Having low mood, anxiety, night sweats, flushing and low self esteem is a by product of peri menopause. These are just a few of a long list of symptoms experienced by so many women. Trying to pick yourself up when you feel attacked by everything and everyone around you is so tricky. I personally struggle to cope with the weight of it all and what feels like pushing a shopping trolley full of bricks up a hill filled with potholes! It’s exhausting. I turn up to work and try to impress anyone in my path. “Look at me, look at my worth, give me responsibility so you can see I’m a great employee”. I see my team and think “value me, I’m so good at my job I promise! Let me prove it to you”. I try to overcompensate with my children so they love me. Friends? “Come out with me, let me show you how much fun I am”. And so it continues. All in a bid not to feel invisible. So what do we do about it? Try to eat well (currently not happening – the woman who cooks from scratch and eats organic is now on a diet of bacon butties, chocolate, ice cream and wine). Try a new hobby. Get fit – exercise is a huge factor in emotional and physical well-being.
So in the traditional “the diet starts Monday” way, I plan to mix things up a bit. What I put into my body needs to be properly addressed. I will be assertive at work instead of pathetically craving reassurance. I will attend reformer Pilates – finances permitting – it’s a game changer – and take up a new hobby. Watch this space – it’s time for Katie 2.0 to step out of the wings into the limelight, without apology or explanation.
The Midlife Nurse 
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