Despite the many condolences I received on my 40th birthday, I felt elated. I thought I had all the gifts I needed to take on my next decade. Two years later, family and work were still humming along fine, but my body was in full freakout, for reasons I couldn't fathom. Unbeknownst to me, I had entered the hormonal hurricane of perimenopause.
The symptoms made every facet of my life more difficult for more than a decade, and here's the infuriating part: Every moment of suffering was unnecessary. If someone had handed me a blunt rundown of menopause basics on that big birthday, I would have gone in prepared, gotten the help I needed, and sailed toward 50 healthier, and more hopeful.
This story is from the Volume 3. No 3 - 2023 edition of The Oprah US.
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This story is from the Volume 3. No 3 - 2023 edition of The Oprah US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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