I'm glad to hear that your medication is so helpful for you! I am also (mostly) estranged from my mother and understand what it is like to navigate all of this without a mom. It's so strange, trying to piece together clues from what I know of her experience and then match them up to my own to see if we are the same, if I'm her daughter in the way I experience perimenopause while not really being her daughter in so many other ways.

I'm sorry menopause caused your mother to take such a turn. I bet she's really far from alone in that. It seems to have such profound emotional and mental health effects on some women. I'm lucky that age dulled my mother's edges, even if our past and the person she used to be makes it impossible for me to trust or be close with her now. At least she settled into something more peaceful with age--your mother sounds so miserable and emotionally dangerous.

Thanks again for sharing your experience. I'm so proud to take part in these conversations! We are not alone and what's happening to our bodies is not strange or bad. We deserve care when we are struggling and camaraderie as we adjust to new seasons of life. I'm so happy for all women who feel comfortable sharing, and for those who lurk and learn and feel less alone because of the women who share!

<3 <3 <3 <3