Hi,
I'm new and have only been working the program for about 4 days now. I had a pre-menapause episode where I lost my creativity, had to quit an art class I signed up for. I also need help with negative thoughts. How do others cope?

Okay, gals, I'm 51 and right on track with all of you. But... let's look at the upside of all this menopausal mania!

1. You will no longer have to worry about planning major events around "that week" - you can go on vacation any time you feel like it.
2. You will no longer have to worry about the "oops" baby - you can behave like the proverbial rabbits!
3. You will no longer be expected to be "keeping your figure" since it's well documented that once a woman enters menopause, everything shifts hemispheres. Now you can wear those horizontal stripes and huge, colorful florals and no one will care as long as you don't smell!
4. Lapsing memories can be a wonderful thing, especially when it comes time to remember your mother-in-law's birthday, thawing out something for dinner so you don't have to eat out, remembering how many Oreos there were in the package when you began watching the movie or filling the car up with gas so no one else will have to do it.
5. Everyone knows that menopausal women are emotional and flighty. This is especially helpful when you want to cry over a good movie, pack a bag and yell at the kids so you're justified in leaving for a three-day personal holiday at the local resort and spa, return a dress when the receipt clearly says all sales are final, pass yourself off as deserving the senior citizen's discount at the movies or buying yourself flowers "just because."
6. You no longer have to feign headaches at bedtime; just wear one of those huge floral housecoats.
7. You don't have to babysit the neighbor's kids; just polish your butcher knives while singing on the front porch.
8. Small children will stay out of your way when you go barrelling down the street at 15 mph.
9. You can quit pretending to be comfortable on one of those razor-seated 10-speeds; go out and buy yourself a big Schwinn with fat tires and a seat that could double as a couch.
10. You no longer have to arrange your yard flowers by color and height; you can, instead, plant those little things at will, mixing varieties and weeds wherever you feel like it.
11. They will no longer "card you" when you wander into a single's bar by mistake looking for a bathroom.
12. You no longer have to apply lipstick before going out in public because you finally realized that nobody cares whether you have lipstick on, unless it has rubbed all over your front teeth.
13. You can skip one whole aisle at Walgreen's - call it the "paper aisle."
14. You no longer have to pretend to be interested in football and golf on television - beat hubby in there by ten minutes and turn on an old movie. Oh, and sit in his recliner.
15. You don't have to polish the mirrors - nothing in there you need to see anyway.
16. You can now carry one of those huge satchel purses - the kind that holds spare undies, a few Depends, a romance novel, a bag of Snickers bars, that sweater you started knitting in 1956, a quilt, wads of dollar bills not neatly stored by direction and denomination in your leather wallet, and every 8x10 school picture the grandkids have had taken in the past ten years-with a few wallet-sized to hand out to anyone who doesn't appear properly enthralled.
17. You can legitimately grab one of the motorized shopping carts and cruise the aisles at Walmart for hours without buying a thing, or everything...depending on whether you've downsized your living accommodations yet.
18. Speaking of which, you no longer need a snowblower or lawnmower; these chores will now be performed by well-meaning neighbors with over-sized, pimply teenage couch potatoes with game controllers where their hands used to be.
19. People will begin watching their language around you; no longer will they casually fling remarks like, "Couldn't you just die?", "That old witch down the street...", "Blue-haired accidents waiting to happen" and my personal favorite, "What's your old lady up to?" Likewise you will no longer get flipping fingers from brash teenagers on the highway - you are not expected to understand what that means.
20. You can return the favor and finally terrorize your kids; you just visit their homes and begin to eye the guestroom with comments like, "I think my chiffarobe will fit just fine in front of the window but we'll have to get some safety bars installed around the jacuzzi tub."

Now...doesn't that feel better?

Hey Happy Days: I am 50 and can identify with everything stated so far...fuzzy thinking, mood swings, etc. I used to take art class when I was younger but life got in the way and I gave it up. (always said my creativity went into raising my daughter. She is a graphic designer.) A few years ago I thought hey...lets get back into it. I bought all the supplies, set up a room in my house...and have done nothing. Listening to the CD's made me realize that I haven't done anything because I am afraid to try. Afraid that I "lost" my creativity. Well thanks to this program, I can't wait to sign up for art classes at my local college...no more procrastination and no more fear. I watch the mail everyday for my spring catalogue and have cleared the decks so no matter what night of the week its held on, I'll be there.

Catherine
Ontario, Canada

Hi Happy Days Again! I just turned 50 and I can really say that the whole perimenopause thing has really affected me in so many ways. I began around 47 with anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, stomach problems, memory lapses etc. The good news is it is all totally normal. The bad news is it can go on for awhile. The reading I've done says we are typically in perimenopause for 7 to 10 years before we stop having periods. I agree with rockalise, when you feel better inside, your creativity will come back. I have had to resort to some medications to get me through, like prozac and ativan. I hope to be able to taper off these when I go into menopause. Have you talked to your doctor(s)? Life is too short to feel this way and that is why we are doing this program. Hang in there!

Thank you for responding. I'm not finding this web site to be user friendly for me. I also do not have internet or acomputer at home. Thanks for your response. I'm still not in a creative mood. I finally had a normal day this past Sunday and it felt great. Hope you days get better each day too!

Hi happy days again! a lot of us aren't coping too well, that is why we are here, so your not alone! I am 47 and i am fearful of periomenopause. I just got out of nursing school and all i know is my brain is now "fuzzy" and i feel my memory is not as good. I worry that i'm going to be like that all the time when i go thru menopause and i'm not looking forward to it. I deal with depression foremost and i feel the depression is caused by just being too sensitive a person and having low tolerance to stress. I also suffer from low self esteem issues, especially around my period. The negative thinking feels like i'm stuck in this neurotransmitter trap in my brain and I can't crawl out. So i think it's just going to take work. LOTS of work to change our thinking, our self talk and the way we view/perceive and react to the events going on around us. As far as creativity, i think we all have creativity on and off according to how we feel on the inside. If you deal with your inside issues, the creativity will probably start up again for you. Good luck and God bless you on this journey! Let me know how you do.