It's 3am. I'm drenched in sweat. Thirty seconds later, I'm freezing. This continues for forty-five minutes while I contemplate whether spontaneous human combustion is a real thing.

Meanwhile, I've discovered a new hair on my chin. It's thick. It's dark. It's got its own postcode. I've named it Keith.

And I swear to God, my body smells different. Musky. Sour. Like someone swapped my usual scent without telling me. I keep catching whiffs of myself and thinking "what is that?" before realising with horror that it's me.

Welcome to menopause. Or perimenopause. Or whatever the fuck this chaotic hormonal hellscape is called.

In this episode, I'm breaking down:
🔥 The greatest hits—hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, mood swings
🪒 The weird shit—chin hairs, body odour changes, itchy ears, electric shock sensations
🧠 The mental health impact—why anxiety and depression spike during perimenopause
🔬 The science bit—what's actually happening to your hormones
💊 What actually helps—HRT, CBT, lifestyle stuff, and giving yourself a fucking break
👨‍👩‍👧 For everyone else—what partners, family, and colleagues need to understand

This one's for EVERYONE. Women going through it. Partners trying to understand. Anyone who's ever wondered "why is she acting like that?"

I'm Jennie. 52. Lifelong anxiety. Waiting for ADHD and autism assessments. Currently navigating perimenopause from a rented room in a shared house. Door locked. Keith the chin hair thriving.

☕ Support the show on Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/jen1409m
💎 Join the Inner Circle on Patreon: patreon.com/AnxiouslyEverAfter

My brain is not a well-oiled machine. It's a rusty shopping trolley with one wonky wheel, careening down a hill, and the handle is covered in something sticky.

On Tuesday I made a reasonable list. Three things. "Reply to email. Move laundry. Drink water." It's now Friday. I have done none of those things. I have, however, learned that octopuses have three hearts, that the longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds, and that the man who invented the Pringles can is buried in one.

This is executive dysfunction. It's not laziness. It's a neurological condition where your brain's project manager has quit, walked out, and left a Post-it note saying "good luck lol."

In this episode, I'm breaking down:
🧠 What executive dysfunction actually is (and why "just do it" is useless)
📋 My greatest hits—the Tea Graveyard, the Laundry Standoff, the Bladder Rebellion
🔬 The science bit (your prefrontal cortex is underactive, it's not your fault)
🛒 The rusty shopping trolley metaphor (it makes sense, I promise)
✅ What sometimes helps—body doubling, weaponised spite, and narrating your own life like a nature documentary

It's the funniest, most chaotic episode I've ever recorded. If your brain also runs on Windows 95 and spite, this one's for you.

Links:☕ Support the show on Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/jen1409m💎 Join the Inner Circle on Patreon: patreon.com/AnxiouslyEverAfter

"Have you tried journaling?" If I had a pound for every time someone asked me that, I'd be writing this from a villa in Tuscany, not a rented room in an HMO.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the coping mechanisms I've actually tried:

💩 The ones that made everything worse (just think positive! intense exercise! doomscrolling!)
😐 The ones that are fine but overhyped (journaling, meditation apps, deep breathing)
✅ The ones that actually help (the locked door, the kettle, the weighted blanket, the brain dump, the 3-3-3 method, scheduled worry time)
🏠 My weird, HMO-adapted toolkit (including the pre-emptive wipe and the bathroom sink water bottle)
💚 And the ones I'm still figuring out (asking for help, rest without guilt, accepting bad days)

This isn't a "wellness guru" episode. I'm not fixed. I'm just a 52-year-old woman in a shared house, figuring out what works and sharing it with you.

☕ Support the show on Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/jen1409m

💎 Join the Inner Circle on Patreon: patreon.com/AnxiouslyEverAfter

Hello! I'm Jennie. 52. Lifelong anxiety. Waiting for ADHD and autism assessments. Living in a rented room in an HMO, door locked, kettle on standby, figuring it all out in real time.

This short trailer tells you everything you need to know about the podcast—who I am, why I started it, and what you can expect. Honest, sweary, slightly chaotic conversations about anxiety, neurodivergence, menopause, executive dysfunction, rejection sensitivity, HMO life, and the general mess of being human.

No toxic positivity. No "have you tried yoga?" Just real talk from someone who gets it.

If that sounds like your kind of thing, hit subscribe. New episodes coming soon. Grab a cuppa. You'll probably forget to drink it. That's fine. We're all friends here. 💚

You can support the podcast here 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/jen1409m