Someone recently asked me how long menopause lasts. I thought about it for a few minutes and really didn't have an answer. I didn't even know when it was supposed to start let alone end. All I knew is one day when I was 46 or 47 I was riding in the car with my mom driving and we were going to the grocery store I was dressed for the cold winter weather all bundled up and all of a sudden out of nowhere I started to get warm. I raised the window down some for some air. My mom looked at me like I was going crazy. I thought I was for a minute. I thought that the air would be enough. It helped.
Funny my mom never said a word on the drive there. I am raising down windows, shedding clothes like I am on a tropical island and its 90 degrees in the shade and she kept quiet. I am pretty sure she knew what was going on but didn't know how to approach the topic. We had a brief ten minute conversation when I started my period at 11. She was embarrassed then so I was not too surprised at the silence now. So, by the time we got to the store the hot flash was over and my jacket was back on. We walked around talked about food and shopped.
Now, some years later, I wake up tired, have a stomach from hell that won't go away, still have hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings occasionally, dress light at home with something cold always close at hand to drink.
The only answer I had when my friend asked how long this was going to last was too dam long for me. And she agreed and laughed.
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