? How much sleep do you aim for? And what does eating well mean for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know so many women who took the VERA primarily as a result of peri symptoms making it impossible to continue working.

I had to leave a pretty promising job bc of symptoms, in my 30s. The symptoms started around 38. Needless to say I will never return to a competitive high potential role.

The sh*** part is that my career barely had some improvements around 36 😂

[Anonymous]

Same here. 50, waking up early, kids in jr high/high school, feel like I need a month off but it ain't happening. I'm telling myself that I'm doing the best I can given our situation and the overall state of modern life. I like my job and I'm proud to have gotten this far but my kids and my health come first. The job is just a job and as I've learned over the last 30+ years, you can be happy one day and bullied and/or laid off or outright fired the next day. I'd love to get into a position where I can go part time or even retire before 60. I don't know if that'll work out. I can start accruing more vacation time this fall, so I'll be using it for sure. I may ask for some leave without pay to take better care of myself.