Firstly, back to the menopause stuff! As I mentioned in June, I went to the doctors to see what support they could give me. Well lets just say that the experience was appalling! So, I explained all about the symptoms I was getting and the young female doctor (the reason I added these details as I was hoping she might be switched on to menopause) said there were 3 options:
1: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) – Said that I was too young for this and as my periods were still regular it wasn’t suitable – this is utter garbage! I’m not too young at 46 and regular periods are irrelevant as my hormones still fluctuate during the month.
2: The natural route – Sent me a link to a website which supports menopause symptoms naturally! She asked me what I did as a job and when I said I was a nutritionist, her reply was “Well you look like the health type!” whatever the f*ck that means! I am all for taking the natural approach and reading the information on said website, I am pretty much doing as much as I can naturally (hence going to the doctor), I make sure I eat well, I move regularly, I generally get at least 7 hours of sleep a night, I drink plenty of fluids and even though I have adjusted my diet slightly and reviewed my nutritional supplements I felt I needed more support.
3: Take Antidepressants – I baulked at this as I said I wasn’t depressed, I think there is a time and place to take antidepressants when they are seriously needed but having one week a month where I feel useless is not the time or the place, she added that the specific antidepressant she is recommending also helps with night sweats! I had mentioned that I was getting these but not enough to warrant taking medication and they weren’t causing me much issue!
So as you can imagine I left the surgery a bit disheartened and since then, speaking to others this seems like a common theme and that in reality, I’ll have to do my own research/experimentation to find what works best for me. I feel so lucky that with my knowledge I can do this as it would be what I would do for my clients but I feel so sorry for other people who do not have the knowledge to help themselves!
Anyway, back to July! Apart from the above, I spent most of the month with travel anxiety! For the past 18 months, I had been planning a trip to Paris to watch the Olympics and finally, it was time for the trip, these days I am really a home bird, I love being at home, and not really travelling that far. Notwithstanding the pandemic, it’s been probably over a decade since I left the UK so my travel anxiety was really kicking in, thankfully, I had asked a friend to come with me who is a seasoned traveller and she was able to allay most of the things I was stressing about.
The day before we travelled, I’d packed the cats off to the cattery, which was hard as I think both thought I might be giving them back so were meowing constantly in the car, this broke my heart so there were tears!!
Then there was news that train lines in France had been damaged due to sabotage and that the Eurostar were cancelling trains! Just what I need, speaking to my friend we decided to head to St Pancreas in the morning anyway and see what happens. I was getting the first train I could from my local station and when I got there, there was a notification saying that due to staff shortages, this train was delayed giving no time of arrival at the station I was at, as you can imagine my stress-levels were sky-high at this point as I knew I had a small window of time to get from KingsCross station to the Eurostar terminal. Eventually, the train arrived and as we zoomed through the country to London, it turned out it would leave me just 10 minutes to get to the terminal before the gate closed! OMG, I thought to myself this is why I don’t travel much, I was extremely anxious and felt like crying but I managed to hold it together and got to the gate with just 2 minutes to spare – YES I made it!
We were lucky as the train before and after ours were cancelled so we headed to France with a sigh of relief. As the sabotage had damaged train lines we had to go slowly during the journey, which meant we arrived in Paris 90 minutes later than planned, however, this was fortuitous as it meant we fell upon the cycling time trial, we arrived about 10 minutes after it started, so despite the rain we stood and watched (who doesn’t love watching free sport!!). A little bit soggy, we headed to our Air BnB to dry off and rest!
The following day, the rain clouds had vanished and we had glorious sunshine to watch the rowing, this was the early stages of the competition so we didn’t see any medal races but we did get to see some GB&NI rowers which was cool and just to ensure the atmosphere.
Once the rowing was over, we headed back into the city to visit The Louvre which my friend treated me to, I never knew how big it was so before wandering around aimlessly, we grabbed a map to decide which exhibitions we wanted to see (including the Mona Lisa of course).
After that, we found a beautiful cafe for some food and again my friend treated me to the meal as a birthday present! It was utterly delicious and great company too!
My friend was only able to stay a couple of days with me as she had work commitments, so her final day was spent watching the rugby sevens at Stade de France, what a stadium and the atmosphere again was electric! My friend had to leave just before the end of the session to catch her train home but she kindly left me lots of instructions on how to get home on my own and how to get to the other places I wanted to go over the next few days.
My birthday! I had got tickets to the Canoe Slalom in the afternoon so decided in the morning I would treat myself to a glass of champagne for breakfast! I had done some research and found a rooftop bar, however, when I got there I was told that the bar (located in a hotel) was only open to residents before 4pm, ARGH!! Anyway, I quickly found another bar that was open and had a glass of champagne, the guy serving me did give me a strange look when I ordered but thanks to Google translate I explained it was my birthday and he brought me a few sweets to celebrate!! Not the view I had planned but lovely nonetheless.
The canoe slalom was at the same venue as the rowing so that was easy for me to get to, however, the temperature had soared to 33°C, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so hot in my life, I definitely got a dose of Vitamin D that afternoon, again the sport was amazing. After the session finished I headed back to the accommodation and had a bed picnic, I think I might have had a bit of sunstroke as I felt pretty rough and had an early night! A birthday to remember!
The next day I woke up surprisingly fresh considering how I felt when I went to bed and had a completely free day (I had planned to meet my parents (who live in France), however, my mum had broken her leg a few weeks before my trip and it was too much for her to travel). So after a gentle start of coffee and a croissant, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower, just to say I had seen it! I wandered around some more just taking in the whole atmosphere and enjoying not having to be anywhere in particular.
However, I did head back to the rooftop bar as the final activity before I travelled home the next day and I have to say the views were amazing, it was tinged with a bit of sadness that I was on my own & not able to enjoy the experience with someone else but also thankful that I am able to do these things despite the anxiety I had felt before travelling.
After a couple of glasses of wine, I headed back to the Air BnB to pack and that was July, over and out!
Lincolnshiregirl 
👏👏👏
Sounds like a good trip and you obviously got back OK. 🙂
I’ve always found that the best way to avoid disappointment with doctors is not to expect them to do anything. Mostly they live up to your expectations and if they do actually do something it comes as a pleasant surprise. It always amazes me that they have trouble with menopause, when they know that 50% of the population is guaranteed to go through it. You’d think that they would put more effort into such a widespread thing.