I Still Think We Sould Call It Stopnowalldoneforgetaboutit...

As the new year dawns, I have been diagnosed with anemia from many, many months of menstrual flow--sometimes extremely heavy, sometimes what I would call normal, sometimes very light--but it seems, always with me these last several months. I should have called the doctor sooner, and not necessarily for the reason you're thinking. Within one day of calling to make an appointment with my gynecologist to run screaming that I've had enough, my flow completely stopped and has stayed that way as of this writing. I should have known it's like taking a car to the mechanic for a sound that's driving you crazy, but stops as soon as you drive into the shop.

But seriously, I should have called the doctor sooner, but I was too tired and cranky. It's sometimes a challenge to take care of one's health when one is feeling unhealthy. By the time I did get in for my physical I was feeling exhausted all the time, short tempered and had some episodes of chest soreness that I now believe were related to anemia since it went away immediately when I started the prescribed treatment. I also managed to burn myself cooking on New Year's Eve, which could be blamed on symptoms of anemia because I've felt like I'm in a fog half the time lately.

What are the symptoms of anemia, you may ask. There are many kinds of anemia and many symptoms, some of which are so mild that you might attribute them to other causes such as work stress or fatigue, but here are some pretty common ones: Pale skin color, fatigue, irritability, dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, sore tongue, brittle nails, decreased appetite, frontal headache, chest pain or soreness, rapid or skipping heartbeats, depression and loss of interest in sex.

The longer anemia is allowed to go on, the harder it is to treat and there is more likelyhood of longer lasting effects. Here I am blogging about it when I should have paid better attention. I had many of these symptoms and was all too willing to write it off as life stress until it started to knock me down around the holidays this year.

I'm writing about it in case any of you reading this might be feeling symptoms you're avoiding too. It's not that hard to get a blood test.

I think the worst part of all this is that my body actually adjusted to feeling bad. Tired just started to feel normal. I actually felt quite relieved to have a physical diagnosis for my symptoms. It's not always that easy to expain. A good friend of mine, who is post-menopausal, said to me: "It's a hard time of life because you sort of fall apart in so many ways and you have to figure out how the pieces go back together because they never go back together the same way again." How true that is. Many people, doctors included, can be quite dismissive about the emotional effects of perimenopause. Sometimes I think there should be hangouts for women going through perimenopause, just like there are places for other people who have similar interests or issues. You know, someplace there's a bouncer at the door if a non-sympathetic person tries to get in. I know I'd go some days.

Take good care of yourselves.