Perimenopause is NOT my friend: Episode 3
Don’t miss the thrilling 1st and 2nd installments of Perimenopause is NOT my friend where I wax poetic on the good, the bad, and the ugly. But mostly the ugly of this rich (and hot, but not in the good ways) phase of midlife.
“Your progesterone is low for where you were in your cycle,” Dr. Lana begins. “But what I’m alarmed about is how low your iron is.”
I pop iron supplements every day. I cook in cast iron pans. I eat meat, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans. Hell, I even eat organ meats. But my body is acting like I avoid it.
“I actually love seeing this,” she said, much to my surprise. “Because it’s totally fixable. I’m going to give you an iron infusion and in 1-2 weeks you are going to feel alive again.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting in a recliner with iron dripping into my veins, feeling a whole lot of gratitude. A doctor who listens and actually helps. Gasp. Insurance that covers the $400 price tag. Hopefully. A body that maybe I don’t have to push off the cliff. Yet.
I came home, got Izzy off the bus, and fell asleep mid-homework. Dreaming about a day I could stay awake long enough to finish a sentence.
As promised, here are the pills I’m popping:
Zinc for the hair loss, brittle nails, and skin rashes, as well as my fatigue and mood.
Vitamin D for all the back and shoulder pain, fatigue, hair loss, and depression. And it helps with bone density—something perimenopausal women certainly need.
Vitamin B-12 for…wait for it…fatigue, brain fog, and mood. As an added bonus, it is apparently crucial for nerve health, meaningful for someone with nerve damage from a car accident 20 years ago.
Zoloft for depression. Although truth be told, I prefer Solotik which is made by Jordan’s largest pharmaceutical company, Hikma. I feel an additional chipperness on Solotik that I don't get on Zoloft. And #buylocal.
Magnesium Glycimate for sleep as well as, wait for it…mood, anxiety, pain relief, and bone health. I’m beginning to realize none of this is in a silo.
Feminessence (how this name and this package make it past the branding team is beyond me) MacaLife for hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, and mood swings.
Salijit for the whole kitten kaboodle of perimenopausal symptoms although this Ayurvedic remedy is yet to be rigorously tested, but whateves. Who ever died from an untested supplement?
Black Cohosh for the typical night sweats and hot flushes and mood swings, but I should mention that the North American Menopause Society and other such trust medical bodies do not recommend it since studies have been inconsistent and yadda yadda… because they aren’t having my experience. So there.
(Iron is on hold since I just mainlined the maximum recommended allotment pumped straight into my blood stream.)
Perimenopause is messy and humbling and expensive and time consuming and depressing and lonely and confusing and infuriating on the worst days. And on the best days, radically freeing. It’s true what they say. I have many fewer fucks to give today than I did 2 years ago.
P.S. 12 days after the infusion, I finally went a day without a nap. I’m still tired most days, but I’ll blame that on my cat who thinks 5:12 am is a good time for a little wrestle and the ungodly 6:40 am school bus pick-up time.
