Pandemopause: Where Did All the Toilet Paper go?
In the spring of 2020, the world shut down due to the then-emerging coronavirus pandemic. That same spring I turned 47. I had been in full-time private practice as a therapist for only 18 months. I had moved into a new office 9 months earlier. Things were JUST getting good! And, BOOM, I had to learn how to run a virtual practice, manage my own worry, find toilet paper (GOOD toilet paper! Not the crappy [HA!] tissue paper stuff!), keep my family afloat and try to make the best of totally uncharted territory. I did NOT have menopause on the menu.
However, biology and hormones give two f*cks about your life and major world events. Even pandemics.
I was miserable. Anxious, Sweating, Aching. Not sleeping. Gaining weight. Thing is, I had no idea what was happening to me. I mean, we are in the middle of a GLOBAL FREAKING PANDEMIC! Why would I be thinking about menopause? I mean, I had had some irregular periods and low sex-drive and irritability (RAGE) but menopause was NOT the problem! (See two sentences back for a reminder about why.) So, fine! I just continued to lose my ever-loving mind and complain about everything to my girlfriends on Marco Polo because of the trying not to die part.
During one of the many (many) evenings spent at home doom scrolling on Instagram the algorithm must have clocked my age and gender because at some point it decided I needed to be fed menopause health influencers. I was indignant! Pish! Posh! I am smart enough not to buy your dumb supplements by golly and I sure as heck am not in menopause. I have never even heard of perimenopause - that’s just a pretty way of saying “pre” right? Well, I sure as hell am not that either! I am 47 for crying out loud! 47!!!! Menopause is for old people like my Grandmother was when she retired and talked about being hot all the time when she was in her 50s! Oh. (Subtracts 47 from 50 and gets a very small number.)
Lucky for me, the pandemic not only gave me surplus time to doom scroll, it also gave content creators more time to create! One of those people just happened to be Canadian born, double board certified, Dr. Jen Gunter, OB/GYN and pain medicine physician. (https://drjengunter.com/about-me/) Her direct and clear messages about menopause, along with her science-backed information, were a shining beacon in my brain fog. I immediately went to Amazon (like millions of others, likely snapping up all the good toilet paper) and ordered her book, The Menopause Manifesto. It is a roadmap to your menopause experience. It is clear. It is direct. You will get answers, and you will know the questions to ask your own healthcare provider instead of shining a tiny flashlight out into the dark and stormy sea of i n t e r n e t m i s i n f o r m a t i o n.
I am still on my menopause journey. It is still a challenge. I have options. I have support. I am going to be just fine. (And I now have the good toilet paper on auto-ship because I will never go without it again. Take that stupid pandemic.)
Lesley Meier, MS, MA, LMFT
Co-Host, GenX Women are Sick of this Shit
P.S. This is not an Ad. I have not been paid to share this information. We do get some pennies when you use our affiliate link to keep our little project growing. That’s it. Enjoy the laughs and my glowing freaking endorsement of this book.
