The Perimenopausal Homeschooler:: Feeling Out of Sorts

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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Welcome to The Perimenopausal Homeschooler series! Here I share with my readers some of my favorite tips for homeschooling and taking care of young children despite those lovely perimenopausal symptoms. At least when I remember. {wink, wink} If you're new to this series, you may want to start here.

Brain fog.

Difficulty concentrating.

Can't think straight.

Sooo tired.

Feeling out of sorts.

Do any of these sound familiar? Maybe more so over the age of 35 than in your younger days?

The reality is that these feelings are very common to experience during perimenopause.

They have been my reality for the past couple of weeks.

To be fair, my hormones weren't the only problem. I was also planning a graduation party for Judah. It was a really big shin dig. Judah and 5 other friends that he has grown up with were all graduating this year, and we decided to throw a joint party/ open house. Whew. Add in all the other stressors of life, like laundry and cleaning and schooling, as well as supporting Hubby through some unpredictable church leadership challenges, and you have the makings for either a crazy woman or a very depressed woman.

It just didn't help that my hormones were way off kilter at the same time.

There will come a time when this will happen to each of us women. There really is no way to prepare for it. You can read and talk to other women, but it is one of those things that you just can't fully comprehend until you've experienced it.

So I realized that it was difficult to write a complete sentence (did you notice the silence here at the blog?) and to put two thoughts together. I immediately knew my hormones were out of wack. I made sure to drink my 2 cups of Silk Soy milk every day. I made sure to take my Evening Primrose Oil twice every day. . .

I still felt slow.

I wasn't exactly sure where I was in my cycle because I hadn't started a new chart at the beginning of the cycle. I kept forgetting. And I didn't pull the notebook out to look because I only remembered first thing in the morning while drowsily taking my temperature.

So I did the only thing my tired brain knew would help a little.

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I pulled out the string and hook– although yarn and needles would have worked, too.

So many times I have read that engaging in a creative activity (whatever that may be for you) can help restore tired adrenals or help to feel more restored when hormones are out of balance. It really sounds crazy until you experience the benefits. I was so out of balance and incapable of daily activities that I knew this was the only thing productive that I could do– and I knew that I would begin to feel better.

I set to work crocheting the most recent ideas in my design notebook– crocheted, beaded earrings. After several pairs, I was beginning to feel a bit better. (You can find some of these babies in the DaisyHead Creations shop soon~ as soon as I can remember to list them.)

Then came the graduation party on Sunday, and all the fatigue afterward. This morning I could not think. I couldn't decided what to work on. I was beginning to feel depressed. That can also happen when hormones are out of bablence– sometimes it's a lack of estrogen, sometimes a lack of progesterone.

After looking up helps for the brain in my trusty copy of The Change Before the Change– just to make sure there wasn't something I was forgetting– I realized that I had forgotten something very important.

I have not been ovulating very often. Normally if I don't ovulate, then I use progesterone cream for the duration of that cycle. When I don't use it, I'm a mess. Well– I hadn't used the progesterone cream the last several non-ovulatory cycles. Now I'm paying for it.

I immediately slathered on a dose of progesterone cream, and within a few hours I could feel my brain beginning to turn a bit.

Lesson learned.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

I'm not sure if this helps anyone, but it's always good to glean from someone else's experience– and to feel like you're not alone.

I guess the moral of the story is to not feel guilty when you take time to refresh yourself. Sometimes the fun, relaxation, creative outlet, etc. does more for a woman than just provide a good time.

{Along that same vein, you'll want to come back tomorrow (June 13th) for a new link-up blog series that I'm collaborating with some bloggy friends on. Family Connections~ Summer 2012. It'll be full of ideas for ways to have some fun and connect with your family. I hope you'll come link-up with us or find some inspiration.}

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If you have any questions about managing life or homeschooling in the midst of perimenopause, please leave your question in the comments.We can share with one another the things that we have found helpful, or not so helpful. There's power in numbers, ladies!

Come back in 4 weeks for the next Perimenopausal Homeschooler post, or subscribe and I'll send it straight to your inbox.

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The post The Perimenopausal Homeschooler:: Feeling Out of Sorts appeared first on the daisyhead.