July 8, 2025 • 11 mins
The unpredictable physical and emotional changes of perimenopause can disrupt even the most organized lives, as fatigue suddenly hits "like trudging through lava." Sharing a personal journal entry reveals the reality of these symptoms and emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy during this transitional life phase.
• Fatigue during perimenopause can strike without warning, forcing immediate prioritization of essential tasks
• Personal journal excerpt details experiencing sudden, debilitating exhaustion that feels like "dragging double and triple my weight"
• Standard menopause symptoms include irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, and significant mood swings
• Helpful supplements include vitamin D, B complex, fish oil for cognitive function, and magnesium glycinate for hormonal balance
• The importance of being your own health advocate and researching options when symptoms affect quality of life
• Women shouldn't accept feeling terrible for most of the month as normal or inevitable
If you're experiencing perimenopause or menopause symptoms, please explore online resources and consult with healthcare professionals to find the right support for your journey.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody.
This is Phil Rose's podcast.
This podcast was created forwomen, by women, to elevate
women's voices.
Happy Tuesday morning to youall.
Most likely, this is not airinguntil Tuesday morning.
I say this because I had asmall delay in my recording.
So I already explained like mygoal is to have three or four
recordings per week for all ofyou, but you will also know that
(00:22):
I pivot accordingly if I needto to prioritize other things.
I love the podcast.
I'm always going to work on thepodcast, but if I know that
something's off with me, I haveto prioritize other things.
It is what it is and I think weall need to give ourselves that
level of grace to basically getthrough everything that we try
to get through.
In particular, yesterday wasSunday, so I'm recording this on
(00:44):
Monday.
Yesterday was Sunday and I hadthis whole slew of things that I
wanted to do and really wasn'tanything overbearing.
It was my usual kind of like oh, I want to get get these things
checked off, you know, and thenI couldn't.
I got hit really, reallyhorribly with fatigue in the
afternoon and I had to honorthat basically and I say honor
that because I don't like havingto say what I really was
(01:05):
thinking which was suck it upkind of thing, right.
So in light of no, in light ofsorry child interruption
guarantee when I'm recording,because I didn't get to record
yesterday, I wasn't up to it Idid journal.
So what I am going to do today,on a more personal sharing note
, is I'm going to read to youthe excerpts from my journal
from yesterday, because I doactually want you to get that
(01:31):
realness of me slipping intoperimenopause, menopause.
If any of you are feeling thisway, this is normal, we are all
feeling this way and it sucksfor all of us.
So the faster we can allrecognize and accept that we all
feeling kind of crappy, I think, the better we'll feel.
So, on that note, I'll read youmy excerpt.
(01:51):
This is from july 6th.
Sunday, july 6th, my bodybetrayed me.
Today I had a decent start andlet myself sleep in until eight
o'clock, did my usual morningbreakfast, just slow going.
Ran to home depot to get theplants I wanted.
I love how they all turned out.
Then we took a quick trip tothe bay for an hour.
Again, all good and positive.
My final chore was picking upgroceries, doing some meal prep,
(02:14):
podcast and my regular work.
But again, I was feeling goodUntil, that is, I got home from
picking up the groceries.
All of a sudden, the fatigue hitme like a truck.
It felt like I had been runningat full speed and crashed
directly into a wall, turning mybody to slow moving lava.
Every movement felt likedragging double and triple my
(02:36):
weight.
I had to, in a moment, make thedecision to get through the
priorities only and just laydown I hate it.
Didn't really hate that that Ihave to accept the slowdown.
I have been going throughover-the-counter products to
help me get through thesemenopause and perimenopause
symptoms and they do nothing.
Nothing, all caps.
The fatigue is fading now andI'm not feeling as much of the
(02:58):
drag as I did before, but it islightly there regardless of my
plans.
I need to be able to pivotquickly and roll with how I'm
feeling.
I still hate it.
Also, I'd like to note myhandwriting was so horrible when
I jotted this because I wasexactly how I explained it.
I was feeling fine and I thinka lot of you might be feeling
this too.
So I really want to, I guess,highlight this also, and
(03:21):
incredibly emotional because,while, yes, I'm going through
perimenopause or menopause,where the hell.
I am in this cycle.
I'm still getting my cycles, mymonthly cycles, so my emotions
are like out of control,especially this week.
This week is going to be badfor everybody, but, yeah, it's
the wildest thing because I willbe perfectly fine and feel
(03:42):
perfectly good and I'll be, youknow, ripping through what I
normally have to get through andI'll just be making moves and
you know, like the usual stuff,like ladies, like what do we
usually do?
We kill it, like right, like wealways have a lot of things
going on.
Then make sure we get to it all.
We have our careers and if youdon't have your careers, you
have your family.
If you don't have a family, youhave yourself to take care of.
You know, there's alwayssomething, there is always
(04:04):
something that we're doing andthen all of a sudden, out of
nowhere, I will feel likethousand pound weights have been
anchored to my ankles and Ihave to drag myself through
whatever it is I'm doing so.
Yesterday, when the fatiguestarted to hit, I think, I think
I was unpacking groceries and Ihad started the meal prep,
cooking dinner process.
(04:24):
I always on Sundays, will cookdinner, but while I'm cooking
dinner I'll make like threemeals at once because I want to
be able to have or I'll makesomething big that I can have
throughout the week.
So I try to do that.
Now, part of the reason why Ido that also it's health wise.
It's not for a dietspecifically.
It's more so because if I don'tmake food for myself on Sunday
that I can reheat or whatever Ido a lot of protein pasta salads
(04:46):
.
So if I don't do that on aSunday, chances are like I'll
just grab snacks all week, andI'm trying not to do that.
I really do want to eat betterfor my body.
So the only way I can do thatis to make sure I make time on
Sunday to make food that willlast all week, that I can just
eat and still feel like I'mfilling myself but I'm being
healthy.
I mean it has to be stuff thatI like.
So when this fatigue hit, I hadto quickly like wrap up
(05:09):
everything I was doing.
I had to really quickly justdrag myself through everything.
I didn't get to, you know,nearly as much stuff as I had
wanted to, but I had to justprioritize the essential
functions.
That is incredibly anincredible thing to have to
experience, because you're notexpecting it You're not
expecting.
Like you know, all of a suddenI'm going to feel like I'm.
(05:29):
You know I'm, I'm fading away.
The best way to describe itreally is a trudging through
lava.
Or you know, the thousand poundweights on my arms and legs and
my body and all of a sudden,just feeling like the weight of
everything has crashed upon me.
Yesterday was the worst of it.
Today I woke up okay, but thisafternoon it started to sort of
(05:51):
hit me a little bit.
I drank a lot of water to try,and I've noticed that if I do
drink a lot of water, that seemsto help as well.
I'm very mindful of mysupplements.
I am anemic, so I make sure Itake my iron supplements to help
combat fatigue from that sideas well.
This is all I'm sharing.
All this because I do want youall to know, like our physical
(06:12):
bodies, we have to really takecare of them and pay, pay mind
to them, especially as you getolder.
You know, in your twentiesyou're like invincible, like
seriously.
I swear to God, if I couldtrade bodies with my 22-year-old
self, I'd do it in a heartbeat,because I had no idea what I
had there.
I really didn't.
I had a slight idea and I waslike I'm going to enjoy this
(06:43):
while I can.
But now that I'm in my 40s I'mlike damn.
I really did not appreciate theamount of vitality I had in my
20s, because now I I want it andI'm doing everything I can to
maintain, but it's not the same.
You know, if we're going to behonest with each other, it's
just not the same.
We don't have this samephysical bodies.
Taking care of yourself as soonas you can and making sure that
you're prioritizing yourself andyour wellness is super
important.
So a couple things for theladies listening right now usual
perimenopause, menopause, likewhatever.
What they talk about in mediais hot flashes is the most thing
(07:07):
, is one of the biggest thing.
And then they'll talk about, um, your periods becoming
irregular.
Those are both true things.
Those are fair.
I will say this I don't get hotflashes, but I was getting night
sweats quite a bit at one point, but then it stopped.
It's so friggin random that youcan't pinpoint this stuff.
So I'm just going to runthrough the gamut of like normal
(07:29):
changes when you go throughlike perimenopause, menopause,
so you have your menstrual cycle, changes come irregular,
heavier, lighter, might skip.
Here and there Mine arebecoming irregular.
I've always been like clockwork.
Now, all of a sudden, I'm likeI don't know when it's coming,
but it's coming, you know, andthe only way I know that it's
coming is because of how I'mstarting to feel.
If I know, if I start to seethat I'm getting triggered, if I
(07:50):
start to have that fatigue Iknow that that usually comes
about the week before.
So I know that that usuallycomes about the week before.
So now that's how I gauge itHot flashes, night sweats,
changes in hormonal levels, moodand cognitive changes.
So the mood swings, irritability, anxiety and depression are all
common, as well asconcentration and memory.
All of these across the gatelike across the gate.
(08:11):
That's why the supplements areso important.
So I do take an.
I am not a medical professional, but I am going to just share
what I've been doing that seemsto be working for me.
I do make sure I have vitamin D.
I do make sure I take a B Ithink it's a B complex and then
I also take fish oil, which I'lllet you know at my next blood
screen if that's okay with mycholesterol levels.
But I do take fish oil.
(08:32):
The fish oil actually seemed tohelp quite a bit with my
cognitive function.
So those were some that I addedagain I always take, and then I
also take magnesium glycinateas well, just to help because
the majority of us are deficientin magnesium.
(08:52):
I want to read this to youMagnesium glycinate for women is
improved sleep, reduced anxietyand relief from muscle cramps
and PMS symptoms.
It's also known for its calmingeffect on the nervous system.
It's potential to supporthormonal balance, especially
during perimenopause andmenopause.
So I knew there was somethingand again memory.
Clearly I couldn't remember why, but I knew there was a reason.
(09:14):
So the magnesium glycinate, Itake the fish oil, I take
vitamin D, I take the B complexand then the only other one that
I work in here and there iscranberry supplements, because
I'm prone to UTIs for somereason now as an adult, which is
just freaking annoying.
But I'm maintaining, I'm tryingto make it through, I recognize
and acknowledge when I'mstarting to feel like crap and I
(09:36):
settle down what I need tosettle down and I just make my
way to lay down and that's kindof all I can do at this point.
Supplements help but it's notgoing to save me.
So I am fingers crossing that,because my mom can't even
remember going through menopause, that perhaps my journey will
not be that terrible.
But the important thing is to beaware of what you're going
through and to do your ownresearch and be your own
(09:58):
advocate.
If you don't become your ownadvocate, if you're feeling
really crappy and you haven'tand nobody's there to help you,
you have to figure this out.
You cannot live a life in agony.
And why would you?
Why would you If somebody toldyou you had a 50-50 shot at you
know something or you know what?
You're going to have thissurgery but you're only going to
feel good 30% of the time.
(10:18):
70% of the time you're going tofeel like shit?
You wouldn't accept those odds.
So why would our in our livesSay like, oh well, during the
month I feel good one weekend ofthe month, but, you know, 75%
of the month I feel like I feelhorrible.
We need to do something forourselves.
We can't live our lives likethis.
You're not living your bestlife living like that.
I do encourage you to do someresearch, talk to medical
(10:39):
professionals, get opinions andthen go from there and see what
you can do.
You can find holistic peoplethat you can work with.
I personally can't affordholistic people just because
they don't usually take healthinsurance.
So I do have to go to medicaldoctors.
I can afford it.
Go with somebody holistic, youknow.
Go and talk to people at the at, not at the vitamin shop, cause
those are youths no offenseyouths but they're not, maybe
(11:00):
not be as well versed.
But talk to medicalprofessionals, get some serious,
get some solid advice.
There are so many things thatyou can do for yourself, both
pharmaceutical and natural, thatwill help you.
Um, so I appreciate all of youbeing with me on this journey.
I apologize, the schedule is alittle wonky, but I'm trying my
best to keep myself maintainedand I really hope that you got
(11:24):
something out of this episode.
If you didn't, and you thinksomeone else has perimenopausal
or bone through menopausalsymptoms, please direct them
here.
You can also find lots of, lotsof really great resources
online to help support youthrough this, so I really do
encourage you to try to becomeyour own advocate.
Thank you again for joining meon today's episode and I will
catch you on the next one.
Take care.
Hello everybody.
This is Phil Rose's podcast.
This podcast was created forwomen, by women, to elevate
women's voices.
Happy Tuesday morning to youall.
Most likely, this is not airinguntil Tuesday morning.
I say this because I had asmall delay in my recording.
So I already explained like mygoal is to have three or four
recordings per week for all ofyou, but you will also know that
(00:22):
I pivot accordingly if I needto to prioritize other things.
I love the podcast.
I'm always going to work on thepodcast, but if I know that
something's off with me, I haveto prioritize other things.
It is what it is and I think weall need to give ourselves that
level of grace to basically getthrough everything that we try
to get through.
In particular, yesterday wasSunday, so I'm recording this on
(00:44):
Monday.
Yesterday was Sunday and I hadthis whole slew of things that I
wanted to do and really wasn'tanything overbearing.
It was my usual kind of like oh, I want to get get these things
checked off, you know, and thenI couldn't.
I got hit really, reallyhorribly with fatigue in the
afternoon and I had to honorthat basically and I say honor
that because I don't like havingto say what I really was
(01:05):
thinking which was suck it upkind of thing, right.
So in light of no, in light ofsorry child interruption
guarantee when I'm recording,because I didn't get to record
yesterday, I wasn't up to it Idid journal.
So what I am going to do today,on a more personal sharing note
, is I'm going to read to youthe excerpts from my journal
from yesterday, because I doactually want you to get that
(01:31):
realness of me slipping intoperimenopause, menopause.
If any of you are feeling thisway, this is normal, we are all
feeling this way and it sucksfor all of us.
So the faster we can allrecognize and accept that we all
feeling kind of crappy, I think, the better we'll feel.
So, on that note, I'll read youmy excerpt.
(01:51):
This is from july 6th.
Sunday, july 6th, my bodybetrayed me.
Today I had a decent start andlet myself sleep in until eight
o'clock, did my usual morningbreakfast, just slow going.
Ran to home depot to get theplants I wanted.
I love how they all turned out.
Then we took a quick trip tothe bay for an hour.
Again, all good and positive.
My final chore was picking upgroceries, doing some meal prep,
(02:14):
podcast and my regular work.
But again, I was feeling goodUntil, that is, I got home from
picking up the groceries.
All of a sudden, the fatigue hitme like a truck.
It felt like I had been runningat full speed and crashed
directly into a wall, turning mybody to slow moving lava.
Every movement felt likedragging double and triple my
(02:36):
weight.
I had to, in a moment, make thedecision to get through the
priorities only and just laydown I hate it.
Didn't really hate that that Ihave to accept the slowdown.
I have been going throughover-the-counter products to
help me get through thesemenopause and perimenopause
symptoms and they do nothing.
Nothing, all caps.
The fatigue is fading now andI'm not feeling as much of the
(02:58):
drag as I did before, but it islightly there regardless of my
plans.
I need to be able to pivotquickly and roll with how I'm
feeling.
I still hate it.
Also, I'd like to note myhandwriting was so horrible when
I jotted this because I wasexactly how I explained it.
I was feeling fine and I thinka lot of you might be feeling
this too.
So I really want to, I guess,highlight this also, and
(03:21):
incredibly emotional because,while, yes, I'm going through
perimenopause or menopause,where the hell.
I am in this cycle.
I'm still getting my cycles, mymonthly cycles, so my emotions
are like out of control,especially this week.
This week is going to be badfor everybody, but, yeah, it's
the wildest thing because I willbe perfectly fine and feel
(03:42):
perfectly good and I'll be, youknow, ripping through what I
normally have to get through andI'll just be making moves and
you know, like the usual stuff,like ladies, like what do we
usually do?
We kill it, like right, like wealways have a lot of things
going on.
Then make sure we get to it all.
We have our careers and if youdon't have your careers, you
have your family.
If you don't have a family, youhave yourself to take care of.
You know, there's alwayssomething, there is always
(04:04):
something that we're doing andthen all of a sudden, out of
nowhere, I will feel likethousand pound weights have been
anchored to my ankles and Ihave to drag myself through
whatever it is I'm doing so.
Yesterday, when the fatiguestarted to hit, I think, I think
I was unpacking groceries and Ihad started the meal prep,
cooking dinner process.
(04:24):
I always on Sundays, will cookdinner, but while I'm cooking
dinner I'll make like threemeals at once because I want to
be able to have or I'll makesomething big that I can have
throughout the week.
So I try to do that.
Now, part of the reason why Ido that also it's health wise.
It's not for a dietspecifically.
It's more so because if I don'tmake food for myself on Sunday
that I can reheat or whatever Ido a lot of protein pasta salads
(04:46):
.
So if I don't do that on aSunday, chances are like I'll
just grab snacks all week, andI'm trying not to do that.
I really do want to eat betterfor my body.
So the only way I can do thatis to make sure I make time on
Sunday to make food that willlast all week, that I can just
eat and still feel like I'mfilling myself but I'm being
healthy.
I mean it has to be stuff thatI like.
So when this fatigue hit, I hadto quickly like wrap up
(05:09):
everything I was doing.
I had to really quickly justdrag myself through everything.
I didn't get to, you know,nearly as much stuff as I had
wanted to, but I had to justprioritize the essential
functions.
That is incredibly anincredible thing to have to
experience, because you're notexpecting it You're not
expecting.
Like you know, all of a suddenI'm going to feel like I'm.
(05:29):
You know I'm, I'm fading away.
The best way to describe itreally is a trudging through
lava.
Or you know, the thousand poundweights on my arms and legs and
my body and all of a sudden,just feeling like the weight of
everything has crashed upon me.
Yesterday was the worst of it.
Today I woke up okay, but thisafternoon it started to sort of
(05:51):
hit me a little bit.
I drank a lot of water to try,and I've noticed that if I do
drink a lot of water, that seemsto help as well.
I'm very mindful of mysupplements.
I am anemic, so I make sure Itake my iron supplements to help
combat fatigue from that sideas well.
This is all I'm sharing.
All this because I do want youall to know, like our physical
(06:12):
bodies, we have to really takecare of them and pay, pay mind
to them, especially as you getolder.
You know, in your twentiesyou're like invincible, like
seriously.
I swear to God, if I couldtrade bodies with my 22-year-old
self, I'd do it in a heartbeat,because I had no idea what I
had there.
I really didn't.
I had a slight idea and I waslike I'm going to enjoy this
(06:43):
while I can.
But now that I'm in my 40s I'mlike damn.
I really did not appreciate theamount of vitality I had in my
20s, because now I I want it andI'm doing everything I can to
maintain, but it's not the same.
You know, if we're going to behonest with each other, it's
just not the same.
We don't have this samephysical bodies.
Taking care of yourself as soonas you can and making sure that
you're prioritizing yourself andyour wellness is super
important.
So a couple things for theladies listening right now usual
perimenopause, menopause, likewhatever.
What they talk about in mediais hot flashes is the most thing
(07:07):
, is one of the biggest thing.
And then they'll talk about, um, your periods becoming
irregular.
Those are both true things.
Those are fair.
I will say this I don't get hotflashes, but I was getting night
sweats quite a bit at one point, but then it stopped.
It's so friggin random that youcan't pinpoint this stuff.
So I'm just going to runthrough the gamut of like normal
(07:29):
changes when you go throughlike perimenopause, menopause,
so you have your menstrual cycle, changes come irregular,
heavier, lighter, might skip.
Here and there Mine arebecoming irregular.
I've always been like clockwork.
Now, all of a sudden, I'm likeI don't know when it's coming,
but it's coming, you know, andthe only way I know that it's
coming is because of how I'mstarting to feel.
If I know, if I start to seethat I'm getting triggered, if I
(07:50):
start to have that fatigue Iknow that that usually comes
about the week before.
So I know that that usuallycomes about the week before.
So now that's how I gauge itHot flashes, night sweats,
changes in hormonal levels, moodand cognitive changes.
So the mood swings, irritability, anxiety and depression are all
common, as well asconcentration and memory.
All of these across the gatelike across the gate.
(08:11):
That's why the supplements areso important.
So I do take an.
I am not a medical professional, but I am going to just share
what I've been doing that seemsto be working for me.
I do make sure I have vitamin D.
I do make sure I take a B Ithink it's a B complex and then
I also take fish oil, which I'lllet you know at my next blood
screen if that's okay with mycholesterol levels.
But I do take fish oil.
(08:32):
The fish oil actually seemed tohelp quite a bit with my
cognitive function.
So those were some that I addedagain I always take, and then I
also take magnesium glycinateas well, just to help because
the majority of us are deficientin magnesium.
(08:52):
I want to read this to youMagnesium glycinate for women is
improved sleep, reduced anxietyand relief from muscle cramps
and PMS symptoms.
It's also known for its calmingeffect on the nervous system.
It's potential to supporthormonal balance, especially
during perimenopause andmenopause.
So I knew there was somethingand again memory.
Clearly I couldn't remember why, but I knew there was a reason.
(09:14):
So the magnesium glycinate, Itake the fish oil, I take
vitamin D, I take the B complexand then the only other one that
I work in here and there iscranberry supplements, because
I'm prone to UTIs for somereason now as an adult, which is
just freaking annoying.
But I'm maintaining, I'm tryingto make it through, I recognize
and acknowledge when I'mstarting to feel like crap and I
(09:36):
settle down what I need tosettle down and I just make my
way to lay down and that's kindof all I can do at this point.
Supplements help but it's notgoing to save me.
So I am fingers crossing that,because my mom can't even
remember going through menopause, that perhaps my journey will
not be that terrible.
But the important thing is to beaware of what you're going
through and to do your ownresearch and be your own
(09:58):
advocate.
If you don't become your ownadvocate, if you're feeling
really crappy and you haven'tand nobody's there to help you,
you have to figure this out.
You cannot live a life in agony.
And why would you?
Why would you If somebody toldyou you had a 50-50 shot at you
know something or you know what?
You're going to have thissurgery but you're only going to
feel good 30% of the time.
(10:18):
70% of the time you're going tofeel like shit?
You wouldn't accept those odds.
So why would our in our livesSay like, oh well, during the
month I feel good one weekend ofthe month, but, you know, 75%
of the month I feel like I feelhorrible.
We need to do something forourselves.
We can't live our lives likethis.
You're not living your bestlife living like that.
I do encourage you to do someresearch, talk to medical
(10:39):
professionals, get opinions andthen go from there and see what
you can do.
You can find holistic peoplethat you can work with.
I personally can't affordholistic people just because
they don't usually take healthinsurance.
So I do have to go to medicaldoctors.
I can afford it.
Go with somebody holistic, youknow.
Go and talk to people at the at, not at the vitamin shop, cause
those are youths no offenseyouths but they're not, maybe
(11:00):
not be as well versed.
But talk to medicalprofessionals, get some serious,
get some solid advice.
There are so many things thatyou can do for yourself, both
pharmaceutical and natural, thatwill help you.
Um, so I appreciate all of youbeing with me on this journey.
I apologize, the schedule is alittle wonky, but I'm trying my
best to keep myself maintainedand I really hope that you got
(11:24):
something out of this episode.
If you didn't, and you thinksomeone else has perimenopausal
or bone through menopausalsymptoms, please direct them
here.
You can also find lots of, lotsof really great resources
online to help support youthrough this, so I really do
encourage you to try to becomeyour own advocate.
Thank you again for joining meon today's episode and I will
catch you on the next one.
Take care.
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