Looking at the similarities between perimenopause and Brexit
The menopause has been in the press a lot recently with news of HRT shortages and then the release of new data analysis about breast cancer risks associated with hormonal drugs, but what many of us don’t realise is that technically the menopause is when a woman’s monthly cycle has finally finished and that she may have been experiencing symptoms for years in the perimenopause.
Allow me to “womansplain” in terms of Brexit:
Brexit will be the day we finally leave the EU. Until then we are in the murky waters of peri-Brexit. This is a time of great turbulence. We don’t know from one day to the next what will be going on, to be honest, we don’t know from one hour to the next. We are stuck on this roller coaster, and have little control over it.
Some of us are mourning times past when we felt we were in a stronger position, while others of us are impatient for a new stage when we think we will be back in control. The strength of our opinions, and our need to vocalise them, is causing rifts in even the strongest friendships, and we find ourselves experiencing a whole gamut of emotions with every new revelation.
Anxiety levels are running high
Partly because we don’t know what is happening, what is going to happen, how it will affect us, and partly because we feel so powerless. We swing from ecstatic when we hear one news item to hot white rage when we hear the next.
We find it beyond incomprehensible when we see others seemingly sailing through this, without a care in the world, while we are tangled in emotion, fear and worry. Or we can’t understand why others are so worried and emotional when we have no particular concerns and have chosen to follow a “what will be will be” mindset.
One day
we’ll come through this. There will be some repercussions, and they may be worse than we expected or they may be milder. For Brexit we can’t take HRT and hope it will alleviate our symptoms, but for those of us in perimenopause we can try that – if we can get hold of it! In the mean time, please bear with us. We’re trying to keep a handle on things, but we’re struggling. Our hormones are behaving as unpredictably as the government.
About the author:
Emily Barclay is a perimenopausal woman who, fed up with not getting answers, set up perimenopausehub.com to provide bring together experts who offer information, support and advice to women going through this life stage. Miss Barclay lives in Norfolk with her partner and their 6 dogs.
Media contact:
07941044510
High res images and further information available on request.