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Last week, my brain left the chat.

I forgot why I walked into rooms.
What I was doing.
What I was saying.

Even the name of someone I’ve known for ten years.

Here’s a quick peek inside my head:

“You came in here for a reason… it was about the pen... or that meeting... Sam said something... there was a spark of genius... and now… nothing. Just silence……”

At first, I spiralled - hard. Convinced it was early-onset dementia, I lost hours to Google doomscrolling. But it turns out, brain fog is a very real (and very common) part of perimenopause.

The hardest part? Work.

I’d built my whole career on being sharp, outspoken, confident. Suddenly, I was scared to speak - what if I forgot mid-sentence? Would I lose my credibility and reputation?

It took one hard, tearful chat with my boss to shift things. I got support. I found my voice again. And now? If I lose my train of thought mid-flow, I crack a joke and carry on.

Because I’ve realised: forgetting something doesn’t mean you’ve lost everything.

You're still in there - smart, capable, powerful. And I don’t know about you, but I am now on a personal mission to show how unstoppable midlife women are.

This week, we are exploring another well-documented peri-symptom- the old frozen shoulder. In this piece with Deirdre Nazareth, Osteopath and Functional Medicine Practitioner, we get pretty deep into what’s happening with your hormones, how this can affect your joints and tissues, and (most importantly) what you can do about it.

Love Valerie x

Frozen Shoulder and Perimenopause: What’s the Link?

Frozen shoulder is the real party pooper. It’s most common in women aged 40 to 60 and is defined by stiffness, pain and a slow loss of range of movement in the shoulder, turning everyday tasks into a real bother. 

Need a reminder that you’re not fading, you’re becoming? 

We have been bingeing on the “Wiser Than Me” podcast by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It is pure gold and brilliant for anyone reflecting on identity, ageing, and female power. She interviews older women about what they’ve learned; it’s raw, funny, and goosebump good.

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