Majorities of people (if not all of them) on hearing about misfortunes of others tend to think: this will never happen to me. And fair enough, most of the time in life, the bad stuff happening to others is only happening to others. You know, failed exams, debt, problems within the family, accidents, serious illnesses, etc. We are there to console, advise, and support, but we are silently (and very secretly) grateful not to be in the suffering person’s shoes.
There are, however, things in life that will not bypass any of us. Ageing (menopause) being one of those things. It is a biggie! As you can probably sus out by now , I am a millennial. I will soon be entering a not so fun phase of my life – menopause. We are the generation that is now facing the changes in our bodies, behaviours, thinking, and reacting to these changes. So when a friend mentioned that stubborn single hair that keeps appearing on her chin or my boss announced she is joining a gym to get rid of the “menopause belly”, the realisation hit me – THIS IS COMMING! And it is coming fast. Both of them, the friend and the boss, are only a couple of years older than me…. Surely, I have a little more time before I have to consider layering when getting dressed to accommodate hot flushes and HRT therapy to keep my loved ones alive and myself sane, right???? Well…..I turned 40 six months ago. And maybe it is a coincidence that it was that day I found they very first grey hair and the very first bloody chin hair. Maybe it’s not. Maybe those two bastard hairs were sitting under the surface of my skin / scalp for the few days, weeks or months, waiting to pop up on my 40th birthday thinking their appearance will be a welcomed one. Ok, so I did have a hair appointment booked and a pair of tweezers to pluck the hair out (I hate the word “pluck”, is it weird????), but I KNOW the two hair are now a permanent fixture in my life. And their mates are coming shortly! Do I pluck the stubborn one that decorates my chin? Samantha in Sex and The City said: “You pluck one out and six more come to the funeral.” So what? Do I just let the twosome grow? And how far do I let it go? Am I just allowing the one on my chin to grow, start a family, and form a beard? I already plucked it once or twice (or a hundred times), so if six appear in place of one, I should be able to pull off a Viking look very soon…. Maybe in time for Halloween (how fitting would that be????). By the way, this hair is going to get a name. We might as well get to know each other well, we are going to live together for a while and its family is going to join. Questions, doubts, and worries pour into my mind with the speed of light, not asking for permission. And I am a control freak, so I struggle to accept the fact that I can’t control any of this. This blog is purely for the purpose of ranting and dealing with the shock of changes that my body and mind will be going through as I enter this mysterious phase of my life. This is purely for me, I need to rant (typing this up already helped me). I do not expect anyone to read this, but if you do come across this blog and you find that what I experience is similar to what you go through or what you dread, feel free to join me. In this blog, I will be trying to get through this thing as gracefully as I can, describing it as I go along. I will try all sorts of things recommended by the specialists, influencers, or any woman who’s been through it and can offer advice. I will research and explain difficult stuff in a simple way to understand what is happening to our bodies and what is responsible for the nasty symptoms. Maybe someday someone finds it helpful. For now, this will be helpful to me. I need the space, and I need to know what’s coming and how to control it (I need to deal with the need to control first, I think 😆).
The Hormonal Chronicles 