#028: Confessions of a Perimenopausal Woman

I have a confession – and for those who’ve been reading my musings for a while, this will come as absolutely no surprise. I am most definitely a control freak. I like to plan, I like to know what’s what, and I like to understand exactly what’s going to happen before it happens.

Which is why perimenopause has been… well, frankly, a bit of a cruel joke. 

There’s no timetable, no rule book, no “here’s what to expect in week four of year two.” 

One day I’m wide awake at 3am contemplating every life decision I’ve ever made, the next I’m sweating through my favourite top on the coldest day of the year. Sometimes I forget the word for “kettle” mid-sentence. Sometimes I cry because the cat looks particularly noble in the sunlight.

And the kicker? No two people experience it the same way. What I’m sharing with my closest friends is very different to how they are experiencing it. There’s no one-size-fits-all, no neat little checklist you can tick off and say, “Right, that’s done.” It’s like playing a game where the rules change halfway through and no one tells you.

But here’s the thing, buried somewhere in the hot flushes, the brain fog, the inexplicable mood swings, there are moments of clarity. Little flashes (no pun intended) where you realise that perhaps, just perhaps, loosening your grip on total control isn’t the absolute end of the world...

This week in Wild Women we are hearing from three brilliant women about their different experiences with perimenopause. When they knew, how they feel about it and what steps they have taken to put themselves first.

Love Valerie x

For the month of August we have joined forces with WUKA to recognise the parallel experiences of puberty and perimenopause.

We are on a mission to help mothers and daughters open up to one another, to better understand what the other one is going through and to also have a lot of laughs along the way. Head over to @weare.valerie on IG to take in the chaos of The Clash of the Hormones