August 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Rebecca Maddern is back for this season-ending cliffhanger! She’s just as frank and funny as she shares her Perimenopause awakening with Pats. You’ll see that even seasoned professionals sometimes struggle with the symptoms of Perimenopause!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My first episode with journalist Rebecca Madden ended on a cliffhanger.
Beck was telling me about the moment she suspected it
was perimenopause, when she suffered a comedy of errors while
preparing to host the massive AFL Grand Final Eve Lunch
to a room full of fourteen hundred mostly men. Her
(00:22):
printer wasn't working to print her notes, her stockings ripped,
making her late. Just nothing was going right this day.
Not exactly ideal when you're preparing to present to a
room full of powerbrokers and key stakeholders, and it's these
little things that on any other given day would be
handled with ease, but when you're in the middle of
(00:42):
a full blown hormonal hurricane, it's all bets off. Rebecca
returns in this final episode of season two of Rage
Against the Menopause and shares what happened next.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Enjoy menopause. It's coming for you no matter what. Let's
build a village of support. Why is it so damn
hot in here? Menopause is so hot right now? I
think I'm in menopause.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Women just want to feel hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Rage against the menopause. So I go there, I get
myself together. I didn't feel great at all. But whatever
I get on stage, Da da da da, I'm backstage.
It comes to the interview section of the day when
I've got Michael voss on stage and somebody else I
can't recall because I'm perimenopause and I have no memories,
so I can't remember that. To go back to my
(01:36):
imported on stage, I can't remember, and I say that
it's after lunch, and I say to the girl backstage,
here's my notes, darling, could you go and put them
on my chair. Yes, so she goes and puts them
on my chair. But she goes and puts them on
my chair in the audience at the table where I
was sitting, and I said, I meant I probably wasn't
(02:01):
very clear put them on my chair because when I say,
hi everyone, Da da da, I now like to invite
Michael vossa onto the stage that my notes would be
on the chair and I would casually, beautifully, war elegant
slide over to my chair, sit down and just get
my notes and put them on my lap. I'm on
stage fourteen hundred people Da da da da da, and
(02:22):
well much of us to the stage, and I go
over to my chair and then I see my notes
are not on my chair.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
God.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Now, usually I would just wing it, but I had
a series of clips that I had to throw to.
God no, so yeah, and these were all last minute.
These were just came in sort of the day before,
so I hadn't sort of memorized them. I needed the
order of the four or five clips that I was
throwing to because it was historical vision and they are
all linked up on the computer, so I can't jump around.
(02:55):
So I sit down and I'm thinking, what what? What
world stops? What do I do? I can't remember clip
three off the top of my head because also perimenopausal,
I can't remember anything.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So I really.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I really rely on my notes. Stay not because I
don't know the topic, because I have that as a
brain fog.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, yeah, the b It's very real and when you're
in a high pressured situations like you are.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm going to talk about that, Sipar. We will continue
on with this story, but I want to talk about
how I navigate that this stage of life. So I
just have to think. This is one time where I'm
going to have to make a joke of this, and
I'm like, Hi, everybody's so great to be with here.
I hope you've had a lovely lunch today. Unfortunately, there
was a young girl backstage. I think her name was Jess.
(03:42):
What I said, could you put my notes on my chair? Now?
I think my table's over there. I didn't even know
where my table was. If anybody's sitting on my table,
it says Rebecca Madden, and there's some notes sitting on
her plate or on her chair, would you be able
to just grab them anyway? Hamish mcgoblin appeared out of
nowhere up and he's like, I promise I didn't steal there.
(04:03):
I made a joke of it. Got my note, but
it wasn't because for the next fifteen minutes, I mean,
I was just dying. I'm trying to issue Michael Voss.
He was fantastic. You know, no one probably would have known.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
No, they wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
But I want any man who probably won't be listening
to this podcast to remember that day. And if I
seemed a little bit off, I was really off. It
was just a day I'd like to forget. And in fact,
I've got that lunch coming up very soon, So take
two or three of that lunch you'll see how we go.
But yeah, it was just a day. So the very
(04:35):
next day I rang my GP and I made an
appointment and I went into his office. I'm like, Mark,
now is the time I've had an outer body experience.
I don't think anybody else knew, but I know internally
I was dying. I had an anxiety slash panic attack.
(04:56):
I was not holding myself together. It felt an outer
body experience. It's only because I've done these events so
many times that it almost is, you know, repetitious for
me that I got through. Anybody else I don't think
maybe would have got through. So I remember that day forever,
(05:19):
your poor thing. It was so I had my peri
menopausal moment on stage in front of fourteen hundred men.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And this is the trouble though, When you do have
those moments, it's like anything when you're in media, everyone
knows about Everyone knows when you mispronounce something, when you
stuff up, when something doesn't work, when you press the button,
everyone knows about it. There's no hiding the fact. It's
all out there for everyone to see. I know, So,
what did you do? What did he recommend? What's helped you?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So I have a marina anyway, So I had that
covered and he said, here's the I think now is
right for the estragel.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Oh yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
So he gave me prescription on that. Within two weeks,
I felt a lot better. I was sleeping. I failed
to mention I hadn't been sleeping very well that the
two o'clock wake ups were so tight, were terrible two
o'clock wake ups, which led to me being tired, meaning
(06:19):
I have to perform, meaning I started to probably eat
to get energy. I'm partial to it, you know, to it. Seriously,
I'm partial to account of coke. I mean, who drinks coke?
But some days I'm like, I got to have something
to get me going. So I was going for all
of the wrong things. I was going really for sugary things.
Intern wasn't sleeping, putting on weight, not feeling like myself,
(06:42):
but then still having to be on TV and looking perfecture.
So that was probably hard. So there was six months there.
I look back on it now, and there was six
months there that I was really fell into I think
peri menopause for long. But I got onto it pretty
quickly after that day, and I feel pretty good now.
(07:05):
My sleeping has improved so much. I feel pretty normal. Oh.
Another thing that happened which was terrible my hair.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Oh I remember you're telling me this. I had that
as well.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
My hair. I've always had quite a lot of beautiful
hair and yes hair, yes, and it started. I mean
I have been coloring my hair since I was like
six downs, so I've been always doing the same things,
so I didn't think it should have been a problem.
All of a sudden it started to snap off. I
had a patch in the top of my head where
(07:39):
I looked like Rod Stewart.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Well, I had a mullet. If I showed you the photo,
you would not It was disgusting.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
In my hair and my makeup artists were like, what's
going on? What is happening? And I'm like, oh, hot
tools on my hand. Yes, And you know, I'm a
terrible person with my hair. I mean I literally used
to just wash it and pantin and didn't care. Lets
I remember it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Nova, you said once, I said your hair smells good today.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What do you used? No?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think it was pears at the time, eight dollars
for supermarket stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Supermarket stuff. So I'm not fancy with any of that.
Sort of starky, but I am now so we just
easy like careful, careful, careful. And now that I think
of gone on you know some HRD reflection on reflection, Yes,
sort of. It's recovery back and it's recovered, isn't it crazy?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I actually had to you know how much hair I've got.
I've got a lot of hair.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Do you know you're going back to pregnancy? You know
what it does. It goes really thick and then it
goes really thin. So it only makes sense that going
through monal. Yeah, yeah, huge.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I had to get hair extensions at the side, say mullet,
I mean full on mullet back. I had my hair
at the side. It's like my near my temples was
only about like two inches long. It just snapped off.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
It was ridiculous. And I was doing nothing different, No,
nothing different. I either had to get extend It was disgusting.
It's like Barbie hair. It was shocking. You were barbing
and I was Rod Stewart got a combo.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
But it's all these things, isn't it. What about your skin?
Was your skin okay?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah? Yeah, my skin was okay. But I had sister
Gathney when I was twenty so I've sort of been
I dealt with that. Yeah, I took that, couldn't come
back again.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Skins never looked better.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Thank you. You look after it though, I'm sort of you.
I mean I yes, I go to wonderful woman Crystal,
who's been looking after my skin for a long time.
But she was She's always saying come back. You need
to come back more regularly, like I'm not. I'm just
not good with those. No, And I do have a
simple routine. I do have clean basic like I have
good products, yes, but it's not twenty five products. No,
(09:45):
it's it's the I have two things because I wear
a lot of makeup, So I do an oil and
then I.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Do a proper cleans.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, and it gets all the stuff off and then yeah,
then I pretty much juster them sometimes and then pretty
much just to moisturize and an crem and that's it.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And I love that you share it on your Instagram too,
so other women. Yeah, well that's great.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, yeah, I hope so, but I don't like too
confusing fifty five products.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well, you don't have time that half the time.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
But I don't think it's I think there's a fine
line between too much and too little.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yes, yeah, well I don't even exfoliate at the moment.
It's disgusting.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
What are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, I just cleanse and moisturize it. I exfoliated last night.
Did you tell you last time? Did you lose like
three lots of faces from mere?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I to get a whole bit off the table. Tell
me you can I just go, please, I go on
to the little bit about how I overcome. Yes, I'd
love to know before we forget. Because we're likely to forget.
We need somebody in here that's not our age, that
can remind us of the things we need to do.
(10:54):
So preparation has always been the key for me, and
it's hard though with full time job and mum and
busy life, I don't ever prepare as much as I
would like to. But now you know, for example, I'll
use the football as an example. You know, I know
my stuff. I know what I need when I know what,
(11:15):
I know what I need to know for the broadcast. However,
I just don't feel my brain is as sharp as
it used to be totally. So there is certainly brain fog.
That seems to be the trendy word to say Yeah,
does anyone say trendy anymore? I just said a really
ancient with you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
You feel like you're losing touch a bit. Yeah, you do.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And it's the exact same feeling I had after I
had Ruby and the baby brain same so brain, folks.
So Ruby was born in April and for the very
first year Channel nine when I was at Channel nine
got the rights for the Australian Open tennis and that
was my first big gig in the January after having Ruby,
(12:00):
and it was all new for Channel nine, and it
was all new for me. I've never hosted tennis before
and I actually ended up must have been okay because
I ended up posting the men's final that year, first
woman to do so anyway, yay yay. So I remember
just feeling like it was overwhelming because I'd never done
it cost of tennis before. But oh, I didn't feel
(12:21):
like my brain was sharp, Like I'd say something or
I'd see a match the day before and I'd be like,
oh gosh, who was their opposition?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What happened?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Anyway? So that's sort of feeling with the baby Braine.
It feels like it does now. So I just feel
that I have my notes not because I don't know,
but they're just my visual prompts and my brain prompts.
Absolutely because I have this great fear that I will
(12:55):
be looking at Chris Scott, the coach of Geelong, who
I know extremely well.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Umber One ticketing really well, yes, and I'll be like, so,
who are you what? North Melbourne? No, hang on ah,
you're blue and white. Just have that split second that
you don't feel it's like a being ripped out from
under you and feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Like for people that aren't at this stage of life,
a little bit of jet lag. Yes, maybe that's how
I could describe it. I just don't feel like usually
I'm like this and I look at all the men
around me, and they are sharp, Patrina, they are like this,
name scores teams, what happened three weeks ago? And I'm like, god,
(13:39):
I can't even remember what happened yesterday? What is wrong?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
We have been so much on our plates though big like, yes,
we are moms and we have aging parents and we
have busy, busy career. Everything's happening at once, Whereas I
think I think it is fair to say for a bloke,
they've got one thing to think of at once for
the most part.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You know what I think sometimes when I go to
host football on Thursday nights, and I don't have to
do this, but I like to do this if I've
got someone looking after Ruby or you know, I'm prepping
for football on the Thursday morning, I'm making spaghetti bolonnais,
so everyone's got something in each. Then I go to work.
(14:17):
Then I do the four o'clock news, then I do
the six o'clock news, and then I'm hosting football. So
I do three jobs in one day and parent and.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Probably thinking at the same time. All did I pack
Ruby's lunch? I was meant to sign that I need
to ring mom.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yeah, gosh, I forgot to pack her shoes for dance
or whatever it is. And I look at the men
around me, and I love the men around me, but
I look at the men around me, and I'm like,
have you thought about what the family's eating for dinner tonight? No?
Have you thought about your children's dance shoes? No? Have
you thought about in a week's time that she's got
so and so's birthday and brought a birthday present?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
No, it's just too much. Our minds are just too oval.
You know, we need to put it's all about And
I think once once I turn fifty, this happened for
me where I thought, I need to start putting boundaries
up and learn to start learning to say no. And
Cheeker in this series Cheeker keeper gorgeous, gorgeous, lovely listen.
(15:19):
That's the thing for her learning to say no and how.
And then when you do say no, then there's this
overriding guilt of not being yes to everyone and letting
people down. Is that because we're conditioned to be like that.
I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I am getting a little better at making rules for myself. Yeah,
so I don't try to load my day up too much.
There are certain days like Thursdays that are very busy
to me, but I do say to people, I don't
answer the phone if I don't need to on a Thursday.
And because I'm just really busy, I need to get
(15:56):
places and often I'm traveling for interstate as well. It
just makes the week. So sure, Yes, so I try
not to load so I don't go into work. I'm
obviously on air at seven o'clock at night, so I
don't start. You know, my day doesn't start at nine o'clock.
I can do drop off, and usually I've got a
couple of hours before I go into work. But I
try to not load my day up too much. Just
(16:16):
because I have the hours doesn't mean I need to
fill the hours. And when I say phil, I meant
doing other things. If I'm at home and I just
put a load of washing on, or I just get
myself organized to or dare I say it, have time
to make my bed, do those things, then that's a
morning well spent and it's not a wasted morning. And
I just feel like I got into this job because
(16:41):
I was working the back end of the day rather
than the front end of the day. I was loading
my front end front of the day too much, so
I was doing a day's work.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Before you even I'm exhausted by the time you got there.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And I was thinking, this is silly, This is really silly.
If I was starting work at nine, I was finishing
at five. Yeah, you wouldn't be doing anything before nine,
and the only thing you'd be doing after five is
making dinner or putting it, you know, and that would
be at the day of a good day spent. Yeah,
So I have to I now try to be more
(17:16):
strict with myself to not load my day up, meaning
I'm not going for twelve hours.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
At Cameron Tong. It's just too much. Yes, physically and
mentally agree with that absolutely, because you work interesting hours
as well. So I'm up at two forty five. Now,
well you.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Should be asleep right now, go to bed. But know
it's terrible, but this is a trap for you as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Now that's a really good point, because I do you
get home and then I don't even barely put my
bag down, dishwashers on. Don't get me wrong, Chris is brilliant, yeah,
so straighted, but he's got a busy a busy job.
He's off with clients or whatever through the day. So
when I get home, I think, okay, what needs to
be done. I don't even sit down, do the dishwasher?
Put teenage daughter wait with the washing peck, oh my god,
(18:01):
put something on for two minutes, it goes in the wash.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I have four husbands and four children.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, with the washing's insane.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Literally, do you know what I've started to do. I've
just started to wear the same outfit all week because
at least I can eliminate my clothes. I've just got
some knickers and a bra. The washing basket is like this,
it's my section of the washing basket, very tiny. Literally, yeah,
maybe some workout here, some socks, some Monday's yeah, and
a bra and that's mine everybody else's. I'm like, what
(18:32):
I know.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I know Saturday Ords has these really cool red tracky
decks that she wanted to wear.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I just not read because you have to do a
separate wash for you.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yes, red clothes, so it goes on a fifteen minute
cycle of that'll do anyway. She just got it off cycle. Yeah,
she got off the clothes horse. And then like that night,
I see it on the laundry floor and I said,
hang on, no, I've just that's like processed, and she goes, no,
I had them on today, mum. So we have a
(19:05):
laundry shoote oh yes, from the top to the bottom.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I want one to go the other way. So when
I get the clothes out at the bottom, I want
clean clothes to be you know what the supermarkets with
the money, they put the money in those barrels, and
that's what you need. The amount of clean clothes that
I see down the chute, I'm like, I've got dirty's, red, white,
place colors clean, which is really strange.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
How is t with the washing? Do you trust him?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
He always says to me, because I was not complaining.
I don't mind doing the washing, but it's such a
four step process.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
The handling.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's a triple handling, driple handling type of process. He
always offers to do the washing, but I.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Say, no, I know Chris puts the towels in with
the You might put like the gray towels in with
the white T shirts.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's like, I'm a bit weird though, Like I would
not put the tea towels in with the bath with the.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh don't you know you don't iron your twotails or
anything like that? Do or your face washers?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
No? No, but I don't wash the tea towels the
food germs with your undies. Oh well, really, I don't
want to dry my dishes with the niggers. I know
that's ridiculous because they've been washed.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Whatever works for you? You do you? I say?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So? Have you seen on my Instagram? I got a dog? Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I have tell me about that? So cute?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
What is he a groodle?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Is he a groodle?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Or is a kovoodle?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Kovoodle?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So his name is Rome and he is my second child.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Oh love, I thought.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So I grew up on a farm. Yeah, and we
had outdoor dogs, yes, and we had outdoor cats, and
you know, they were farm dogs.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Dogs would never come in that.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Not at alone, not one footstep in the house. Yeah,
Oh my gosh. And so I thought I would. I
thought I would implement.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Those Oh yeah, we all say that hard. Get a dog.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
A dog is not going to come upstairs. So our
bed just our bedrooms are upstairs. The dog is not
coming upstairs. Absolutely, no way he's going. I'm going to
train him to you'll be a good dog bottom of
the stairs.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Neck me, how's that going?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I know we have all these rules.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Dog will not sit at the table at the dinner
table when we're eating.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
No, we haven't got that. And there's one couch last night,
there's one couch he's not allowed on, right, okay. And
she's a good couch, Yeah, the good couch in the
good room. And she said, you know, he's working his
way up to that. She said, she he's got that chair.
He's there, he's there. She goes, there's only one place
he can't sit. Tomy, She goes, you know he's going
(21:47):
to get you. You know he's going to get you.
And I'm like, no, I have firm rule about the
good couch. He is. Here's my therapy dog.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, they're great dogs.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Sits on my lap and I pat him and all
my troubles. He is adorable.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And when you've had a bad day and you feel
like the world's against you, you come home. They're just
so pleased to see you all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
But Trent's getting very jealous, very jealous dog that about
do you love the dog more than me? I'm like,
don't ask.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Chris doesn't even ask. It's like, you love that dog
more than me?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
But I didn't think I would love it. I mean,
I I loved animals. I always love it, but we
just had a different relationship because they were farmer.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And road horses when you were younger, didn't you, Jim Kna.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yep, So I loved horses. Spent much of my life
riding horses. But this dog trainer stolen your heart. Oh
my god, I love him. He's just adorable. So anyway,
that's the new addition to our family.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
And you complete don't you think they complete your family? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, yeah, I really do. I mean, my mom has
had a couple of dogs and they just loved the dog.
And I really couldn't understand it because Mum's got French
she's always had a French bulldogs. She don'ts they are
They're like hadding a brick had all this thing, It's
like hugging a brick wall. Mum loves him. I wanted
(23:20):
something a bit more squishyway we got this dog and
I just adore him. Yeah, he does. He really completes
our family. Because Ruby is an only child, I thought
it was really important that she have a relationship with
someone else in our house other than her parents. And
she does. She adores him and she loves animals so
much that I thought I can't deny that. No, So
(23:41):
it was a little bit of an adjustment and we
got him as a puppy.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
How'd you go with the chewing? Was there a chewing stage?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
He still likes chewing, actually, but if the chewing is
not the problem, it was the carpet, not the carpet,
the rug.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Oh chewing the rugger.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
No weighing on the rock, the w so I should
have just rolled the rug up. I was really stupid,
but he lulled us into a false sense of security
because the first few days he was home, he was
so great. He just went outside and no accidents, and
I thought, Okay, it was easy, this is easy. He's
got I got a perfect baby. Ruby was the most
(24:17):
amazing baby, and now I've got a perfect say. Anyway,
he wrecked the rug and we just rolled it up
and got a new rug. He's been amazing. But the
only thing he does the toilet roll.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Oh yeah, he steals.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I love it the toilet rolls. I lost three yesterday,
expensive toilet I lost three toilet rolls just because we
were home and he was sort of in and out
of rooms all the time. I don't know, I've only
got a hold. I've got no shelf in the bathroom.
I don't know where to put the toilet of now
put the toilet roll on the towel rack. Every time
(24:54):
I got to the toilet, I have to get the
roll off the towel rack, and then got the toilet,
and then I forget. So I got to the toilet,
I'm busting and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Oh, roads insane. He'll grow out of it, though.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Can you train a dog not to take the toilet well,
but he doesn't do anything else wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Well, you know he's amazing. Yeah, that's you've got to
give him something, haven't I got to give him? So
it's better than the washing. Could you imagine? Both our
dogs that we've had would rip washing off, which and
it was only my stuff. And you know it was
never ever my everyday nickers and bras just you know
your older bras. It was always my good ones or
a good pair of shoes. I don't know how they
(25:32):
know it used to.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Like Jimmy too. No, he the Jimmy choo shoes. Dogs
partial doing Jimmy tooo. No, he really never did that,
which is good.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, you know that's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
What would your advice be to women going into perimenopause
or menopause? If you could encapsulate it into like two
or three points, what would you say to them to
get through?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Make sure you have a good doctor. You don't find one.
A colleague of mine did not have a good doctor
and she has been denied HRT and they said, no,
you have to do this, No, no, no, I made
it so difficult. Doctor Beck said you need to get
another doctor.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I get a second opinion.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Come on, this is ridiculous. And she went to the
second doctor and the doctor almost just had this look
of like, I am so sorry this has happened to you.
Put her on whatever she needed straight away. What ye
get a great doctor if you don't have one, ask around.
I just went to a GP. Some people don't feel
(26:43):
that's enough, but depending on what's going on with you,
then it worked fine. You know, it might not be
talk to friends about it, although I still have some
friends that don't like talking really RELUCTI it's a little
bit just some some people are just a little bit
(27:06):
more private.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, I think like clearly telling the world can everyone
listen to. But I agree the more people, that's why
I've done the podcast, the more peatures terrific. Remove the stigma. Yes,
we talk about getting pregnant and periods just.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Another part of it, another part of it. So yeah,
and monitor yourself, I think would be notice those changes
as I had that big red flag, and then do
something about it. Don't just dismiss it.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Glad that you were so quick onto that. No, you
know what is it? It's self advocating for yourself and
getting onto it so quick and not if it was
me I'd probably be like, oh no, you know, just
letting it lull was the print. Yeah, but you know what,
you know your body, and you thought, no, this, this
isn't right. I'm going to something's not right.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I hadn't been sleeping, so yeah, you know, I sort
of thought I was getting to it, but that was
the moment that I thought, nope, Yeah, come on, lady,
get yourself fut So, yeah, they would be the things,
but really important to have a great doctor, not just
for menopause, no, honest, for everything, and to feel her
family doctor. Yeah, so important. And I know it's so hard, yes,
(28:21):
and for a lot of people. I know it's very
expensive to have a good one that you pay for,
but your health. If you don't have your health, you
have nothing.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
So if there's one thing that you should if you
can pay for, and that is good medical advice. And
if you're not happy with the medical advice, go to
someone else. Ask your family and friends who they went
to see, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, monitor yourself and
just do something about it. Yeah, because we are so slack.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
And it doesn't have to you don't have I think
the thing is you don't have to feel that way.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
No, it's it's just.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, you might be perimenopausal or menopausal, but it doesn't
mean just as you are that you have to feel
like crap.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
No, prioritize yourself.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
And your health exactly, or go and see Beck Madden, MD.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
But it's an interesting stage of life, isn't it. I
mean we've been through, you know, getting your period when
you were fourteen or thirteen or whenever you was, can't remember.
I remember the day I first got my bras so embarrassing,
that little triangle bige. Oh yeah, it's a little line
to fit in one of those, so you know, and
(29:35):
then you go through that, and then you go through
your whole life trying not to get pregnant, and then
you try to get pregnant and you can't get pregnant.
Then you have a baby, and then you don't have
your body same body that you did that you did,
and then you're trying to do that and you're working
and family and you've got a young baby, and then
all of a sudden we're at perimenopause and menopause and
we're thinking, wow, this is amazing. Mean, just flat line,
(29:59):
I know, go through life like this, and we are.
I mean the graph is.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yes, it's like an earthquake Richter scale.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It's like eight point eight on the Richter scale. Constantly,
it's a constant state of flux. Do you know the secret?
I don't know in this series, if you've got an
answer to it, to the age where we.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Just flat line like the I don't think we ever do.
And you know what, I don't want to ever flat line.
I want to have color and light in my lifeline.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I want it to be constantly changing. Do you know
what I mean?
Speaker 1 (30:31):
I don't ever want to be flat lines? Chris say
the same thing, probably like no, I'm sure he'd like
me to just calm down a few mongrels, but a
few notches. But I just know I don't. I don't
ever want to be flat lined. I couldn't imagine you
flat line. We're not like that.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
No, But yeah, I don't know. But I think there's
a there's perhaps a perception about me. I'll go to
a party or be on this podcast, and I'm quite
up and about and that's my natural state. However, I
have a lot of downtime at home. You've got to
everyone says to me, are we having it, he calls it.
(31:06):
He goes, we're having a non speaking role today, and
I'm like, it's a non speaking role some days, I just.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah, I'm very quiet at home. I'm not at all
like I am on air. No, Chris is the one
that is the life of the party, not me. I'm
actually very very square.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
You know why, because you put all of your energy
into the show.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, I'm brain dead by the time I can and
then then you're done. But it's also I think a
place where you feel comfortable to be yourself, so you're home,
so you can just go within, don't have to.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Dazzle sparkles through life. True, so enormous personality and while
I am perfect example, I will go to a party,
I'll be there for two hours. I'll be like no, no, no, no,
and then I'm like I'm out. Yes, Yeah, Like I short,
so short, Furst.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Maybe your bursts might get do you think shorter?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Maybe?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I hope not. May I hope not.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Rebecca Maddam, I adore you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
The end is it?
Speaker 1 (32:11):
It is? I'm sure you've got far more important things
to do.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
No new TV megastar, No, not really, Thanks for having
me on even though I was guest number twenty two. Patrina,
Now listen, yes number twenty two.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
No, come on, don't you like that? I love you
very much. Keep you being you and thank you doing
what you do.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Thanks so much. I'll be looking forward to retirement now,
won't we all.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I hope you've enjoyed this second season of my podcast
as much as I've had in creating it. Women are
feeling more empowered hearing the lived experiences of others. Know
that you don't need to keep silent, and that you're
not alone in this Start putting yourself first. It's okay
to say no every now and then. I know it's
hard to achieve. Please tell everyone about my podcast, Rage
(33:00):
Against the Menopause. Series one and two is out now.
Thanks for listening. I'm Petrina Jones, Rage Against the Menopause.
My first episode with journalist Rebecca Madden ended on a cliffhanger.
Beck was telling me about the moment she suspected it
was perimenopause, when she suffered a comedy of errors while
preparing to host the massive AFL Grand Final Eve Lunch
to a room full of fourteen hundred mostly men. Her
(00:22):
printer wasn't working to print her notes, her stockings ripped,
making her late. Just nothing was going right this day.
Not exactly ideal when you're preparing to present to a
room full of powerbrokers and key stakeholders, and it's these
little things that on any other given day would be
handled with ease, but when you're in the middle of
(00:42):
a full blown hormonal hurricane, it's all bets off. Rebecca
returns in this final episode of season two of Rage
Against the Menopause and shares what happened next.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Enjoy menopause. It's coming for you no matter what. Let's
build a village of support. Why is it so damn
hot in here? Menopause is so hot right now? I
think I'm in menopause.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Women just want to feel hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Rage against the menopause. So I go there, I get
myself together. I didn't feel great at all. But whatever
I get on stage, Da da da da, I'm backstage.
It comes to the interview section of the day when
I've got Michael voss on stage and somebody else I
can't recall because I'm perimenopause and I have no memories,
so I can't remember that. To go back to my
(01:36):
imported on stage, I can't remember, and I say that
it's after lunch, and I say to the girl backstage,
here's my notes, darling, could you go and put them
on my chair. Yes, so she goes and puts them
on my chair. But she goes and puts them on
my chair in the audience at the table where I
was sitting, and I said, I meant I probably wasn't
(02:01):
very clear put them on my chair because when I say,
hi everyone, Da da da, I now like to invite
Michael vossa onto the stage that my notes would be
on the chair and I would casually, beautifully, war elegant
slide over to my chair, sit down and just get
my notes and put them on my lap. I'm on
stage fourteen hundred people Da da da da da, and
(02:22):
well much of us to the stage, and I go
over to my chair and then I see my notes
are not on my chair.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
God.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Now, usually I would just wing it, but I had
a series of clips that I had to throw to.
God no, so yeah, and these were all last minute.
These were just came in sort of the day before,
so I hadn't sort of memorized them. I needed the
order of the four or five clips that I was
throwing to because it was historical vision and they are
all linked up on the computer, so I can't jump around.
(02:55):
So I sit down and I'm thinking, what what? What
world stops? What do I do? I can't remember clip
three off the top of my head because also perimenopausal,
I can't remember anything.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So I really.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I really rely on my notes. Stay not because I
don't know the topic, because I have that as a
brain fog.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, yeah, the b It's very real and when you're
in a high pressured situations like you are.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm going to talk about that, Sipar. We will continue
on with this story, but I want to talk about
how I navigate that this stage of life. So I
just have to think. This is one time where I'm
going to have to make a joke of this, and
I'm like, Hi, everybody's so great to be with here.
I hope you've had a lovely lunch today. Unfortunately, there
was a young girl backstage. I think her name was Jess.
(03:42):
What I said, could you put my notes on my chair? Now?
I think my table's over there. I didn't even know
where my table was. If anybody's sitting on my table,
it says Rebecca Madden, and there's some notes sitting on
her plate or on her chair, would you be able
to just grab them anyway? Hamish mcgoblin appeared out of
nowhere up and he's like, I promise I didn't steal there.
(04:03):
I made a joke of it. Got my note, but
it wasn't because for the next fifteen minutes, I mean,
I was just dying. I'm trying to issue Michael Voss.
He was fantastic. You know, no one probably would have known.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
No, they wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
But I want any man who probably won't be listening
to this podcast to remember that day. And if I
seemed a little bit off, I was really off. It
was just a day I'd like to forget. And in fact,
I've got that lunch coming up very soon, So take
two or three of that lunch you'll see how we go.
But yeah, it was just a day. So the very
(04:35):
next day I rang my GP and I made an
appointment and I went into his office. I'm like, Mark,
now is the time I've had an outer body experience.
I don't think anybody else knew, but I know internally
I was dying. I had an anxiety slash panic attack.
(04:56):
I was not holding myself together. It felt an outer
body experience. It's only because I've done these events so
many times that it almost is, you know, repetitious for
me that I got through. Anybody else I don't think
maybe would have got through. So I remember that day forever,
(05:19):
your poor thing. It was so I had my peri
menopausal moment on stage in front of fourteen hundred men.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And this is the trouble though, When you do have
those moments, it's like anything when you're in media, everyone
knows about Everyone knows when you mispronounce something, when you
stuff up, when something doesn't work, when you press the button,
everyone knows about it. There's no hiding the fact. It's
all out there for everyone to see. I know, So,
what did you do? What did he recommend? What's helped you?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So I have a marina anyway, So I had that
covered and he said, here's the I think now is
right for the estragel.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Oh yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
So he gave me prescription on that. Within two weeks,
I felt a lot better. I was sleeping. I failed
to mention I hadn't been sleeping very well that the
two o'clock wake ups were so tight, were terrible two
o'clock wake ups, which led to me being tired, meaning
(06:19):
I have to perform, meaning I started to probably eat
to get energy. I'm partial to it, you know, to it. Seriously,
I'm partial to account of coke. I mean, who drinks coke?
But some days I'm like, I got to have something
to get me going. So I was going for all
of the wrong things. I was going really for sugary things.
Intern wasn't sleeping, putting on weight, not feeling like myself,
(06:42):
but then still having to be on TV and looking perfecture.
So that was probably hard. So there was six months there.
I look back on it now, and there was six
months there that I was really fell into I think
peri menopause for long. But I got onto it pretty
quickly after that day, and I feel pretty good now.
(07:05):
My sleeping has improved so much. I feel pretty normal. Oh.
Another thing that happened which was terrible my hair.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Oh I remember you're telling me this. I had that
as well.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
My hair. I've always had quite a lot of beautiful
hair and yes hair, yes, and it started. I mean
I have been coloring my hair since I was like
six downs, so I've been always doing the same things,
so I didn't think it should have been a problem.
All of a sudden it started to snap off. I
had a patch in the top of my head where
(07:39):
I looked like Rod Stewart.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Well, I had a mullet. If I showed you the photo,
you would not It was disgusting.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
In my hair and my makeup artists were like, what's
going on? What is happening? And I'm like, oh, hot
tools on my hand. Yes, And you know, I'm a
terrible person with my hair. I mean I literally used
to just wash it and pantin and didn't care. Lets
I remember it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Nova, you said once, I said your hair smells good today.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What do you used? No?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think it was pears at the time, eight dollars
for supermarket stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Supermarket stuff. So I'm not fancy with any of that.
Sort of starky, but I am now so we just
easy like careful, careful, careful. And now that I think
of gone on you know some HRD reflection on reflection, Yes,
sort of. It's recovery back and it's recovered, isn't it crazy?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I actually had to you know how much hair I've got.
I've got a lot of hair.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Do you know you're going back to pregnancy? You know
what it does. It goes really thick and then it
goes really thin. So it only makes sense that going
through monal. Yeah, yeah, huge.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I had to get hair extensions at the side, say mullet,
I mean full on mullet back. I had my hair
at the side. It's like my near my temples was
only about like two inches long. It just snapped off.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
It was ridiculous. And I was doing nothing different, No,
nothing different. I either had to get extend It was disgusting.
It's like Barbie hair. It was shocking. You were barbing
and I was Rod Stewart got a combo.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
But it's all these things, isn't it. What about your skin?
Was your skin okay?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah? Yeah, my skin was okay. But I had sister
Gathney when I was twenty so I've sort of been
I dealt with that. Yeah, I took that, couldn't come
back again.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Skins never looked better.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Thank you. You look after it though, I'm sort of you.
I mean I yes, I go to wonderful woman Crystal,
who's been looking after my skin for a long time.
But she was She's always saying come back. You need
to come back more regularly, like I'm not. I'm just
not good with those. No, And I do have a
simple routine. I do have clean basic like I have
good products, yes, but it's not twenty five products. No,
(09:45):
it's it's the I have two things because I wear
a lot of makeup, So I do an oil and
then I.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Do a proper cleans.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, and it gets all the stuff off and then yeah,
then I pretty much juster them sometimes and then pretty
much just to moisturize and an crem and that's it.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And I love that you share it on your Instagram too,
so other women. Yeah, well that's great.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah, yeah, I hope so, but I don't like too
confusing fifty five products.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well, you don't have time that half the time.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
But I don't think it's I think there's a fine
line between too much and too little.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yes, yeah, well I don't even exfoliate at the moment.
It's disgusting.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
What are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, I just cleanse and moisturize it. I exfoliated last night.
Did you tell you last time? Did you lose like
three lots of faces from mere?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I to get a whole bit off the table. Tell
me you can I just go, please, I go on
to the little bit about how I overcome. Yes, I'd
love to know before we forget. Because we're likely to forget.
We need somebody in here that's not our age, that
can remind us of the things we need to do.
(10:54):
So preparation has always been the key for me, and
it's hard though with full time job and mum and
busy life, I don't ever prepare as much as I
would like to. But now you know, for example, I'll
use the football as an example. You know, I know
my stuff. I know what I need when I know what,
(11:15):
I know what I need to know for the broadcast. However,
I just don't feel my brain is as sharp as
it used to be totally. So there is certainly brain fog.
That seems to be the trendy word to say Yeah,
does anyone say trendy anymore? I just said a really
ancient with you.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
You feel like you're losing touch a bit. Yeah, you do.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And it's the exact same feeling I had after I
had Ruby and the baby brain same so brain, folks.
So Ruby was born in April and for the very
first year Channel nine when I was at Channel nine
got the rights for the Australian Open tennis and that
was my first big gig in the January after having Ruby,
(12:00):
and it was all new for Channel nine, and it
was all new for me. I've never hosted tennis before
and I actually ended up must have been okay because
I ended up posting the men's final that year, first
woman to do so anyway, yay yay. So I remember
just feeling like it was overwhelming because I'd never done
it cost of tennis before. But oh, I didn't feel
(12:21):
like my brain was sharp, Like I'd say something or
I'd see a match the day before and I'd be like,
oh gosh, who was their opposition?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What happened?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Anyway? So that's sort of feeling with the baby Braine.
It feels like it does now. So I just feel
that I have my notes not because I don't know,
but they're just my visual prompts and my brain prompts.
Absolutely because I have this great fear that I will
(12:55):
be looking at Chris Scott, the coach of Geelong, who
I know extremely well.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Umber One ticketing really well, yes, and I'll be like, so,
who are you what? North Melbourne? No, hang on ah,
you're blue and white. Just have that split second that
you don't feel it's like a being ripped out from
under you and feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Like for people that aren't at this stage of life,
a little bit of jet lag. Yes, maybe that's how
I could describe it. I just don't feel like usually
I'm like this and I look at all the men
around me, and they are sharp, Patrina, they are like this,
name scores teams, what happened three weeks ago? And I'm like, god,
(13:39):
I can't even remember what happened yesterday? What is wrong?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
We have been so much on our plates though big like, yes,
we are moms and we have aging parents and we
have busy, busy career. Everything's happening at once, Whereas I
think I think it is fair to say for a bloke,
they've got one thing to think of at once for
the most part.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You know what I think sometimes when I go to
host football on Thursday nights, and I don't have to
do this, but I like to do this if I've
got someone looking after Ruby or you know, I'm prepping
for football on the Thursday morning, I'm making spaghetti bolonnais,
so everyone's got something in each. Then I go to work.
(14:17):
Then I do the four o'clock news, then I do
the six o'clock news, and then I'm hosting football. So
I do three jobs in one day and parent and.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Probably thinking at the same time. All did I pack
Ruby's lunch? I was meant to sign that I need
to ring mom.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yeah, gosh, I forgot to pack her shoes for dance
or whatever it is. And I look at the men
around me, and I love the men around me, but
I look at the men around me, and I'm like,
have you thought about what the family's eating for dinner tonight? No?
Have you thought about your children's dance shoes? No? Have
you thought about in a week's time that she's got
so and so's birthday and brought a birthday present?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
No, it's just too much. Our minds are just too oval.
You know, we need to put it's all about And
I think once once I turn fifty, this happened for
me where I thought, I need to start putting boundaries
up and learn to start learning to say no. And
Cheeker in this series Cheeker keeper gorgeous, gorgeous, lovely listen.
(15:19):
That's the thing for her learning to say no and how.
And then when you do say no, then there's this
overriding guilt of not being yes to everyone and letting
people down. Is that because we're conditioned to be like that.
I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I am getting a little better at making rules for myself. Yeah,
so I don't try to load my day up too much.
There are certain days like Thursdays that are very busy
to me, but I do say to people, I don't
answer the phone if I don't need to on a Thursday.
And because I'm just really busy, I need to get
(15:56):
places and often I'm traveling for interstate as well. It
just makes the week. So sure, Yes, so I try
not to load so I don't go into work. I'm
obviously on air at seven o'clock at night, so I
don't start. You know, my day doesn't start at nine o'clock.
I can do drop off, and usually I've got a
couple of hours before I go into work. But I
try to not load my day up too much. Just
(16:16):
because I have the hours doesn't mean I need to
fill the hours. And when I say phil, I meant
doing other things. If I'm at home and I just
put a load of washing on, or I just get
myself organized to or dare I say it, have time
to make my bed, do those things, then that's a
morning well spent and it's not a wasted morning. And
I just feel like I got into this job because
(16:41):
I was working the back end of the day rather
than the front end of the day. I was loading
my front end front of the day too much, so
I was doing a day's work.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Before you even I'm exhausted by the time you got there.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And I was thinking, this is silly, This is really silly.
If I was starting work at nine, I was finishing
at five. Yeah, you wouldn't be doing anything before nine,
and the only thing you'd be doing after five is
making dinner or putting it, you know, and that would
be at the day of a good day spent. Yeah,
So I have to I now try to be more
(17:16):
strict with myself to not load my day up, meaning
I'm not going for twelve hours.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
At Cameron Tong. It's just too much. Yes, physically and
mentally agree with that absolutely, because you work interesting hours
as well. So I'm up at two forty five. Now,
well you.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Should be asleep right now, go to bed. But know
it's terrible, but this is a trap for you as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Now that's a really good point, because I do you
get home and then I don't even barely put my
bag down, dishwashers on. Don't get me wrong, Chris is brilliant, yeah,
so straighted, but he's got a busy a busy job.
He's off with clients or whatever through the day. So
when I get home, I think, okay, what needs to
be done. I don't even sit down, do the dishwasher?
Put teenage daughter wait with the washing peck, oh my god,
(18:01):
put something on for two minutes, it goes in the wash.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I have four husbands and four children.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, with the washing's insane.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Literally, do you know what I've started to do. I've
just started to wear the same outfit all week because
at least I can eliminate my clothes. I've just got
some knickers and a bra. The washing basket is like this,
it's my section of the washing basket, very tiny. Literally, yeah,
maybe some workout here, some socks, some Monday's yeah, and
a bra and that's mine everybody else's. I'm like, what
(18:32):
I know.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I know Saturday Ords has these really cool red tracky
decks that she wanted to wear.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I just not read because you have to do a
separate wash for you.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yes, red clothes, so it goes on a fifteen minute
cycle of that'll do anyway. She just got it off cycle. Yeah,
she got off the clothes horse. And then like that night,
I see it on the laundry floor and I said,
hang on, no, I've just that's like processed, and she goes, no,
I had them on today, mum. So we have a
(19:05):
laundry shoote oh yes, from the top to the bottom.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I want one to go the other way. So when
I get the clothes out at the bottom, I want
clean clothes to be you know what the supermarkets with
the money, they put the money in those barrels, and
that's what you need. The amount of clean clothes that
I see down the chute, I'm like, I've got dirty's, red, white,
place colors clean, which is really strange.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
How is t with the washing? Do you trust him?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
He always says to me, because I was not complaining.
I don't mind doing the washing, but it's such a
four step process.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
The handling.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's a triple handling, driple handling type of process. He
always offers to do the washing, but I.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Say, no, I know Chris puts the towels in with
the You might put like the gray towels in with
the white T shirts.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
It's like, I'm a bit weird though, Like I would
not put the tea towels in with the bath with the.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh don't you know you don't iron your twotails or
anything like that? Do or your face washers?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
No? No, but I don't wash the tea towels the
food germs with your undies. Oh well, really, I don't
want to dry my dishes with the niggers. I know
that's ridiculous because they've been washed.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Whatever works for you? You do you? I say?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So? Have you seen on my Instagram? I got a dog? Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I have tell me about that? So cute?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
What is he a groodle?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Is he a groodle?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Or is a kovoodle?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Kovoodle?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
So his name is Rome and he is my second child.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Oh love, I thought.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So I grew up on a farm. Yeah, and we
had outdoor dogs, yes, and we had outdoor cats, and
you know, they were farm dogs.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Dogs would never come in that.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Not at alone, not one footstep in the house. Yeah,
Oh my gosh. And so I thought I would. I
thought I would implement.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Those Oh yeah, we all say that hard. Get a dog.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
A dog is not going to come upstairs. So our
bed just our bedrooms are upstairs. The dog is not
coming upstairs. Absolutely, no way he's going. I'm going to
train him to you'll be a good dog bottom of
the stairs.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Neck me, how's that going?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I know we have all these rules.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Dog will not sit at the table at the dinner
table when we're eating.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
No, we haven't got that. And there's one couch last night,
there's one couch he's not allowed on, right, okay. And
she's a good couch, Yeah, the good couch in the
good room. And she said, you know, he's working his
way up to that. She said, she he's got that chair.
He's there, he's there. She goes, there's only one place
he can't sit. Tomy, She goes, you know he's going
(21:47):
to get you. You know he's going to get you.
And I'm like, no, I have firm rule about the
good couch. He is. Here's my therapy dog.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, they're great dogs.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Sits on my lap and I pat him and all
my troubles. He is adorable.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And when you've had a bad day and you feel
like the world's against you, you come home. They're just
so pleased to see you all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
But Trent's getting very jealous, very jealous dog that about
do you love the dog more than me? I'm like,
don't ask.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Chris doesn't even ask. It's like, you love that dog
more than me?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
But I didn't think I would love it. I mean,
I I loved animals. I always love it, but we
just had a different relationship because they were farmer.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And road horses when you were younger, didn't you, Jim Kna.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yep, So I loved horses. Spent much of my life
riding horses. But this dog trainer stolen your heart. Oh
my god, I love him. He's just adorable. So anyway,
that's the new addition to our family.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
And you complete don't you think they complete your family? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, yeah, I really do. I mean, my mom has
had a couple of dogs and they just loved the dog.
And I really couldn't understand it because Mum's got French
she's always had a French bulldogs. She don'ts they are
They're like hadding a brick had all this thing, It's
like hugging a brick wall. Mum loves him. I wanted
(23:20):
something a bit more squishyway we got this dog and
I just adore him. Yeah, he does. He really completes
our family. Because Ruby is an only child, I thought
it was really important that she have a relationship with
someone else in our house other than her parents. And
she does. She adores him and she loves animals so
much that I thought I can't deny that. No, So
(23:41):
it was a little bit of an adjustment and we
got him as a puppy.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
How'd you go with the chewing? Was there a chewing stage?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
He still likes chewing, actually, but if the chewing is
not the problem, it was the carpet, not the carpet,
the rug.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Oh chewing the rugger.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
No weighing on the rock, the w so I should
have just rolled the rug up. I was really stupid,
but he lulled us into a false sense of security
because the first few days he was home, he was
so great. He just went outside and no accidents, and
I thought, Okay, it was easy, this is easy. He's
got I got a perfect baby. Ruby was the most
(24:17):
amazing baby, and now I've got a perfect say. Anyway,
he wrecked the rug and we just rolled it up
and got a new rug. He's been amazing. But the
only thing he does the toilet roll.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Oh yeah, he steals.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I love it the toilet rolls. I lost three yesterday,
expensive toilet I lost three toilet rolls just because we
were home and he was sort of in and out
of rooms all the time. I don't know, I've only
got a hold. I've got no shelf in the bathroom.
I don't know where to put the toilet of now
put the toilet roll on the towel rack. Every time
(24:54):
I got to the toilet, I have to get the
roll off the towel rack, and then got the toilet,
and then I forget. So I got to the toilet,
I'm busting and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Oh, roads insane. He'll grow out of it, though.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Can you train a dog not to take the toilet well,
but he doesn't do anything else wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Well, you know he's amazing. Yeah, that's you've got to
give him something, haven't I got to give him? So
it's better than the washing. Could you imagine? Both our
dogs that we've had would rip washing off, which and
it was only my stuff. And you know it was
never ever my everyday nickers and bras just you know
your older bras. It was always my good ones or
a good pair of shoes. I don't know how they
(25:32):
know it used to.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Like Jimmy too. No, he the Jimmy choo shoes. Dogs
partial doing Jimmy tooo. No, he really never did that,
which is good.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, you know that's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
What would your advice be to women going into perimenopause
or menopause? If you could encapsulate it into like two
or three points, what would you say to them to
get through?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Make sure you have a good doctor. You don't find one.
A colleague of mine did not have a good doctor
and she has been denied HRT and they said, no,
you have to do this, No, no, no, I made
it so difficult. Doctor Beck said you need to get
another doctor.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I get a second opinion.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Come on, this is ridiculous. And she went to the
second doctor and the doctor almost just had this look
of like, I am so sorry this has happened to you.
Put her on whatever she needed straight away. What ye
get a great doctor if you don't have one, ask around.
I just went to a GP. Some people don't feel
(26:43):
that's enough, but depending on what's going on with you,
then it worked fine. You know, it might not be
talk to friends about it, although I still have some
friends that don't like talking really RELUCTI it's a little
bit just some some people are just a little bit
(27:06):
more private.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, I think like clearly telling the world can everyone
listen to. But I agree the more people, that's why
I've done the podcast, the more peatures terrific. Remove the stigma. Yes,
we talk about getting pregnant and periods just.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Another part of it, another part of it. So yeah,
and monitor yourself, I think would be notice those changes
as I had that big red flag, and then do
something about it. Don't just dismiss it.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Glad that you were so quick onto that. No, you
know what is it? It's self advocating for yourself and
getting onto it so quick and not if it was
me I'd probably be like, oh no, you know, just
letting it lull was the print. Yeah, but you know what,
you know your body, and you thought, no, this, this
isn't right. I'm going to something's not right.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I hadn't been sleeping, so yeah, you know, I sort
of thought I was getting to it, but that was
the moment that I thought, nope, Yeah, come on, lady,
get yourself fut So, yeah, they would be the things,
but really important to have a great doctor, not just
for menopause, no, honest, for everything, and to feel her
family doctor. Yeah, so important. And I know it's so hard, yes,
(28:21):
and for a lot of people. I know it's very
expensive to have a good one that you pay for,
but your health. If you don't have your health, you
have nothing.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
So if there's one thing that you should if you
can pay for, and that is good medical advice. And
if you're not happy with the medical advice, go to
someone else. Ask your family and friends who they went
to see, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, monitor yourself and
just do something about it. Yeah, because we are so slack.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
And it doesn't have to you don't have I think
the thing is you don't have to feel that way.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
No, it's it's just.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, you might be perimenopausal or menopausal, but it doesn't
mean just as you are that you have to feel
like crap.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
No, prioritize yourself.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
And your health exactly, or go and see Beck Madden, MD.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
But it's an interesting stage of life, isn't it. I
mean we've been through, you know, getting your period when
you were fourteen or thirteen or whenever you was, can't remember.
I remember the day I first got my bras so embarrassing,
that little triangle bige. Oh yeah, it's a little line
to fit in one of those, so you know, and
(29:35):
then you go through that, and then you go through
your whole life trying not to get pregnant, and then
you try to get pregnant and you can't get pregnant.
Then you have a baby, and then you don't have
your body same body that you did that you did,
and then you're trying to do that and you're working
and family and you've got a young baby, and then
all of a sudden we're at perimenopause and menopause and
we're thinking, wow, this is amazing. Mean, just flat line,
(29:59):
I know, go through life like this, and we are.
I mean the graph is.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yes, it's like an earthquake Richter scale.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It's like eight point eight on the Richter scale. Constantly,
it's a constant state of flux. Do you know the secret?
I don't know in this series, if you've got an
answer to it, to the age where we.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Just flat line like the I don't think we ever do.
And you know what, I don't want to ever flat line.
I want to have color and light in my lifeline.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I want it to be constantly changing. Do you know
what I mean?
Speaker 1 (30:31):
I don't ever want to be flat lines? Chris say
the same thing, probably like no, I'm sure he'd like
me to just calm down a few mongrels, but a
few notches. But I just know I don't. I don't
ever want to be flat lined. I couldn't imagine you
flat line. We're not like that.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
No, But yeah, I don't know. But I think there's
a there's perhaps a perception about me. I'll go to
a party or be on this podcast, and I'm quite
up and about and that's my natural state. However, I
have a lot of downtime at home. You've got to
everyone says to me, are we having it, he calls it.
(31:06):
He goes, we're having a non speaking role today, and
I'm like, it's a non speaking role some days, I just.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah, I'm very quiet at home. I'm not at all
like I am on air. No, Chris is the one
that is the life of the party, not me. I'm
actually very very square.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
You know why, because you put all of your energy
into the show.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, I'm brain dead by the time I can and
then then you're done. But it's also I think a
place where you feel comfortable to be yourself, so you're home,
so you can just go within, don't have to.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Dazzle sparkles through life. True, so enormous personality and while
I am perfect example, I will go to a party,
I'll be there for two hours. I'll be like no, no, no, no,
and then I'm like I'm out. Yes, Yeah, Like I short,
so short, Furst.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Maybe your bursts might get do you think shorter?
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Maybe?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I hope not. May I hope not.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Rebecca Maddam, I adore you so much.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
The end is it?
Speaker 1 (32:11):
It is? I'm sure you've got far more important things
to do.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
No new TV megastar, No, not really, Thanks for having
me on even though I was guest number twenty two. Patrina,
Now listen, yes number twenty two.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
No, come on, don't you like that? I love you
very much. Keep you being you and thank you doing
what you do.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Thanks so much. I'll be looking forward to retirement now,
won't we all.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I hope you've enjoyed this second season of my podcast
as much as I've had in creating it. Women are
feeling more empowered hearing the lived experiences of others. Know
that you don't need to keep silent, and that you're
not alone in this Start putting yourself first. It's okay
to say no every now and then. I know it's
hard to achieve. Please tell everyone about my podcast, Rage
(33:00):
Against the Menopause. Series one and two is out now.
Thanks for listening. I'm Petrina Jones, Rage Against the Menopause.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.