Day 2
I’m lying. There’s no sugar, sex or magik. Just loads of blood. Sorry. But I do love that Red Hot Chilli Peppers album.
Apparently, heavy bleeding during menstruation, also known as menorrhagia, is very common among women transitioning into menopause. One study found that 78% of women aged 42 to 52 reported their blood flow as heavy.
Last night I had to get up twice to avoid a blood bath and not surprisingly, due to the blood loss and lack of sleep, I’m feeling wiped out today. I had my blood checked and I’m not anaemic yet from this monthly blood letting ritual but I do take iron supplements during my period to make sure it stays that way. My gynaecologist also prescribed me some non hormonal tablets that reduce the blood flow. She says they have no side effects but I read the little leaflet and it lists thrombosis as a possible side effect and as I’m about to go on a 12 hour flight, I figured this wouldn’t be a great idea right now. So I’m just waiting for it to pass. Luckily, the really heavy bleeding doesn’t tend to last much longer than a day or two.
Knowing I wouldn’t feel great today, I made sure most of the travel prep was done in advance and all I had to do today was go to the bank and collect the dollars I had ordered via the banking app last week. Following the order I was informed by email my money would be ready for collection from yesterday afternoon in the branch I requested. Expecting a bit of a mission (banking in a branch in Spain is always a bit of a mission), I was prepared for some hassle but after around 20 minutes of them faffing around I was informed that there were in fact no dollars for me to collect. Trying to be helpful, the lady suggested that maybe the money was sent accidentally to the branch where our account is registered (about half an hour away) and called the branch to check. She was informed that yes, they have my money.
Annoyed, I checked in with the hubby whether or not he thought it was worth driving to the other branch or if we should just get the money at the airport. He wasn’t particularly bothered but offered to drive me there as he was on his lunch break anyway and knew I wasn’t feeling great.
So off we went.
Upon arriving at the other branch, there was more faffing around and then we were informed that no one in the branch knew anything about any dollars and that they didn’t have our money either.
What was the name of the person the people in the other branch had spoken to?
How on earth was I meant to know?!
The tired and blood deprived Tasmanian devil inside of me was ready to throw a tantrum. Luckily, Tony was at hand to discreetly remind me to stay calm and that it wasn’t the lady’s fault.
I’m pleased to say that I didn’t lose my shit but I did make a point of telling her that I was angry, that this whole situation felt like a bad joke and that there would be no next time when she tried to tell me how to approach this differently in the future (basically don’t use or trust the app). And although I’m still annoyed at having wasted so much time for nothing, I feel like I can let it go now because I had my say. When I was younger I would have probably been a polite, “nice girl” instead, swallowed my anger and stewed over it for ages afterwards.
Maybe perimenopause is trying to help us grow out of such unhealthy behaviour patterns and to finally learn to express our anger appropriately, because clearly, suppressing it is no longer an option. It certainly helps to feel supported in this process and I really appreciated Tony understanding and acknowledging how I felt today and offering his support, both physically and emotionally. Otherwise, my inner Tasmanian devil might have made an unwelcome appearance today…