Perimenopause - what they should start teaching in schools

Perimenopause - Why didn't they warn us in school? Apparently watching a tampon expand in a jar of water was enough education for us ..

In this episode, we get real about this phase of life that all woman go through. 

Listen to the facts, the myths and the stories along the way. What helps, what doesn't and how do we refrain from murdering our loved ones once a month? 

Ted Talk Lina is in her element, she shares facts that even surprised Cass, however lets make this clear - this is not medical advice!

Hit play, join the ride and hopefully feel less alone. 

Follow us for more chaos, and to see what our friendship really looks like away from the mic! 

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/unhingedgreekspodcast

Special Mention in this Episode:

Balance Docuseries 

https://www.instagram.com/balancedocuseries?igsh=MTBwMnVmaHlzOG41ag==

Video Edits: Tom from Podlike.Online https://www.instagram.com/podlike.online/

Studio: https://www.instagram.com/wisecaststudio/

Follow us for more chaos, questionable takes, and what our friendship really looks like away from the Mic! 

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/unhingedgreekspodcast

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:00

Yes! Hello. Hi. It's also Hristos Anesti, Lina. How are you? Good, how are you? I'm good. Welcome everybody. I'm Cass. I'm Lina. And you're on Unhinged Greeks. This is our third episode. It is, and look at this luxury, guys.

Speaker 0:20

I know we're feeling very well. We've levelled up. We're at the beautiful WiseCast Studios in Wolloomooloo. Yes. It's very nice.

Speaker 1 0:28

We've just had Easter, so let's start off. We're going to start off with our episodes with what has given us the shits this week.

Speaker 2 0:37

What has sent you over the edge? What has sent you the edge?

Speaker 1 0:39

That's probably a better way of putting it. I tell everyone what's sending me over the edge right now. I can fucking feel my undies digging into every single bit. I am so bloated. I am so pre-menstrual today. I was driving here and I was like, fuck me. Like, how can I actually feel these knickers? Like, that is just that shouldn't be the thing. You don't feel your undie. I've never feel my boody.

Speaker 2 1:03

They're the seam-free ones.

Speaker 1 1:05

When you know you can feel the seam-free through the seam-free ones, we have problems. I'm the ultimate thumb today. Ultimate thumb.

Speaker 2 1:12

You don't look it.

Speaker 1 1:13

Thank you. It's all the loose clothes. Everything I just want to be naked. I just want to go back to, you know.

Speaker 2 1:18

B ut it's not forever. It is an actually.

Speaker 1 1:21

I just want to start bleeding today's episode rant.

Speaker 2 1:23

Today's episode today is going to tie nicely into this. It's not forever. It'll give yourself ten days and you'll be back to your normal self.

Speaker 1 1:30

Well, let's hope sooner, but sure. What's your what's sending you over the edge this week?

Speaker 2 1:33

What's sending me over the edge? It is not as dramatic as yours. However, I have a child who has broken his wrist. So James E has broken his wrist, and I've gone back to like having a newborn again. I have to do everything for him. He's got to, I've got to help him put the toothpaste on his toothbrush because he can't squeeze it out. I've got to help him tie his shoes, do the buttons on his shirt. And I'm like, I don't have time for this. This is a huge inconvenience.

Speaker 1 2:00

But he knows how to do that stuff.

Speaker 2 2:02

He does know how to do it, and normally he does it. And now he's like, Mum, I need help. And I'm like, I've been so lucky for so long.

Speaker 1 2:10

You've gone through seven years.

Speaker 2 2:12

It is, yes, he's he's a very independent, very capable, and now he's not so much, and it's really annoying. Um I need to factor him into my day. Yeah. But he did get a fiberglass cast, so I recommend if anybody has a child with a broken limb to pay the extra $15 and upgrade to fiberglass because they can bathe, bathe, shower, it sets within like 10 minutes and then off you go.

Speaker 1 2:37

What's the difference between the cast? I mean, not that I've ever had a broken bone, knock on wood, but what did like I mean, us growing up as kids in the 90s where you would draw on somebody's arm?

Speaker 2 2:46

Is that f They didn't have that technology? So the original cast, you know, when you looked after him recently and he had to wrap the uh the band around the bag around his arm to have a sh a bath, that is like the old school plaster like that. We used to have. So I had a cast, I broke my arm when I was young. Mate, that thing stunk after the six weeks, like it opened and it was disgusting. It was very feral, very fluffy. Um, the five of love. That are your hairs at the time. Or my arm hairs, I was so hairy. But no, he doesn't have that. So he goes straight in the shower and then he's just got to drain it like this. He's got to drain it like that for five minutes, um, and then he's just back to normal.

Speaker 1 3:28

Go water the plants. Go water the fiddle leaf son.

Speaker 2 3:34

Go do the dishes. Wiping your ass again and putting your toothpaste on. Come on, repay the favour. Contribute, go back to contributing. Um, so yeah, that's yeah, very mild, but um, yeah, annoying.

Speaker 1 3:50

Okay. Well, casts and PMS aside, what are we here to talk about today?

Speaker 2 3:55

We're here to talk about a topic that is not very funny. Yeah, a bit off-brand for us, but it is a topic that has absolutely blindsided me. I know you feel the same, and so many of women in our generation also feel the same.

Speaker 1 4:12

Yep.

Speaker 2 4:12

Perimenopause.

Speaker 1 4:14

Fucking bane of our existence.

Speaker 2 4:16

So this is pretty much going to be a monologue. Um, one of my alter egos is TED Talk Lina, and if I was to ever do a TED Talk, it would be on this topic.

Speaker 1 4:25

Yes.

Speaker 2 4:25

Perimenopause, it goes for so long, and it's such a huge part of your life. And I remember once going to a work conference and I'm sitting there, and there was like one young chick, like 25, doesn't have to deal with this for ages, living a best life, chatting about sales and things like that. And then the rest of them were middle-aged men talking to me about what I should do about my emotional well-being, about my wellness. And I was like, How fucking dare you? Like, you actually have no idea. And if you experienced what we experience, I'm telling you, men would have a cure for this or a solution. They would not allow themselves to go through this. But we have to suffer through it, but it won't be silent, okay? It's not going to be suffering in silence. So, look, I'm no expert, none of this is medical advice. My sources are myself, um, because I am deep in the trenches at the moment.

Speaker 1 5:21

And I just side note, whenever we do have a medical problem or a concern, I always say, like, we will put it in the group chat and Ted Talk Tina, TED Talk Lina, whatever you want to refer to her as, has a solution. We don't even need to put it in Google. Lina will diagnose us and it'll automatically be perimenopause.

Speaker 2 5:40

Oh, because there's so many symptoms. Or uh put me in a room with someone and I will diagnose whether they're autistic or have ADHD. That is my hidden talent, and I have a hundred percent strike rate. So if you want a free diagnosis, no medication allowed, unfortunately, come and see me, DM me, because I'll make it happen. Yeah, so perimenopause, a lot of where I get my information from is from Instagram because let's face it, it's 2026. But holy grail. Google helped me raise my children, so like Instagram is my goal.

Speaker 1 6:20

Yeah.

Speaker 2 6:21

And the scary thing is that is that there is a lot more useful information on social media than what there is at the doctor's office.

Speaker 1 6:29

Well, I think I said it even like in our Bali episode, you know, a lot of my research that I do for my travel is thanks to social media and it's use utilising the platforms because everyone's got an opinion and everyone publicly shares that opinion now. So

Speaker 2 6:41

and you take from everything what you what you choose, what you want to get out of it. Knowledge is power, we know better, so we do better. Um, and so here is a little bit of edumaction on perimenopause.

Speaker 1 6:56

Don't take advice for somebody that uses the word edumacatiion. But let's go.

Speaker 2 7:00

Where did that come from? It's from something, it is from something. Um okay, so perimenopause is the transition before menopause, obviously, but it's when your hormones, primarily estrogen and progesterone, start fluctuating, and they don't just go down gradually every year until you reach menopause. No, they go up and down like a fucking yo-yo every single month. So we are on this roller coaster every single month.

Speaker 1 7:34

Every day.

Speaker 2 7:35

The typical, yeah, pretty much, it feels like it's every day.

Speaker 1 7:38

It's fucked. U

Speaker 2 7:39

m the typical age range for it to start is anywhere from 35 to 45.

Speaker 1 7:44

You started early as well. You 've been this in for a few years.

Speaker 2 7:47

Yeah, I look, I had some health issues that I think brought it on, hormone-related health issues, which will be another episode. And it can last up to anywhere between five to ten years. So if you think about someone who starts early and they go their full 10 years, there's your 45.

Speaker 1 8:04

Okay, so you're over halfway.

Speaker 8:05

So um I hopefully. But if you think about somebody who starts later, like 45, you're going through this until your 50s if you're later. Yeah, is also celebrating old ladies party. And it's why like I used to think of you know 50s and 60s being really old, but it's not. And I used to remember my mum being such a cranky bitch, like, and it wasn't all the time, but she used to be so cranky, and she's she used to say, I want to leave, I want to leave you, I want to leave and basically go start a commune and just not talk to anyone, and I get it now.

Speaker 1 8:45

I think we say it's quite often.

Speaker 2 8:47

Yeah, and I understand why. So this is the reason why. And just to backtrack a little bit, if you're starting from 35, most of our gen or our friendship circles, we were postpartum at 35. So our hormones have been fucked for at least a decade.

Speaker 1 9:03

Yeah. Well, I mean, from the time we started bleeding, and all that is wild. 10, I think, when I fucking bled first.

Speaker 2 9:09

You got your period at 10.

Speaker 1 9:10

Yeah, nine, I think, even. Yeah. I'll never forget it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very, very early. I'll never forget it.

Speaker 2 9:16

You're cracking jokes.

Speaker 1 9:17

That is why I was a fucking hairy bitch. Very hormonal. So I've been going through this for a while.

Speaker 2 9:23

So you've been in your psycho for like essentially your whole life. Yes, but it's like it's it is, and it's not this is why. This is absolutely why.

Speaker 1 9:35

This is an epiphany, actually.

Speaker 2 9:37

Well, there you go. There you go, mum. So, fun fact menopause is one day in your life. Like, I thought menopause was like, you know, no, it's the day you stop bleeding after 12 months. Correct. If you have not bled for 12 months, you are then menopausal. That one day that marks your menopause, and that's it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 9:56

So it's like, you know, when we're tracking with like to have a baby, like, oh, one day of my cycle and how far am I pregnant? It's now how long have I not had my period for? Woo-hoo! Menopausal.

Speaker 2 10:05

Yes. And absolutely, I think that everybody should have a menopause party. It's like it is something it is something to celebrate.

Speaker 1 10:13

What would you do? W

Speaker 2 10:14

ell, would you you do whatever you want? Definitely have cake.

Speaker 1 10:19

You wear white because you wouldn't wear absolutely.

Speaker 10:33

It's what makes us female. Sort of. Yeah. So they don't they don't teach you this stuff in school, they teach you how to put a condom on a banana. And it kind of ends up. So estrogen is a primary sex hormone essential for the development of female reproductive systems and characteristics such as breast growth and fat distribution.

Speaker 1 10:53

I mean, look, that's like uh the actual thing, but the actual meaning.

Speaker 2 10:57

Yeah, but what does it do?

Speaker 1 10:59

Well, it gives us our period, it gives us children. Si. It doesn't make us look like a man.

Speaker 2 11:04

Uh well, yes, see. But it does so many good things, which is why we love it and need it so much. So it supports heart health, bone density, brain function, skin elasticity. It regulates the menstrual cycle, as you said, keeps the vaginal walls thick and lubricated, maintains bone strength, supports cognitive health.

Speaker 1 11:26

That's why things are a bit Sahara-like.

Speaker 2 11:28

Absolutely, absolutely. And progesterone, also producing the ovaries, helps prepare the uterus for pregnancy, regulates period, helps promote calmness, gives quality sleep, all these things that are so important. So when that starts to drop really hard, really fast, what happens?

Speaker 1 11:49

We go stupid.

Speaker 2 11:51

Right just as a start. We lose that beautiful plumpness and collagen in our skin that keeps we start to sag. We start to have to spend all of our discretionary money on skincare and skin treatment because we look like shit.

Speaker 1 12:06

We look like a I was gonna say a swollen thumb, not a swollen thumb.

Speaker 2 12:11

No, the opposite of a swollen thumb. A gaunt thumb? Gaunt. Um we can't sleep. So we're tired all day, walking zombies, and then when it is time to sleep, we have insomnia. Yeah, brain fog. Y

Speaker 1 12:26

eah, brain like massive brain farts all the time.

Speaker 2 12:29

You forgot two meetings at work this week. Y

Speaker 1 12:31

es, I did literally forgot two meetings this week. You're in your luteal phase though. And I this is also true, but yeah, the brain frog is real, yeah. And it's very scary. I and I actually sleep really well. I sleep, I'm in bed most nights at 9 pm.

Speaker 2 12:47

Do you take supplements?

Speaker 1 12:48

No, no, no, don't take anything, and I will pass out like a light like Carlos does if the kids need, yeah, he'll pop them to bed. But I mean, look, my boys are pretty good in that regard, so we're okay. But I will often be like, I'm going to bed. And I will then wake up at 5 a.m. when my alarm goes off.

Speaker 2 13:05

You have good well, you're up early as well because you go to the gym

Speaker 1 13:06

I go to I wake up a lot to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. Okay. So I have broken sleep, but I mean it's like two seconds to do a piss.

Speaker 2 13:14

Do you I mean you've got good sleep hygiene? Is that because you go to bed at the same time every night?

Speaker 1 13:21

I don't know. I've always been uh early sleeper. Yeah. Like I'm a nana at night time.

Speaker 2 13:26

Yeah, so you just go, I'm done.

Speaker 1 13:27

Si, yeah, I'm just like. I'm done. Yep. Okay. So but then I still feel so tired during the day.

Speaker 2 13:33

I don't think it's ever enough. Like I really don't think like it that it's ever enough, but it does help the good sleep hygiene.

Speaker 1 13:40

But am I having quality sleep though, though? That's the thing.

Speaker 2 13:42

Yeah, again, who knows? And it's a vicious cycle because you're always tired, you try and go to bed, that's that sleep is shit. So you get up and you do it all over again. Sore bones. Sore bones is very much so I know when I am in my luteal phase, it's very obvious at the gym. I my hip flexibility is just not there. And it's yeah, really scary. I thought I broke my hips the first time it happened to me. I was like, I need to go to a physio.

Speaker 1 14:10

I mean, I've got a pretty much coffee card collection for my physio, too. Tenth one.

Speaker 2 14:17

So yeah, sore bones, midsection weight gain, which we are all aware of. Um, inflammation. So Peri can cause inflammation. It can also the reduction in estrogen cause a histamine response. So a lot of people end up getting more allergies. Oh yeah. I take an antihistamine every day just for shits and giggles because I'm like, or something is gonna happen. Like I get a runny nose more or I get, you know, allergies more or something like that. And it's because that your estrogen drops, your histamine resistance also drops as well. What else? You've got your irregular periods. I mean, mine just didn't show up this January.

Speaker 1 14:54

Yeah, they didn't.

Speaker 2 14:55

No.

Speaker 1 14:55

We're all counting down.

Speaker 2 14:56

The group chat was like, are you bleeding yet? Are you bleeding yet? How many days has it been? Are you bleeding?

Speaker 1 15:01

You even had Paul to try to shag it out of you a few times away. We did. He had a great time that week.

Speaker 2 15:08

Well, look, to be fair, Carlos has had a great 48 hours. He always does, though. He always does,

Speaker 1 15:14

but it ramps up when I needed to bleed.

Speaker 2 15:20

Trying to conceive and trying and trying to bleed. I didn't put that in the um, I didn't put that in the trick, the the treatments, possible treatment section, but um absolutely have sex. Oh random symptom for me, itchy ears. My ears used to get, yeah, so years ago, my ears used to get so itchy and I'll be like, what the fuck's wrong with me? Like it's they're clean. I just it's I find dry dryness.

Speaker 1 15:46

Yeah, I get dry eye, which I've always had a really bad rubbing eyes, so I've had to see an ophthalm ophthalmologist.

Speaker 2 15:52

A what? U

Speaker 1 15:53 Speaker 2 15:53 Speaker 2 15:53

Um ophthalmologist? Ophthalmologist. Is that a word or do you just make that? Is that an actual thing?

Speaker 1 15:58

Yes, an ophthamologist. No, not an optometrist, an ophthalmologist. So it's an actual specialist eye doctor. Someone just said spect saves. I'm not sure. So I've got something with my eye, like whenever I get my eyes to it, because I'm actually quite, you know, I need glasses, we know I'm quite blind. Um, they see, I can't remember, it's like starts with K keratosis, maybe. I could be making that up. But I don't know it's like they've got like stars in my eye. But because I rub my eye, essentially, if I can't, and that's just the first thing I do every morning detached. Rub my eye, rub my eye. Yes, the retinal can possibly detach over time. Hence why I have to go to the ophthalmologist every two to three years just to make sure. And I just actually went and got new specs a couple of months ago, and the optometrist is like, How's your eye rubbing going? And I literally lied. I was like, No, no, my eyes anymore. But you still do it every day. Every morning, as soon as I wake up, like I rub and I go to town because fuck it feels good.

Speaker 2 16:51

And it was you got to do what feels good. Yeah, but now your optometrist is gonna listen to this and he's gonna say, Got ya, I got ya. I knew, I knew you lied.

Speaker 1 17:00

I just won't share it to uh Bailey Nielsen.

Speaker 2 17:03

Okay, and then it's obviously not just physical, the symptoms, it is mental, it is emotional, the brain fog, the anxiety, really heightened anxiety, yep, mood swings, like from zero to a thousand. It is it's like having an out-of-body experience, how bad I rage. And then later I'm like, I'm so ashamed of myself, I'm so embarrassed because it is like it's wild, it is unhinged. Um, but I can't control it. It just it just happens, and honestly, like every month I want to divorce my husband because the way he eats, the way he walks, the way he breathes,

Speaker 1 17:46

the way he's pants coming back from a run.

Speaker 2 17:49

It's my is uh yeah, like you get the ick and you just want to stab and it's it's it's a physical thing. Like I physically detest, yes, repulsed. It's it's wild, but then the rest of the time, like I'll just like I love you, and I've known the man since we were 15 years old. Like, I'm fine with the way he walks. There's nothing wrong with the way he walks or the way he eats or anything else, but that and he knows, he knows because I'll just look at him and I'll be like, You're doing it again. He's like, What eating? Yeah, living, you're doing it again, you're doing it again, yeah. Losing focus, no motivation. There are so many symptoms. There's also, which we're gonna run out of time this episode, but I think we should cover it. No, we will cover it in another episode. There is a connection with ADHD and PMDD. Yep. So PMDD being premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which I have been diagnosed with. And when you hit your luteal phase, it is the most horrible time of the month. Like the depression, the like it's just it's absolutely horrific. And look, I'm convinced all of this has been happening since the dawn of time, right? Like it's not, it's nothing new, but again, there's more studies being done, more information around the topic, and it all ties in together. So there's a lot of perimenopausal women.

Speaker 1 19:10

What do you reckon the cave women did? Like, do you reckon they just would have like stabbed their husbands? No, no, no, get it. Bam, bam, their husband, and then eat them.

Speaker 2 19:18

Gotta hatch it, got a hatchet, or they would have just left. They would have gone, fuck you, and gone and started a commune somewhere else. Like, I don't need this shit. I don't. I can hunt, I can gather, I don't need you. Yes, a lot of um perimenopausal women in their mid-30s, mid-40s getting diagnosed with ADHD. And that's basically because we've gone through our whole life masking, and now we physically cannot mask anymore. We are so burnt out. So that will definitely be another episode. But let's talk about strategies. What is helping? What's actually what have you tried that has helped with your perisymptoms? What do you want to try? What have you heard? What doesn't work?

Speaker 1 19:59

I mean, yeah, I went and saw the doctor. So the first thing, you cannot get tested to see if you're in perimenopause. You can't do bloods because our blood levels fluctuate more than date, they don't, but they can't actually pinpoint it to a day because we do fluctuate so much. So it is literally just like a questionnaire, I guess, that your GP would go through with you. I started the process, I think, just before Christmas. I knew about hormone replacement therapy. I didn't know what it was and what it included. I know there's a lot of taboo against it because, like, you know, it causes cancer and it causes this. I think that's dated though. It's very dated. Yeah, well, that's the thing like this. I am the kind of person I've like, I've put worse things in my body. Oh, yeah, haven't we? That aren't medically approved. Correct. So, you know what, if a doctor has said to me that HRT is going to potentially help me and my moods and get through the next however many years, I'm gonna give it a go. 100%. So And it worked for you for the yeah. It did, it worked amazingly. I chose the patch option because I'm also very forgetful. So there's the pill, there's yeah, so there's the pill option, there's the gel option, which then has to be taken alongside with the pill, or there is a patch option which is both the estrogen and the progesterone. So I was like, give me the patch, you leave it on for I think every week, I can't remember now, and then you change it. You get like four to six patches in one little box. Fabulous. I felt great instantly, I was less bloated instantly, so that was obviously a cortisol effect. Um, so my cortisol level started balancing out, and I felt really good. You were happy, you were happy, yeah. I was balanced. Carlos noted and noticed instantly how great I was doing. But then what happened is I started getting my period every two weeks. So the first time it came through, I was like, oh, that's a bit weird. Like, am I just spotting? But no, like it was the murder scene. Like, that's a bit much. Thought, okay, let's just go on. Boom, two weeks later, I was like, fuck, I can't do this. And I've got an iron deficiency as well. So I, you know, I notoriously get like extra tired as well when I get my period because of my iron deficiency, it's thalacemia My mum has it, I've got it.

Speaker 2 22:00

Thanks, Mum.

Speaker 1 22:01

Y eah, thanks, mum. And then it got to the fourth round, and I called the doctor and I said, I can't, I can't do this anymore. I'm just gonna cut the cut it the cut the patches. She was like, try the pill. And I was like, no, I haven't been on the pill since I was like 19. And I just I never liked the pill. I never liked the fake period. So I basically went cold turkey and I just stopped. And I'm like, you know what? Fuck it. If it means I've got to deal with this for the rest of my life, I've tried the hormone harmony, hormone plus tablets. Yep, yep. And it worked, but then I hate taking pills. I don't hate taking pills. I just I'm like, ugh. I'm in the morning, I have my black coffee, I go to the gym, I come back, I get my shit sorted, the kids sorted, and then I'll have breakfast. Like I just don't want to have to think about taking other product or supplements. Supplements, yeah. There's the word like I don't even take protein powder or I don't even take pre-workout or anything like that. Like I'm just such a simple person. So then to think to take tablets and stuff to help that, like I couldn't do it.

Speaker 2 22:57

I'm polar opposite. I've got one of those. Yeah, you've literally got a Monday to Friday. Like it's full. Some days I can't even close it. But yeah, it works for me. So you've got to do whatever works for you. Obviously, everybody is different. Look, I think the easiest, cheapest, most practical thing to do, obviously not for everybody, because you may not get a period each month, but track your cycle. I mean track your cycle because if you're starting to feel down, depressed, want to stab people, you look at the date and realise, oh, this is why. Put it in the family calendar. Put it in the family calendar so everybody knows. They know

Speaker 1 23:32

Phoenix run. Yeah. Come up on their iPads, mummy screen. Chucky!

Speaker 2 23:37

It's time.

Speaker 1 23:39

Chucky who, mummy.

Speaker 2 23:42

Um, you use an app to track.

Speaker 1 23:43

Y eah, I do. I haven't used it under the period diary. I've honestly had that in my phone. No bit of like probably the last 12 to 15 years, and I track and my periods do come 28 to 32 day cycle.

Speaker 23:54

So I never had a period until after I had kids, a regular period, which is not quite ironic. But I just use the calendar and the family calendar at that. So everyone knows what's happening. Although I don't think Paul needs a calendar. He he knows

Speaker 1 24:04

Carl will tell me if I know those are day 14.

Speaker 2 24:08

Sleep priority prioritization. We covered that off. Um, so try and get some sleep. HRT, um, you've covered that off. There is a new docuseries that's come out, it's founded on Instagram. It's called Balance, and it streams to like nowhere I can actually get in Australia at the moment, but it's coming. It's coming very soon. So, and that covers off basically TED Talk Lina, but individual women's journeys and how HRT has and hasn't helped them, and I think it'll debunk a lot of the cancer myths that we grew up with.

Speaker 1 24:43

There's not enough studies to actually stipulate that it does cause cancer, and that's what my doctor said to me. Like it's just so far and few in between. And I think it depends on winter.

Speaker 2 24:52

If you do have a genetic disposition to cancer, different story. If you've had cancer, different story. Correct. There's many other factors that you have to take into consideration. Generally, if you are a you know typical vanilla human, then yes, um, give the HRT hot red crack. Um, medication adjustments or supplements, so magnesium, I take it every day, it's the absolute tits. Um, creatine, also very good. My brain literally tingles when I start taking it. So good. They do also say to take as needed, like antidepressants, SSRIs, or half a valley as well. Take a Valium when you are in that luteal phase just to help calm the crazies. These TED Talks Lina's tips, right? No medical advice. This is not medical advice. No, no, no, no medical advice. Yes. Um, but it works, and you have to do what works for you. Correct. And also, obviously, diet, so you've got the four stages of your cycle. Eat according to each of those diets. So have extra iron when you're bleeding. Some people can't actually take like proper iron supplements, so there is That's me. Yeah, or MTHFR. Sounds like motherfucker, but it is not. It's MTHFR gene, which is a very common genetic difference. I don't like the word mutation in neurodivergent people. Okay. It's a gene that they have, and it means that they have to take methylated iron, methylated folate, not meth. Not meth, Morty. I know what exactly what you're thinking. They can't take normal iron and they can't take normal folate because it doesn't absorb in their body. Yeah, okay. So, like I said, everyone is different, but have a look into that or send me a DM and I can send you some more info. Um, strength training, which yes, know and love, but it will protect your bones, it'll protect your muscles.

Speaker 1 26:42

Because everything just stops working at the place, yeah.

Speaker 2 26:44

And you know, you don't want to be in your 60s, which is young, and end up with you know osteoporosis and things like that because you haven't looked after yourself in your 30s and your 40s. And lastly, if you know you can't afford it, have the time, see your specialist, see your women's health physio, see your gyno, go to therapy. It all helps. Yep, ditto. But yeah, look, I think in summary, you are not crazy, you are not broken, perimenopause is hard. Hormones literally affect the brain, and this is a very long and very real phase of our life. We're in it together, and we just need to remember to be kind to ourselves, prioritize ourselves. We're allowed to be selfish. This is our time. So, look, if this has resonated with any of you, please share. Um, share this episode. Uh, send us through suggestions that have helped you for Perry, or if there's anything else that you want us to unpack in future episodes, we will use Instagram to do to do our research and um and get back to you.

Speaker 1 27:43

Now um, I guess let's just quickly finish off with another unhinged question. Another unhinged question, right? Yeah. I'm gonna fire my first one up at you. Go. If you had to run someone's life, oh sorry, ruin someone's life with no consequences, what would it be and how?

Speaker 2 28:03

Like, how do I ruin their life?

Speaker 1 28:04

Yeah.

Speaker 2 28:07

It depends on who it is and what they did to me. So you could like oh well, there's options, like I know Would you give them your perimetopause and stuff? Oh, I'll give them my yeah, but like it just it depends on what it is. There's so many variables, like, you know, like would I fuck your husband? Like, would I and you would have to live with that forever? Would I run over would I run over your cat? Like, there are so many options. It depends on what you did. What did you do to wrong me? Do you know what I mean? Like, there's options. There's so many options. It's the quiet ones you've got to watch out for.

Speaker 1 28:43

Yeah, that's you'd like the fact that you've just said you would potentially fuck some husband just.

Speaker 2 28:48

Whatever it takes. Yeah, okay. But I don't think anyone's ever done anything that bad to me, like ever, that I would I don't seek revenge. I believe in karma. Karma will come back in the long term. Paulina. Positive paulina, positive Paulina. That's me. I know you're many alter egos. Yes, yes. So many personalities. All right, this one is not as unhinged as yours. It's not unhinged at all, actually, but I really like this question and I want to hear your answer. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Speaker 1 29:20

Harry Potter's invisible cloak.

Speaker 2 29:22

Is that to run away?

Speaker 1 29:26

There's a couple of reasons.

Speaker 2 29:28

Or just spy on people.

Speaker 1 29:29

Uh, I think everything, like having an invisible blanket, his invisible blanket, I could rob a bank and become rich. No one would even know it's me. Oh, yeah, because you'd put the money under the under the cloak. You just hide in there, right? I remember when we used to work in the bank, you know, end of day, like just sit there and stay, stay in the safe, get out, listen to people, be that fly on the wall. Yeah. Basically, no, if you think that something is coming your way that you've got no control over, but you know who's got the control over, you can sort of preempt it. I mean, look, you're toying with your own future there. See, but yeah, 100%. Harry Potter's blanket, yeah, give it to me.

Speaker 2 30:06

Y eah, okay, I get that. Like mine would be to teleport. Oh, yeah. Like just from A to B, because I'm always late, apparently. So just get me there now. Thank you. I'm ready. Let's go. Manic mic away.

Speaker 1 30:19

That's us. Thank you, everybody. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Obviously, on your Spotify, your Apple Podcasts. Please give us the highest ratings. That's what we want. It'll keep this podcast going. We thank you so much, and you're on Unhinged Greeks. Thank you. Check it out for now.