What symptom of meno really surprised you?

[menopausalfart]

I've had most symptoms associated with perimenopause, including some really nasty ones.
The symptom that surprised me the most was the memory loss. If I don't do something the moment it enters my brain, it's gone.
I've been taking HRT, vitamins, collagen, and I exercise regularly. This symptom, along with anxiety, has stubbornly persisted.

The can’t be arsedness. I have always been a get up and go person, but my get up and go has got up and went. There are times when I have to force myself to do what I would have willingly done before. It’s shocked me to my core to be honest. Sending you solidarity, these are choppy waters we are navigating. I also have brain fog and it drives me up the wall. So let’s add anger into the mix too, I used to be so loosey goosey and not my back is up so often I have to work to bring it back down. Ugh.

My hair and nails going dull, dry and lifeless. The metallic taste in my mouth and the intense itching under my arms, among the other usual symptoms.

Can I have 2? Anxiety and the shits.

Thanks mother nature

A colleague told me this "I have to do it now or I'll forget it". I was quite shocked, because you can't do that with office work. You have to be able to make a to-do list and work through things. If I lose my memory and even making notes doesn't help, I'll be out of a job.

Seeing movement in the corner of my eye where there wasn't any.

Snap! Horrifc constant loop of anxiety causing diarrhoea, and / or diarrhoea causing anxiety. Absolutely fucking sick of it.

Vestibular migraines! I get vertigo and ear pressure with it. My ENT consultant is confident it is due to perimenopause. I’m on a lot of medication for it!

Liquid flowing out of my vagina. The first time it happened I honestly thought I had pissed myself. Apparently it’s a thing some women get in menopause. No one, not even the nurse at the menopause clinic, can tell me what this is. She said it is a peri-menopause thing though. I’ve never seen in mentioned in a list of menopause symptoms. A friend said she got it too.

Yep, losing track half way through a sentence. I run professional meetings and this happens, its horrific
Itchy dry eyes, itchy skin, tree like swollen legs (is this one or not, not sure, GP not interested). Terrible memory loss, basic words and terminology. Spelling has gone all over the place.
Tons more that I cant even remember

the crippling anxiety attack just before a hot flash.

ETA: gosh yes, the shits. All the freaking time.

Oh this is interesting, since last year when I had a sinus infection (and I have a chronic sinus infection) Ive had this awful pressure difference in my ears, particularly when driving, then vertigo and dizziness on and off (which a chiropractor told me wasnt a peri thing (and he was male), plus these strange migraines which are not the same as the migraines i used to get years ago.

Yes to the forgetting words - not great as a teacher! Also, itchy ears - what the hell is that all about?!

The memory loss. It’s really hard to explain what it’s like until you experience it.

And @Gwenhwyfar lots of women leave jobs in menopause and they shouldn’t. It’s discrimination. There are ways around it.

For me it’s the itchy skin too. Like I want to scratch my skin off.

Yes! My ears have never recovered, a decade on!

Rage and general body failure!
i blame everything on peri / menopause but since mid 40s I’ve had recurrent meibomian cysts (now resolved thankfully), intermittent swollen painful breasts, severe constipation, joint pains, goitre (which seems to come and go - apparently normal TFTs). Am on HRT now (low dose oral) with minimal noticeable effect, although don’t know how I’d be without it.

My very weak bladder

Oh yes the rage and bladder. Thanks for reminding me.

Have you considered the gel? It’s supposed to be more effective than oral.

Escema
itchy ears
Constant blocked ear feeling and hearing difficulty like in need to pop my ears and thick dull sinus ache
pelvic floor weakening- I do a lot of sport and when at max capacity I can struggle to hold a wee in

raynards

Is it really discrimination though? If you can't do something, even because of an illness, you can't do the job, can you? Like I can't tell left from right very well and that excludes me from many jobs, but doesn't count as discrimination...
I can't afford to lose my job.

I cant remember to put things on the list. And then I cant remember or focus on the list. Lists dont work now.

Wow. Hope you never become disabled.

farting 😦

Yes the wind - I fart like a trooper and no idea why

Losing all motivation
Tiredness/zero Energy
memory loss and continuely losing things