Perimenopause, Why Are We Talking About That? 🙈

5 minutes talking about my hair & perimenopause was transcribed by Otter.ai

Well, hello, it’s Katrina Collier again for another quick five minutes. And this might seem like a bit of a vanity one, but it’s definitely not meant as such! Thank you. I have been inundated with comments about the hair, which has been quite hilarious because I have cut my hair off before so to sort of go from really long to ridiculously short, didn’t really faze me particularly but thank you for all the comments.

0:26
I did, however, jokingly, on Sunday run a poll as to what was my motivation behind doing it because actually, my motivation behind doing this was quite serious. I wanted people to understand that so if I can just get the poll that open here I’ve got as it like, did I cut my hair off to annoy event organisers, due to boredom from the pandemic, casualty of perimenopause, or all of the above. Well, well done to the six people including Lisa Constanti, Karen Collins, Sharon Gillen, Jacqueline D. (I don’t have a surname Jacqueline), Adele Swift and Maya Hotait, who I think I just butchered, saying her surname, who said it was a casualty of perimenopause. And it was.

1:10
And the reason I just briefly want to talk about that is I’ve actually been really lucky with the whole perimenopause. It absolutely crept up on me. I was fine. Literally fine. I’ve been eating. Bridget Hunt’s fantastic Six Pack Chick way since my 40s got to my mid-40s. And then suddenly, boom, like, just boom, I got really fat around the middle, I got really exhausted. In fact, I somehow managed to climb mountains in Peru, when I was actually very, very close to burnout. But I didn’t know.

1:45
And the reason I wanted to talk about this is because so many of your employees, including in their 30s, but certainly in their 40s and 50s can be going through this and completely unaware they’re going through it because everyone talks about the menopause. Now the menopause is the time that your period stop for 12 consecutive months. They don’t talk about the lead-up or the post very much. And that laid up can be six to eight years, and it can be absolutely horrific.

2:10
So I was absolutely exhausted. And I happened to mention it to somebody and they said, gosh, go and talk to this person, this person and that person. And I ended up getting connected to Dr Hugo Kitchen, who does bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, because I can’t be on the chemicals, and it has been a lifesaver, an absolute lifesaver. And you’re kind of wondering, are you going to get to the point of your hair, aren’t you? I am.

2:37
But I also wanted to just look at some of the symptoms that women can have and women don’t know necessarily that they’re going through this because honestly, it just creeps up on you. You’re just flying along and you’re fine and suddenly you’re not. But fatigue, weight change, anxiety, the hot flashes and night sweats everyone talks about, right? Everyone talks about that but they don’t necessarily talk about irritability, skin problems, loss of libido, inability to concentrate. Oh my gosh, perimenopause, brain fog. Wow, I still have it! Muscle weakness, possible infertility, of course, insomnia, abdominal bloating, allergies, appetite change, heavy or regular menstrual periods. And believe me, they mean irregular! Recurrent infection and dull or chronic pain. I mean dull and chronic pain, I mean, that could just be anything, right?

3:25
So it crept up on me. I was a bit shocked there isn’t much support, people don’t talk about it. I couldn’t check with the family. I don’t actually know when you know, Mum went through it. So I had no recourse. It was just crazy, right. Going back to the hair. I have been lucky enough to be on these hormones. My hormone levels are actually within the normal range. But I was roasting hot, like roasting hot all the time. I could be sitting still doing nothing and then suddenly roasting hot and I don’t mean through the heatwave we’ve just had. So that’s why I cut my hair off. I just cannot think enough. There is actually a really serious reason that caused it and I am not suffering like other women are.

4:04
But as I have one minute to go, what I really wanted to point out though, was this fantastic thing that Reward Gateway does, now I love them because they always sponsor my events and have done so much for Hope for Justice, the charity, I’m an Ambassador for, but Catrin Lewis put out this post a week ago about we’ve got no budget, but we can still support our women. And they introduced menopause support as part of their benefits offering. And things like flexible working have been proven to be a viable option. You know, how can you significantly improve your working environment? employee groups, give some training, better communication, make it so your women feel like they can say, “something’s up. I don’t know what’s up, something’s up.”

4:47
I think a little bit more openness about it, it can be a really touchy subject. A lot of women will grieve when they go through this time, as well, which again, is not talked about. I will share the link below, ’cause I’ve already run out of time, to Cat’s post because it’s absolutely brilliant. But please support your women, men don’t turn away if they suddenly got any of these symptoms and they mightn’t clock that this is what’s going on. Just encourage them to seek some help. There is help out there and I am of course happy to answer any questions and point people in different directions.

5:17
Anyway, thank you for your five minutes I will be back tomorrow to talk actually what I was going to talk about today which is a little bit more on ghosting because I’ve had some brilliant feedback. And of course, I’m on ATAP later today as well at five o’clock UK time. If you want to see me talking then. Anyway, see you tomorrow.