Sandwiched
As I mentioned weeks ago, the average caregiver is a 49-year-old woman who works and takes care of at least one elderly parent. That’s me precisely. Since there are so many women around this age in the sandwich generation, I’ve decided to occasionally tackle subjects surrounding the “M” word in this column – menopause. Why? The average age for menopause is 51.
Please understand I will only be sharing my experiences and research, and that anything health related should always be discussed with your doctor.
I think the number one thing you hear about with the “M” word is hot flashes. No one knows what causes them for women in this stage of life (ugh). Up until last summer, I hadn’t experienced many unless I visited my mother in her 83-degree room. I felt them maybe once or twice a week and was managing just fine.
Then in July I started having hot flashes more frequently, to the point where it was affecting my work and sleep. I began to take a well-known herbal remedy, black cohosh, to help. The hot flashes went away within a couple of days. But I also saw that the herb sometimes loses its effectiveness after several months.
Fast forward to the end of February 2020 … yep, right when the whole COVID-19 madness began to strike the United States. My black cohosh stopped working – not the best of timing. I mentioned my struggles to my doctor in early March who said she would prescribe a low-dose antidepressant to help if needed.
I resisted this option for several weeks, trying other herbal remedies to no avail. A week ago Monday I caved in and called Dr. H. for the prescription. After reviewing the potential side effects, which included either drowsiness or insomnia, I made certain my work schedule was fairly light the Thursday of that week and took the first pill that morning.
I then lost two days of my life.
Within an hour I could barely walk, think, or function. I somehow managed to keep up on emails between lying back in the recliner where I sat in a stupor, not really sleeping but not really existing. I figured I’d at least sleep well that night, but I didn’t catch a wink.
I still felt out of it last Friday and struggled through a conference call after lunch before finally crashing for a nap. I couldn’t even watch Good Friday services online. By last Saturday I felt normal.
The moral of the story? Get to know yourself and your health in this stage or any stage of life. I had forgotten that I’m a highly-sensitive person, which includes being sensitive to many medications. If I had mentioned that to my doctor I could have avoided this pain.
I’ll be taking these pills to a safe disposal facility once things in the world settle down. I’m also researching other ways to help with hot flashes and will keep you posted if anything new helps me. As I’ve said before, it’s important as sandwich generation members to stay healthy and feel our best in order to care for those we love others.