For some time now, even pre-pandemic, the vibe at my home has been changing. Although the love, fun and laughter is still there, not a day goes by without a shouting match between me and my pre-teen son, most times over the smallest of things.
I go stir crazy when he stands in front of the open fridge looking in at god knows what for god knows how long. Or when I smell him before he enters the room and I have to remind him that taking a shower is something that people do every single day, sometimes more than once. That deodorant serves no purpose if it's not used ant that ketchup is not a side but a condiment. And don't talk about when I constantly have to be on his back to complete and submit his assignments on time.
He, in turn, gets annoyed at me if I as much as look at him, interrupt him when he is the middle of a game, or have the nerve to wake him up for school. We both always seem to be in a mood. As it turns out, we are both going through our respective 'big change' at the same time - him going through puberty and me being perimenopausal.
'Perimenopause is characterised by irregular menstrual cycles and marked hormonal fluctuations, often accompanied by hot flashes, sleep disturbances, decreased energy levels, mood changes… This impacts the daily activities and personal relationships for many women,' said Dr Shevon Joseph, medical director and consultant physician at Azalea Health, a Woodbrook-based clinic that provides gynaecological healthcare and health education for women. Scenarios with which I am quite familiar. For there are nights when I would wake up, in an air conditioned room, with my clothes drenched in sweat. Or mornings I'd be up many hours before daybreak and can't go back to sleep, putting me on edge and altering my mood for the day long before it even begins.
Add that to what the nhs.uk says about pre-teen and teen development: 'Surges of hormones, combined with body changes, struggling to find an identity, pressures from friends and a developing sense of independence, mean the teenage years are a confusing time for your child. It can mean they, for example, become aloof, want more time alone or with friends, feel misunderstood, reject your attempts to talk or show affection, appear sullen and moody,' and you get a sense of what is currently happening at my home. And for women, like me, who opted to have children later in life, I imagine it's the same for them and their teenagers, male or female.
According to Dr Joseph, the menopausal transition, or perimenopause, begins on average four years before the final menstrual period. 'Twelve months of amenorrhoea (no period) is considered to represent clinical menopause. The mean age of onset of menopause is 51 years, with 95 per cent of women becoming menopausal between the ages of 45 to 55 years.'
She said menopause occurs as a result of complete, or near complete depletion of the pool of follicles in the ovaries. Ovarian follicles are small sacs inside a woman's ovaries that contain the eggs and secrete hormones that direct th
