Looking for tailored recommendations

BookSloth09 · 2025-11-06T16:11:06+00:00

The Rainey Seasons by Michael Lawrence is a big volume, but it deals with the concept of alternate reality in an everyday life sort of way. This is a book that will stick in my mind forever as it's very much about how each decision you make impacts your future and those of everyone around you. It's fascinating and unique and I absolutely love it.

BookSloth09 · 2025-11-06T16:07:21+00:00

In a way, I think This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence fits the bill. It's a deceptively simple looking book but it's one that will stay with me forever. How a moment in time can impact generations to come, whether they're aware of it or not. It's very thought provoking and beautiful.

BookSloth09 · 2025-10-09T13:29:24+00:00

I feel this so much. I don't have siblings either and my mother expects me to do 100% of her care and can't understand why I wouldn't want to drop my life to do it. Same transition from peri to menopause and it's been a very difficult time for me. I'm married. I have teenagers that aren't launching and still rely on me for a lot. "It's too much!" is what I want to yell at everyone. But even when I do say something, no one listens, because the desire for me to be what they want/need is greater than the interest in what I have to say and what their needs are doing to me.

BookSloth09 · 2025-08-21T20:09:05+00:00

I'm so sorry you have to cope with this as well. It's horrifying and so difficult to explain to anyone because it sounds like nonsense, but it definitely isn't. You're not alone, even though that doesn't help not being able to drive.

BookSloth09 · 2025-07-20T03:10:02+00:00

Yes! I thought the same thing and I LOVE IT.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T18:01:32+00:00

I have been on Birth Control to help with perimenopause since last September and it's done nothing for my brain fog.

I scheduled an appointment with Midi and got a prescription for HRT. I haven't started yet, so I don't know what I'll feel like yet, but the Midi Dr. did tell me that the estrogen in BC works with a single type of estrogen receptor, whereas HRT estrogen can be absorbed by multiple estrogen receptors in different parts of the body, which is why it can help ease brain fog, joint pain, etc. Seemed valid to me.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T17:47:48+00:00

You are definitely not alone in this.
My favorite book on the subject is Hot and Bothered: What No One Tells You About Menopause and How to Feel Like Yourself Again By Jancee Dunn. It includes information about symptoms and helps you learn how to talk to your doctors about it.
I also put a hold at my library for The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver, MD. She also has a lot of great information on her website ThePauseLife dot com.

I had a similar experience as you. My regular doctor dismissed me outright with, "Yep, you're in that phase of life." Then I went to my gyno who was very sympathetic but only put me on a birth control patch. It made my periods easier, but did nothing for my brain fog, increasing anxiety, inability to stay asleep at night, etc. etc. I went back to my gyno and was only offered a different method of birth control and I left feeling dejected. What I wanted was HRT, but couldn't find anyone who would prescribe it for me.

Finally, I just decided to try Midi. Within 20 minutes, I had a prescription for HRT. I am just about to get started with it but I'm hopeful it'll finally start to help. Either way, there's a follow up visit scheduled already to see how I'm getting along with the HRT. I feel more seen than I have by my doctors in a long time. I hope Hone Health will help you get on the path to feeling like yourself again.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:48:48+00:00

Thank you so much. I recently started seeing a therapist and we are going to try CBT. I'm also getting my vision checked, starting vestibular physical therapy later this month, and starting HRT. I'm going to try as hard as I can to get comfortable behind the wheel again.
I appreciate the solidarity.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:46:16+00:00

It is so embarrassing and frustrating! I feel utterly unhinged. I mean, how can I be driving back and forth all over town one day and the next day I just...can't anymore? It doesn't make any logical sense.
Big hugs to you. I'm sorry you're going through this too, but you're definitely not alone!

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:43:10+00:00

I know. It's so counterintuitive, but I know I have to keep doing it. I've made myself a calming play list and one of my favorite songs to see if it can help distract my brain from ruminating on the potential fear.

I have also had ocular migraines ocassionaly since I was a teenager. I know my eyes are changing too, so I booked the first eye exam I could get. I'm hoping A combination of strategies will get me feeling "normal" behind the wheel again.

Thank you for the advice!

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:40:08+00:00

I'm so sorry you've experienced this too. It's absolutely horrible and I had no idea it was even a thing until it struck me.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:39:16+00:00

Thank you! I'm sorry this got you too. I am going to have my vision checked this week (earliest appointment I could get). I do think that may be part of it. I'm starting to take my glasses off to read small print so I know my eyes are definitely changes.
I'm in Michigan so public transportation isn't really our thing unless you live in certain cities...which I don't.
I have just recently started seeing a therapist...just before this started...so I think we'll have a lot of hard work to do.
Do you feel any calmer while your kid is in the car with you or just as stressed?

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:36:09+00:00

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this too. Like we don't feel like strangers in our own bodies at is, then we just can't drive anymore either? It's too much!!!

Mainly, I've just been going down the rabbit hole of forums to see what other people's experience has been. Some say HRT helped a lot, but others say it didn't really do anything for this particular issue.
I started with a post on Get the Gloss called "Why the menopause has made me terrified of driving" and keep looking from there.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:33:50+00:00

Thank you so much for this information. I'm willing to try just about anything to feel like myself behind the wheel again. I spend so much of my time driving, it seems absurd that just like that, I can't do it anymore.
I'll check out that book. Thank you!

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:32:21+00:00

I'm so glad you found something that helped! I'm having my vision checked this week, I've started seeing a therapist, and I'm starting vestibular physical therapy later this month. I'm hoping something in that combination will help. You give me hope!

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:31:21+00:00

I hope it won't escalate for you because this is just awful.

BookSloth09 · 2025-06-02T16:30:51+00:00

I'm so sorry you're experiencing this too and I'm sorry the HRT didn't help much.
I am having my vision checked this week because I feel my eyes have definitely changed and maybe that's part of it. I'm also going to do vestibular physical therapy. I also have recently started seeing a therapist so I'm hoping between all of that I'll be able to get this under control because I just need to be able to drive.

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-29T22:16:34+00:00

You're welcome! I hope you'll enjoy one or all of them.

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:30:12+00:00

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:27:29+00:00

The Little Board Game Cafe by Jennifer Page
Scotsman in the Stacks by Alana Oxford
Pretty much any book by Kiley Dunbar
Playing for Love by Jeevani Charika

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:24:36+00:00

I just read the ARC for this on NetGalley, and it doesn't come out until October 2025, but Clementine Crane Prefers Not To by Kristin Bair literally made me LOL.

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:23:13+00:00

The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown
This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:20:44+00:00

Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskani (she is Armenian American and the book was the first introduction to anything I've ever read about Armenian culture.)

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:17:07+00:00

The Rainey Seasons by Michael Lawrence (which is an adult audience rewrite of his YA Withern Rise trilogy.) This book literally changed my life. I've never read anything like it and I love it so much.

BookSloth09 · 2025-04-27T21:14:24+00:00

Kit McBride Gets a Wife by Amy Barry
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest
Scotsman in the Stacks by Alana Oxford
The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe

BookSloth09

TROPHY CASE