The multiplying and thickening of chin and neck hairs. Why is this happening! Where are they coming from? What am I going to do when I cant see well enough to pull them anymore? I am seriously considering laser hair removal to stem the tide.
I don’t know if this will help anyone, but if you’re struggling with “symptoms” after about 35yo, PLEASE look into perimenopause. I realized HRT could help me last year and it’s been great. 💙
Perimenopause. I had never heard that term until a year ago when I started experiencing symptoms. I wish they’d teach this shit to us in high school because I was not prepared.
Itchiness down below as a sign of menopause coming on. No infection of any kind, just atrophy of the tissues causing them to get….really REALLY itchy. I had no idea that was a thing. Turns out……it is.
Relying on a man would be my worst mistake. We’re sold on the marriage fallacy young. That women mature, evolve and grow. Men never change. Truly, never change.
Clitoral atrophy! Keep an eye on your clit or it might shrivel up and disappear with the onset of perimenopause. Get yourself on the topical oestrogen cream before it becomes a problem.
About menopause… how the side effects are debilitating (for me.) Horrible fatigue yet have insomnia, weight gain while eating less than before, irritability that just comes on suddenly, and you want to throw things, aching all over, the FOG… just can’t think straight, short term memory gone, increased anxiety and panic attacks, dry skin and hair, painful intercourse… it has been difficult to accept as I was an athlete all my life. Other women have said they barely had any of the side effects. My life has changed so much… and women just don’t talk about this Horrible part of life!
The tweezers live permanently on my desk for easy access.
Constant nausea and upset stomach isn’t normal. Please get a check up.
For me, it was high blood pressure. Not that I wasn’t warned, but I didn’t expect it to manifest the way that it did. I got Covid in the very early days. March 2020. The primary symptom for me was a headache that lasted two weeks straight. No amount of pain killer would touch it.
These long lasting headaches persisted in the following years. They would last for days and be untouchable by meds. I called them covid headaches and figured it was “long covid.” This was my life now. Probably more than 60% of the time I had a headache. For 5 years!!!
Then one day my dad asks if I’ve had my blood pressure checked lately. I checked it at home. It was high. For a week straight, it was high. So I made an appointment.
I’ve been on beta blockers now for about 4 months and haven’t had a headache in all that time. It changed my life.
Getting grey hairs so soon and that blonde hair dye doesn’t always hide them. And my whole mid section sagging – I do remember a friend saying when we were teens that happens when people get old but I assumed she meant like the elderly, not in my 30’s already. Doesn’t help that my boobs are kind of big and heavy.
The sense of having a finite store of energy. Related to this, the feeling of profound indifference to or distaste for interpersonal drama of any kind. I just couldn’t be bothered.
Saying goodbye to foods I used to love because my organs can’t handle/process sugar and fried foods as much anymore. I’m glad I took the opportunity to eat junk when I could though, but now it’s time to cut back 🙁
How I don’t FEEL my age! I’ll be 38 this year and don’t feel any different than when I was early 20s and sometimes that creeps me out or makes me feel weird. At the same time I don’t relate to people that age but so many of my close friends of my age are the same.
Which brings me to my next point,
How young people half my age seem! Young adults (18 -25) seem like actual babies to me. Also how disturbing it is that men AND women my age date them! 🤮
A TMI one: Vaginal elasticity, I’d go through long bouts of celibacy and always neglected vaginal penetration so I’m definitely much more shallow and narrow than before and need to prep before intercourse or I tear.
I am also fine getting old, I just didn’t think “aging” would start happening as early as it did. Signs of aging (mental, emotional, physical, etc.) were something I expected in my 40s. Not the moment entered my late 20s. My mom had me in her early 30s, so by the time I was paying attention to how she was aging, she was in her 40s. So that’s where I expected it would start?! Not seeing her go through her 30s wrapped my ideas for sure.
_not damaging my body too much when I was younger. In fact, I got warned but didn’t care. Now my back is in chronic pain, my knees and my feet also. A warning to others: 8 hours of heavy body work like shovelling should be done properly. Also, stop breaking in young horses if you just broke your foot. Plus, dont overdo the heavy lifting in a not good technique…
Ive always intermittently visited the gym, when I get a sudden surge of hyperfixation I’ll head back there. While I’d need to work myself back up to my top weights, it was never a drastic difference, maybe starting a lat pull down at like 40lb instead of 45lb kind of thing.
I just went back to the gym after about 6 months off, my muscles are entirely certain I’ve never lifted a damn thing in my life! My weight lifting app said I used to be able to do an incline bench press at around 80lb, I was struggling was 45 lbs. It really opened my eyes to how important weight lifting / muscle work is as I get older.
Not totally age related but how incredibly easy it is to get stretch marks. I’m covered in them. Never had kids. Just a curvy/athletic build. But let myself gain an extra 20 or so lbs and then BAM stretch marks all over my tummy. I can lose the weight, but not the marks. So this just pisses me off.
I swear I woke up on the other side of 40 and can’t be anywhere without tweezers. The minute I feel that whisker I’m hunting for it like a crazy person.
The chin hairs and the mental health shit. I’m so much more short-tempered and impatient than I was as a young person; I thought it would be easier to manage my issues as I got older because I would be used to it, but instead they’ve just gotten more complex
For me the nausea is GERD. I haven’t fixed it, but a wedge pillow and less alcohol helps.
I constantly wish I had understood how much time I had ahead of me and how young I really was. If you’re in your 30s and feeling old, you’ll one day wish someone had warned you that you should still feel young!
Not so much a warning as something to look forward to with the same anticipation kids look forward to Christmas- not giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks. It’s honestly the best thing about getting older.
How important yearly blood work is. I’m 31, started this quest last year, and it’s crazy how much can change within a year. It’s a little jarring to see things not coming back 100% despite minimal changes in workout and food habits and it’s somewhat just a symptom of getting older. I’m fine, but now cholesterol and certain vitamins are more on my mind. Knowing your family health history is important.
The off switch that can happen during perimenopause when no one is attractive unless I’m mid cycle. I have an absolutely gorgeous husband but now that peri has started in Ernest, I have times where nothing feels good and no one is appealing
No one warned me about anything when I was in my 30s. I am 100% certain that it wouldn’t have made any difference if they had.
I am 47 and for the past two years I have been bombarded with warnings, cautionary tales, and horror stories about perimenopause. So far the only things that I have had to deal with on a regular basis is foot pain that tracks with my cycle and slightly heavier menstrual flow. I know all the bad stuff other people deal with may be just around the corner. I know I could wake up tomorrow with my uterus literally hanging out of my body. But right now, I feel better than I did ten years ago. I probably had more complaints back then than I do now.
I am glad that I am aware of the health issues that may be looming ahead, but I am also glad that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time worrying about stuff that hasn’t happened. Maybe it will happen. I will worry about it only when it does.
mental illnesses manifesting. anxiety disorder hit me like a bus from 32-35 (i’m 35 and now slowly getting out)…lost my ability to drive overnight. stress maybe?
Depression that manifested in to dementia, as per 3 of my 4 doctors diagnosed. Not 30 yet. But here to warn women in toxic relationships, that the other half isn’t worth it. Otherwise I skated by in my early to mid twenties in light of a nightmare relationship.
How much harder it is to lose weight, how the menopause hormones are as bad or worse as all those teenage hormones people talk about. I cry a lot easier, but I also hate people a lot more, and not just because of the state of the world. I really feel crazy at times.
Knees! You think you’re in great shape and then BOOM your knees hurt for no damn reason all the time. And they click when you bend them or use stairs.
I did PT, cortisone shots, nothing helped. Then I went on HRT for peri and now they’re a lot better, as long as I don’t sit in a way that puts pressure on them.
Uterine Fibroids. Didn’t even know that was something that existed until I was 33. I have a large one that’s squishing some important stuff and I’m hoping to have it looked at and possibly removed in the near future.
No one’s mentioned it yet but the vision thing has been one of most irritating. Yeah, perimenopause was pretty rotten but not being able to focus up close is infuriating. Nothing you can do can make it more in focus (except holding it further away but then it’s still small print). Luckily, I am naturally near sighted so I was able to just stop wearing contacts and I can still see up close. (I am actually really glad now that I never got lasik)
Also, I’ve gotten more sensitive to certain foods. Aged cheese gives me horrible migraines (and I used to love fancy cheeses). And I have no alcohol tolerance at all so I avoid it entirely now.
Comments
The hair loss.
Even at the same weight my body composition is totally different
Memory/cognitive decline
The multiplying and thickening of chin and neck hairs. Why is this happening! Where are they coming from? What am I going to do when I cant see well enough to pull them anymore? I am seriously considering laser hair removal to stem the tide.
How hard it is to lose weight
Gravity 🫠 it’s not just the girls, eveything seems lower than before lol
my parents getting old.
Objectively I knew it would happen but watching it is getting grim.
Getting hurt while sleeping.
Headaches
I don’t know if this will help anyone, but if you’re struggling with “symptoms” after about 35yo, PLEASE look into perimenopause. I realized HRT could help me last year and it’s been great. 💙
Perimenopause. I had never heard that term until a year ago when I started experiencing symptoms. I wish they’d teach this shit to us in high school because I was not prepared.
Osteoarthritis.
Literally putting your back out when bending down/sitting down/ breathing
Taxes!
Protein, fiber, and calcium being so needed
Itchiness down below as a sign of menopause coming on. No infection of any kind, just atrophy of the tissues causing them to get….really REALLY itchy. I had no idea that was a thing. Turns out……it is.
Relying on a man would be my worst mistake. We’re sold on the marriage fallacy young. That women mature, evolve and grow. Men never change. Truly, never change.
Menopause! I had no idea.
Clitoral atrophy! Keep an eye on your clit or it might shrivel up and disappear with the onset of perimenopause. Get yourself on the topical oestrogen cream before it becomes a problem.
The farting
About menopause… how the side effects are debilitating (for me.) Horrible fatigue yet have insomnia, weight gain while eating less than before, irritability that just comes on suddenly, and you want to throw things, aching all over, the FOG… just can’t think straight, short term memory gone, increased anxiety and panic attacks, dry skin and hair, painful intercourse… it has been difficult to accept as I was an athlete all my life. Other women have said they barely had any of the side effects. My life has changed so much… and women just don’t talk about this Horrible part of life!
Chronic pain and illness. I feel like I’m 80 and I’m not even 35 😭
>and the damn chin hairs
The tweezers live permanently on my desk for easy access.
Constant nausea and upset stomach isn’t normal. Please get a check up.
For me, it was high blood pressure. Not that I wasn’t warned, but I didn’t expect it to manifest the way that it did. I got Covid in the very early days. March 2020. The primary symptom for me was a headache that lasted two weeks straight. No amount of pain killer would touch it.
These long lasting headaches persisted in the following years. They would last for days and be untouchable by meds. I called them covid headaches and figured it was “long covid.” This was my life now. Probably more than 60% of the time I had a headache. For 5 years!!!
Then one day my dad asks if I’ve had my blood pressure checked lately. I checked it at home. It was high. For a week straight, it was high. So I made an appointment.
I’ve been on beta blockers now for about 4 months and haven’t had a headache in all that time. It changed my life.
Getting grey hairs so soon and that blonde hair dye doesn’t always hide them. And my whole mid section sagging – I do remember a friend saying when we were teens that happens when people get old but I assumed she meant like the elderly, not in my 30’s already. Doesn’t help that my boobs are kind of big and heavy.
How often I’d be alone.
The sense of having a finite store of energy. Related to this, the feeling of profound indifference to or distaste for interpersonal drama of any kind. I just couldn’t be bothered.
Constant nausea and upset stomach? You sure you don’t have some diet and/or health issue?
The fatigue and apathy. I’m too tired and I don’t fucking care.
For all the ladies wanting some kernel of info on menopause; I’m reading The Menopause Manifesto and it’s pretty awesome.
Saying goodbye to foods I used to love because my organs can’t handle/process sugar and fried foods as much anymore. I’m glad I took the opportunity to eat junk when I could though, but now it’s time to cut back 🙁
The importance of resistance training and eating enough protein.
How I don’t FEEL my age! I’ll be 38 this year and don’t feel any different than when I was early 20s and sometimes that creeps me out or makes me feel weird. At the same time I don’t relate to people that age but so many of my close friends of my age are the same.
Which brings me to my next point,
How young people half my age seem! Young adults (18 -25) seem like actual babies to me. Also how disturbing it is that men AND women my age date them! 🤮
A TMI one: Vaginal elasticity, I’d go through long bouts of celibacy and always neglected vaginal penetration so I’m definitely much more shallow and narrow than before and need to prep before intercourse or I tear.
I am also fine getting old, I just didn’t think “aging” would start happening as early as it did. Signs of aging (mental, emotional, physical, etc.) were something I expected in my 40s. Not the moment entered my late 20s. My mom had me in her early 30s, so by the time I was paying attention to how she was aging, she was in her 40s. So that’s where I expected it would start?! Not seeing her go through her 30s wrapped my ideas for sure.
_not damaging my body too much when I was younger. In fact, I got warned but didn’t care. Now my back is in chronic pain, my knees and my feet also. A warning to others: 8 hours of heavy body work like shovelling should be done properly. Also, stop breaking in young horses if you just broke your foot. Plus, dont overdo the heavy lifting in a not good technique…
The loss of strength.
Ive always intermittently visited the gym, when I get a sudden surge of hyperfixation I’ll head back there. While I’d need to work myself back up to my top weights, it was never a drastic difference, maybe starting a lat pull down at like 40lb instead of 45lb kind of thing.
I just went back to the gym after about 6 months off, my muscles are entirely certain I’ve never lifted a damn thing in my life! My weight lifting app said I used to be able to do an incline bench press at around 80lb, I was struggling was 45 lbs. It really opened my eyes to how important weight lifting / muscle work is as I get older.
Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause
Not totally age related but how incredibly easy it is to get stretch marks. I’m covered in them. Never had kids. Just a curvy/athletic build. But let myself gain an extra 20 or so lbs and then BAM stretch marks all over my tummy. I can lose the weight, but not the marks. So this just pisses me off.
I swear I woke up on the other side of 40 and can’t be anywhere without tweezers. The minute I feel that whisker I’m hunting for it like a crazy person.
that during peri/menopause, you can get vaginal/clitoral atrophy.
and the other day, I also heard that your labia can disappear during peri/menopause!! WTF
ALL THESE RANDOM ACHES AND PAINS 😭
the unasked for and unwanted pity disguised as outwardly positive reinforcement á la “it’s okay, you don’t look your age”
BACK PAIN
The chin hairs and the mental health shit. I’m so much more short-tempered and impatient than I was as a young person; I thought it would be easier to manage my issues as I got older because I would be used to it, but instead they’ve just gotten more complex
The chin hairs are the worst! I even have a white one now and my head hair isn’t gray yet.
The acid reflux! You will hit a point where you can’t eat and drink spicy and carbonated stuff all day and it’s way earlier than you think
For me the nausea is GERD. I haven’t fixed it, but a wedge pillow and less alcohol helps.
I constantly wish I had understood how much time I had ahead of me and how young I really was. If you’re in your 30s and feeling old, you’ll one day wish someone had warned you that you should still feel young!
From popular culture I had this stupid idea that menopause happens soon after 40. Nope, 55.
Not so much a warning as something to look forward to with the same anticipation kids look forward to Christmas- not giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks. It’s honestly the best thing about getting older.
How important yearly blood work is. I’m 31, started this quest last year, and it’s crazy how much can change within a year. It’s a little jarring to see things not coming back 100% despite minimal changes in workout and food habits and it’s somewhat just a symptom of getting older. I’m fine, but now cholesterol and certain vitamins are more on my mind. Knowing your family health history is important.
That broccoli would become my enemy.
When you host holidays … you buy, cook, serve, host, AND clean. Woof
Gray coochie hair. Did not expect that.
The off switch that can happen during perimenopause when no one is attractive unless I’m mid cycle. I have an absolutely gorgeous husband but now that peri has started in Ernest, I have times where nothing feels good and no one is appealing
No one warned me about anything when I was in my 30s. I am 100% certain that it wouldn’t have made any difference if they had.
I am 47 and for the past two years I have been bombarded with warnings, cautionary tales, and horror stories about perimenopause. So far the only things that I have had to deal with on a regular basis is foot pain that tracks with my cycle and slightly heavier menstrual flow. I know all the bad stuff other people deal with may be just around the corner. I know I could wake up tomorrow with my uterus literally hanging out of my body. But right now, I feel better than I did ten years ago. I probably had more complaints back then than I do now.
I am glad that I am aware of the health issues that may be looming ahead, but I am also glad that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time worrying about stuff that hasn’t happened. Maybe it will happen. I will worry about it only when it does.
The hormonal shifts. I’m tired. All. The. Time.
Wonky genetics, and the effects of living in to moldy houses decades ago.
mental illnesses manifesting. anxiety disorder hit me like a bus from 32-35 (i’m 35 and now slowly getting out)…lost my ability to drive overnight. stress maybe?
My neck skin aging overnight
Depression that manifested in to dementia, as per 3 of my 4 doctors diagnosed. Not 30 yet. But here to warn women in toxic relationships, that the other half isn’t worth it. Otherwise I skated by in my early to mid twenties in light of a nightmare relationship.
How much of an issue the rest of society have with me being fine getting older.
Like im lying to them all and I am crazy for not ” Slowing down”
How much harder it is to lose weight, how the menopause hormones are as bad or worse as all those teenage hormones people talk about. I cry a lot easier, but I also hate people a lot more, and not just because of the state of the world. I really feel crazy at times.
Aching. Constantly aching.
PELVIC ORGAN PROLAPSE
Knees! You think you’re in great shape and then BOOM your knees hurt for no damn reason all the time. And they click when you bend them or use stairs.
I did PT, cortisone shots, nothing helped. Then I went on HRT for peri and now they’re a lot better, as long as I don’t sit in a way that puts pressure on them.
Post menopause and vaginal atrophy. No one ever mentioned anything!
Keeping my iron levels up. I am struggling with anemia and I wish I’d known to line my iron nest a bit when I was younger.
Something always hurts.
LOL the chin hairs 🤣😂🤣🤣 fff the back pain too
The day you realize you are no longer getting carded. And there, in front of you, is the sign “We will card anyone who looks 40 or younger!” Oof.
The social injustices that happens in everyday life.
The extreme fatigue. Used to work 60h no problem just a couple of years ago. Did the same in the last week and I’m about to die. I’m only 35, ffs.
Uterine Fibroids. Didn’t even know that was something that existed until I was 33. I have a large one that’s squishing some important stuff and I’m hoping to have it looked at and possibly removed in the near future.
Back and knee pain!
The “down there” hairs turning gray! 😫
No one’s mentioned it yet but the vision thing has been one of most irritating. Yeah, perimenopause was pretty rotten but not being able to focus up close is infuriating. Nothing you can do can make it more in focus (except holding it further away but then it’s still small print). Luckily, I am naturally near sighted so I was able to just stop wearing contacts and I can still see up close. (I am actually really glad now that I never got lasik)
Also, I’ve gotten more sensitive to certain foods. Aged cheese gives me horrible migraines (and I used to love fancy cheeses). And I have no alcohol tolerance at all so I avoid it entirely now.
Growing a chin hair over the course of an hour
The face hair!! OMG!