Rant from an Increasingly Invisible Woman

 My daughter, Elannah, was successfully installed over a week ago at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. As Sister Aurora, she is doing very, very well. She loves the MTC and her mission companion, who will also be going to the Nashville Mission, but she is very excited about getting out of the MTC this coming Wednesday into her mission, as well.

Sister Aurora (on the right) and her mission companion from Arizona on one of the walkways at the Missionary Training Center.

Meanwhile:

Me: minding my own business or innocently sleeping

Brain: "Okay, everyone, that's the signal! Heat the furnace to surface-of-the-sun temps and open the sweat gland spigots! Go, go, go!"

Me: "What? No! There was no signal! No signal! Turn if off!"

Brain: "You heard her! That's the signal! Crank up the heat!"

Hot flashes. Multiple times a day. 

I can feel my internal furnace suddenly kick on right before I'm completely drenched in perspiration, and for at least two minutes, I feel like I'm standing in hell. If I'm at home, I start frantically removing clothing or bedding. If I'm at work, I do what I can without exposing the faculty or students to an indecent display. I would rather dress as if it's the middle of summer and endure being chilly between hot flashes than exacerbate the problem with warmer clothing. Day or night, however, I'm uncomfortable most of the time.  

Before I got Covid, I had my hot flashes pretty tamed and was only getting one maybe once every two weeks, if that. Since having contracted and recovered from Covid, I am getting them ten to fifteen times a day. It's killing me! While I have managed to overcome the lingering Covid cough, the hot flashes continue mostly unabated, and I don't know what to do. I'm taking evening primrose oil, ashwaganda root, and maca root powder, and I'm still not seeing much relief. I think I can safely conclude that something about having Covid or being around newly vaccinated, spike-protein-shedding people at work and in the community has thrown off my hormonal balance even more severely than it was before; hopefully, long-term ingestion of these adaptogen, hormone-balancing supplements and foods (maca root is a food, not an herb) will help over time. 

I was just reading about how some doctors have seen major success in mitigating vaccine-induced spike protein red blood cell damage with the use of high-dose vitamin C, so maybe I'll start taking vitamin C doses to bowel tolerance again. A few years ago, I did an experiment on myself with vitamin C dosages three times a day to bowel tolerance, so I know what that level is now.

I went to see a gynecologist a while ago, and he was absolutely no help. I didn't want a male OB/GYN, but I had to take what I could get because the clinic was booked out for months for their female gynos. Predictably, he listened to my list of concerns and then told me that all of what I listed was natural for women of my age. Yes, I know that, but I was hoping for some guidance on mitigating these symptoms, not a condescending brush-off about just living with symptoms for which he will never have personal experience! Instead, he spent the majority of our very short visit lecturing me on getting Covid jabs before prescribing a few tests I requested, all of which came back normal (as usual) except for the finding that my vitamin D levels are exceedingly low (and I only figured that out because I got into my patient portal and looked at my vitamin D blood test and CBC results and went online to get some help interpreting each of the results. The clinic told me everything was normal and didn't even mention the vitamin D levels!). From the way he treated me once he learned I had not had the Covid jabs, I understood he did not care to have me return. I have so little faith in western medicine when it comes to women's health issues. When you are a middle-aged, overweight woman, it's hard to get anyone--including healthcare professionals--to see you as a person at all. You become invisible, to a certain extent. It's sad when I can get better health guidance from credible doctors on YouTube than I can from going in-person to a professional. 

Anyway, I've added vitamin D drops to my daily regimen. I have to be careful, however, with all my supplements. A new, fun thing I'm experiencing when I take supplements is that I get the sensation of needing to urinate almost all the time even when I don't have a full bladder. I've had to cut everything except the hormone-balancing supplements back to nearly zero in order to not feel like I need to rush to the bathroom every minute of the day. 

I'm confused about all of this, and I'm very disappointed in western medicine, but I'm not actually depressed or anything. Nor do I suffer from horrific pre-menopausal mood swings, thank goodness! I'm just irritated and uncomfortable. I've had to change my habits considerably in order to deal with so many hot flashes, but I'm fortunate that I don't have serious health problems that really keep me from doing what I enjoy doing. So, while the above is a rant, it is not sign that I am in despair. Just in case you were worried.

This stuff is delicious! I bought a cheap little coffee maker just to make this drink, which has no coffee or tea in it. It's a mix of ground chaga mushroom and ashwagandha root, and with a little cream, it's a lovely morning beverage. The lady at the health store in town has been using this to end her coffee addiction. Coffee has never been my problem, but I very much enjoy a mug of this in the morning.