The journey through perimenopause is unique for every woman, yet the unsolicited and contrary advice remains universal.
This was the inspiration for my latest poem, which is part of a book of poetry in which I’m documenting the entire perimenopause journey from beginning to end.
What makes perimenopause so challenging isn’t just the physical symptoms – the hormonal fluctuations, the muscle mass changes – but the barrage of contradictory advice from people who often have no personal experience with it.
From well-meaning friends suggesting I drink my own piss, to fitness bros blindly prescribing calorie deficits and skipping meals, the poem highlights the absurdity of simplistic solutions to this multi-faceted physiological transition.
The journey through perimenopause, like other significant life transitions, ultimately belongs to the person experiencing it, and external perspectives – however well-intentioned – need to be filtered through our intuition.
Ugh, where do I start….?
The flurry of advice
From uninformed folk
Who all have their price
Estrogen is dropping
Your bones will crumble!
Drink loads of milk
Or take a tumble
Ingest creatine now
Or lose all your muscle
You should intermittent fast!
There’s no end to this hustle
Eat chunks of protein
At every single meal
Eventually, it’ll kill you
All that dairy, tofu and veal
“Hey” someone whispers
“You should drink your own piss“
So I squat over a glass
*Gulp*
Alright then, come give us a kiss!
But my all-time favourite
Is from the 30-something bro
You wanna lose weight?
His face starts to glow
Ah, he squints,
Like he’s about to shit gold
You just need to be in a calorie deficit!
Seriously, this never gets old?
Oh! I exclaim
Why didn’t I think of that?!
Thank you so much bruh
You dumb little twat
He no longer exists
That poor, sweet boy
Who made the mistake
Of thinking I was old & coy
But seriously though
This is not about bro’s
It’s the not-so-miracle advice
That you can stick it up your……nose
To give you a vague idea
Of what it’s like to be in peri
Put a blindfold on
And navigate the contrary
The vitamins, the supplements
The creams and the sprays
Can all just f**k off
I don’t care what anyone says
My body is my body
My age is my age
My intuition rules
And THAT’S my primary gauge
BY MELANIE SWAN
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Melanie Swan is a Trauma Resolution Specialist, Womb Medicine Woman, Perimenopause Guide, and host of The Sacred Womb Podcast.
With over 24 years of clinical and metaphysical experience, she supports women to resolve repeating patterns at the root, heal the womb, and navigate perimenopause as a profound initiation into their true nature.
She leads the Womb Medicine Woman Training® and is currently writing her first book, Sacred Womb, Sovereign Woman.
The Sacred Womb Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.