Pre-menopause

I’m 51 and shouldn’t be too surprised – but I’m shocked! I’ve been feeling not quite myself recently – night-time sweats, tiredness, but it’s the hazy thinking that has really bothered me. Giving the shop assistant my bank card right after she has returned it to me; being given carrot cake when I’m convinced that ‘cheesecake’ came out of my mouth, but my sister assures me the words were ‘carrot cake.’
I don’t like this. I’m not ready to be a confused old lady. I need my brain. My work revolves around studying facts and drawing conclusions, but when my husband shows me an interesting I.T. feature that might help my business, I find myself muttering about ‘mental space’ and how I don’t have any. He gives me strange looks and shakes his head.
So I bought a book – ‘Menopause for Dummies’ and in the segment under Perimenopause – the pre-period – are all my symptoms. So I read about the solutions - herbal, synthetic and lifestyle – but I can’t take it all in. A mental space problem again. So I’ve made an appointment at a specialist clinic that deals with the menopause. Normally, I would study and have a plan – like when I was pregnant I knew the type of labour I preferred and the medicines I would and would not take. But this time, I haven’t the mental prowess to sort this out for myself, I need help.