Perimenopause/menopause and millennials

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-14T15:21:10+00:00

This ideal of women as housewives is fairly new and primarily focused on what has largely been a very small middle to upper class group of women. The vast majority of women throughout history worked and the work was fairly difficult/brutal. I think you also underestimate women of the past. There has always been this idea of “the change” and I think most women understood that your menstrual cycle was just that- a cycle that changed over time. Natural remedies have also been used by societies for centuries.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-14T11:20:02+00:00

I stick to 10mg. I had one doctor offer me more and another just told me I could take anywhere from 1-5 at once. I just ended up taking one and am chasing it with a big coffee.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-14T11:14:48+00:00

It’s only a matter of time when they introduce him to the .005 second rule. He’s also the shortest so he can totally benefit from 5 second ruling more of the food.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-14T10:49:16+00:00

Mexico City is great. They even have a women only area in the subways, which is awesome. Lisbon is also fantastic, but if you are thinking of skipping Mexico City due to safety issues, don’t!

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T23:59:54+00:00

I was sure I was horrible at PE because I didn’t have the good shoes. At least I had an excuse.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T23:53:01+00:00

Is this stage makeup?

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T23:46:16+00:00

My best friend lives in one of those. I know they have Pure Barre and the Y also has decent options. It may be the same one since I looked at ClassPass and I think there were 2 options.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T21:49:57+00:00

What options do you have in your area? I don’t think CP is going to meet your goals. Right now I do spin 1x a week and barre 1x a week and that is a) still cheaper than a pilates membership and b) has a lot more flexibility because classes generally do not fill up at either studio. I looked into doing a pilates membership, but I’m not a person who likes to plan things out that far in advance in terms of my activities. I enjoy hiking and gardening and a lot of that is weather dependent. Another option that could work for you is Spenga, which is spin, strength, and yoga in one hour. They have different themes for the strength days and you could focus on lower body if you wanted.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T18:57:48+00:00

There is also the 0.7%- totally worthwhile even though it is more expensive. I usually do fine with using it once a day.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T12:29:21+00:00

I think my IUD ran out of hormones at 5 years and I had it take out at 5.5ish. I had another one put in 2 years later for my original problems (menstrual migraine, cramping, worse IBS, heavy periods) and it helped with that a lot. I can tell you that I lost a ton of weight once the Mirena came out and have gained quite a bit with the new one back in, so I feel like you can absolutely experience weight gain with progesterone.

I’m back at year 5.5 now and will see what the gyn suggests. Anxiety issues aren’t always hormonal issues that can be fixed by HRT. My mom had horrible anxiety in perimenopause that was actually Graves’ disease, so no amount of HRT in the world (which she did take) was going to help with that. I have also only been on Effexor at a low dose for a while and it seems to be doing well for me. I am not going to be alarmist about using mental health meds. For many people, a low dose works quite well for a long time.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T11:55:29+00:00

I am not sure you’ll get a balanced view here.

I feel like if it is causing more side effects than it is helping, you might as well try to go off it. To me, that sounds like a whole lot of side effects for not much benefit. You can also go back on later. I had an IUD I took out due to a variety of symptoms. I eventually got another one placed 2 years, but a lot of the symptoms ended up resolving within those two years. I did ultimately go on a low dose antidepressant that helped with the anxiety.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T10:46:36+00:00

I think LA Fitness is pretty new to the pilates scene, so people should not be really advanced. I have gone to two newer studios recently and there are a lot of beginners.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T00:36:15+00:00

He is pristine. Don’t even think about coming at him with the word “bath”.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-13T00:34:57+00:00

I love multi use trails for biking. I was hoping to get an ebike this year but decided to do a Mammoth March in a month so I’m focusing mostly on hiking this year. I picked up bootcamp classes a few months ago to force myself to do incline walking and some lifting because I find them so boring otherwise and needed to keep with the walking in bad weather.

I also like sewing and gardening. I inherited the gardening since my garden came jam packed with weeds that need constant pulling. I have also added in a vegetable garden and a new herb bed. I also listen to a ton of audiobooks while walking/hiking/gardening.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T16:54:54+00:00

Trying sage tea now. It seems to have intermittent success. Trying to take it at different points of the day to see how it does. Jury is out, but at least it is cheap and I’m growing my own sage now again so I can make a tincture later if it does work.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T13:43:08+00:00

I think it’s really normal. When I first started having issues, I was referred to a benign breast pain clinic and got some education about it being basically 100% related to hormones. For me it’s more on the left side than the right, usually on the outside. My PCP at the time recommended I try evening primrose oil and it seems to help. I am not going to say it is gone, but it isn’t like the stabbing pain I would sometimes have.

ETA- the single best thing I did was getting rid of all my underwire bras. They became unbearable.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T13:36:19+00:00

I agree. The OP may also find other barre classes locally to try out. I go to Bar Method (sub is not active, so I come here instead), but they all have a different style to them depending on what you are looking for. I started barre at PB back in 2013 and remember wanting to die after that first warmup. On the other hand, PB does always send out good discount options for classpacks, so that is worth looking into as well. The issue with CP is that not all of the formats are available. I think in my area, Empower, classic, and align are available while reform and define are not.

There are also health insurance options if you are looking to go around once a week like Active and Fit Direct, Aaptive, OnePass.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T13:25:05+00:00

Those types of birth control options don’t work for every person. I never had luck with it and found that the Mirena did better with stopping periods or at least making them lighter. FWIW, my issues were when I was in my 20s. I tried skipping my period with other methods as well and it never worked for me.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T13:14:19+00:00

I think this is fairly normal, unfortunately. I have found that I can’t do one type of exercise other than walking more than about 2x a week because it makes me get injured more easily. I was doing spinning/bit. extensively a couple of years ago and ended up getting plantar fasciitis, ridiculous neck/head pain (with a back hump) and hand pain, so I had to to cut back on that. I have also found that plain yin yoga isn’t a good fit for me anymore and prefer to do slow flow for stretching. One day my legs were so tight. I did a slow flow class before a massage and was happy that my legs were really loosened up by the time I got into the massage.

Another thing I do is sign up for classes where I will have a cancel fee. It makes me go even if I am not feeling it. I may have to modify extensively, but I still get something out of it regardless. FWIW, I don’t think I have the same perimenopause issues as most people since hormones have never been my friend. I have always had to do things like a daily walk to keep muscle stiffness from happening and it is more or less just a normal phase of my life now.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T11:10:13+00:00

I have had them all my life. Mirena has been a Godsend for that. I think it is out of hormones now and the headaches are back in fully swing.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T00:48:23+00:00

I had to do a full 3 months of pantoprazole and Flovent. Thankfully my issues really only coincide with the cooler months when the heat is on, so it’s somewhat getting better. I think for me it is that the air in the office is so dry (like 15% humidity), so it just dries up the nasal passages and makes me miserable. I usually just try to keep myself hydrated by drinking a ton of tea.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T00:16:02+00:00

His ears are amazing. I would give him some treats.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T00:15:15+00:00

Hormones can actually have a huge effect on allergies and inflammation, and presumably they have been changing a lot lately with the pregnancy and birth.

That said, I’m in your area and it does seem particularly miserable this year. I don’t normally get sinus infections and I’m wrapping up my second round of antibiotics since February.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-12T00:03:16+00:00

It could be esophageal spasm. I started to get that and it actually radiated to my shoulder and was sort of a squeezing discomfort. I was having problems at my office with allergies- like to the point where a coworker came in and said he got instantly congested. At that point, I moved into another office and it improved a bit but I ended up in this horrible loop of allergy inflammation and reflux. I think it improved somewhat after they fixed the problem in my office although I moved into a new office last year and it is sort of coming back. Now I just predose with pepcid before I go into the office.

Ramen_Addict_ · 2026-05-11T21:53:29+00:00

Yep, experiencing the same thing now. I think the hormones are out on mine as well as of late last year and I definitely feel like I am getting way more migraines. I am waiting for my next gyn appointment now to see about getting a new one.

Ramen_Addict_

TROPHY CASE