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Tracie Adams's avatar

Hey Sam! I was a foreign exchange student back then. It was an incredible year of learning and unforgettable experiences. I even met Prince Charles and Diana when they came to town to visit Charles’s brother Edward at Whanganui Boys College, where he was tutoring. I miss the mutton and kumara, and the rugby! My friends always laugh when I do the haka for them.😜

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

Ooh a hāngi 😋

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Tracie Adams's avatar

Cats definitely help. In every situation. Have a blessed day.

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Cats always help,

and dogs and sometimes a beverage 😉

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks! You too

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Wen's avatar

I hear you, oh boy, do I ever. I'm having a lot of those days recently so I totally get it and you're not alone.

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thank you ❤️

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Tracie Adams's avatar

Amen to all that, girl!

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Susan Niemann's avatar

You did exactly the right thing. Turn off the phone, make a drink and hug your dog. I find when I walk away and do something that brings me joy and happiness, it helps tremendously! You're doing great ! Hang in there! Hugs from Ohio....(I'm driving back to Philly!😂)

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks Susan and it helped!! Safe travels

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Lori K's avatar

Sending all the virtual hugs my friend. Cannot wait to earn my crone wings!!!!!

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks so much Lori. I hope today is better for both of us

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Lori K's avatar

It will be.

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Tracie Adams's avatar

I’m praying for you right now, Jane. Getting the bloodwork for peace of mind is an excellent idea. Let some things go that aren’t critically important. Start your day with a walk and a prayer. Explore some new genres of music. Go enjoy a botanical garden or a park that you haven’t seen lately, or ever. Hold onto all your support people. Or find some new ones. Start a gratitude journal. Oh wait, I was rambling on and thought I was talking to myself! 🤪

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks so much Tracie. I truly appreciate it. I'm hanging with my cats now before heading to work and putting my phone down ;)

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

Lack of sleep is awful, as is my overuse of tech 😭

I’m 42 and many years into peri but it remains relentless. I’m glad to hear you’re at a stage where you can taper off HRT a bit. I’m sure it’s saved my life 🙌

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Over use of tech. Yep guilty here.

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Hope so. This is the worst part of menopause for me by far, when hormones dive nose dive. I hit menopause later than most. So I am in year 1 of post menopause

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

I’m sure you’re doing great! I write about autistic perimenopause causing regressions in our functioning and capacity. I’m ADHD too, so I’m sure your suspicions are correct. I wanted to validate you as it’s not your fault. Sometimes it’s too hard. HRT helps. Medical misogyny surrounding inadequate global supplies of HRT doesn’t help. Angry, much? Yes, I am. The Rage is real. Hang in there.

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks Sam. Lack of sleep doesn't help either. I'm tapering off of HRT, that hasn't been easy. I'm 55 and have been on it several years. I feel like I could manage ADHD but with hormonal changes and insomnia, I don't recognize myself

It has to be an extra challenge for you having ASD as well as ADHD and hormonal changes.

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

Oh, how autistic of me, I forgot to soften my message with an emoji. Soz! Here you go:

🥰 💪 🧠

Sorry - I am hangry, out of oestrogen patches and not masking so well this evening. My bad 😹

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Jane Deegan's avatar

You don't have to mask!! Really!!

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Adhd and impulsively I do that too!! I think we all do actually. I call it pseudo adhd with technology etc. We all have it. Yet here I am on my phone at 6am

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

I’m in Aotearoa NZ, hence here it is evening.

(Omfg. Shut up now, Sam!)

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Lol. Thanks so much for sharing and your kind words. It's 6am on the east coast, we are on different time zones, I don't think anything of it

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Tracie Adams's avatar

Please say hello to the sheep for me! I lived in Whanganui, NZ for a year in the eighties and I still dream about it. What a glorious place!

I’m 58 now, and I thought I breezed through menopause easily in my late forties, but lately I don’t recognize myself and it’s scary. Does menopause ever really end? 😫

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Jane Deegan's avatar

I don't think it ends. My struggles are now more with the actual. Year I transitioned (last year and now) I'm 55 and tapering off of hrt. Been having all kinds of weird symptoms. I'm getting blood work done to make sure it isn't anything else. Our estrogen kind of crashes then platues. I don't buy that symptoms are over when you hit that magical 1 year mark

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

Oh what? This sounds horrendous. I’m already an absolute mess. I was holding out from some sort of improvement.

You might want to have bloodwork to check B12 and testosterone. Are you on testosterone treatment? It really has helped me with my cognition and energy levels. Although having said that, I’m experiencing another regression at the moment and feeling awful.

If you’re low in B12, you can get supplemented with an injection. It can be life changing for some.

Obviously all depends on what’s going on with you. I have no medical background so I don’t really know, but there are things to help, once you know what’s really going on x

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Jane Deegan's avatar

I do want to get blood levels checked. B-12 didn't think of that and D too. Dr said today not to taper off HRT with my symptoms go back to one a day

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Sam Galloway (she/her) 💕's avatar

Thanks, Tracie! I live in the ‘burbs so haven’t seen sheep for a few days 🐑

Whanganui must have had a lot of sheep back then! What were you doing down here in the eighties? 😃

I’m sorry to hear post-menopause is still a struggle. I have been holding out for an improvement in years to come 😭

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Maria Hanley's avatar

You are handling it right! Rest, reset, start fresh tomorrow.❤️

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thanks Maria!

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Janine Agoglia's avatar

Sending hugs. It can be so hard to keep a business going some days. I have definitely had many of those days myself. Tomorrow is a new day. 💜

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Jane Deegan's avatar

Thank you. Some days I feel like the small mistakes are huge ones. I usually can carve out an hour a day where I can concentrate. Not working

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