My dear friend and I often call each other to vent. We live 3,000 miles apart, but it doesn’t matter. (Because we can’t get together for a girls’ trip as often as we wish, these phone calls often turn into laugh-out-loud therapy sessions.)

We have been super close since we were in our 20s, when my husband and I lived in the Pacific NW. I’m so thankful to still call many of my girlfriends from Seattle my lifelong besties.

Fast-forward 30 years and nothing has changed.

Except our bodies.

The topic of these phone-in friend-to-friend calls almost always winds its way to menopause- something we are both experiencing. Our latest conversation? Menopause hangovers. We literally cackled out loud about how our bodies are so sensitive now, we could have mind-blowing headaches after the tiniest amount of alcohol. I recently had a hangover headache from trying Senna tea after one glass of wine. Yup. One glass.

(This was Smooth move tea by the way. And yes the name means it helps you go. I realize I have officially turned into my mother. ) So I had one glass of wine on a recent girls’ trip and felt like I had been to a keg party the following morning. I know, I know, call me tons of fun. 

So my friend and I were giggling about how much our tolerance has changed over the years.

Do you remember when you were in your 20s? I do. I could go out, drink until 2 am, come home, sleep maybe four hours, wake up and go to work. Tackle projects like a bad ass pr executive with zero hangover symptoms. The stamp from the bar would still be on my wrist, but it didn’t matter. I’d cover that up with my blazer sleeve. All I really needed was a cheeseburger. I could power through the workday and join my friends for after-work drinks. My husband and I hardly ever ate at home. We’d often meet our friends for happy hour. We joke that we were not alcoholics, we just had stamina.

We were young.

We lived in the city.

We were tons of fun.

We had so much energy.

Now I get a menopause hangover if I sleep wrong. And don’t even get me started on brain fog or night sweats.

I woke up the other night having to pee and dry myself off from night sweats. I looked in the mirror and almost screamed. I thought I might have to go to urgent care. There were red blotches all over my face. I thought for sure I had some kind of infection or high fever. I was about to Google my symptoms. But I took my temperature first. I was 97.1. (Almost too cold to function.)

I washed my face.

Still red.

What the…

Red bumps were imprinted, not raised, on the entire left side of my face.

I went back to bed and flashed the light from my cell phone onto my comforter to see if maybe there was a reason for the rash.

It turns out I slept so hard on my pillow, the embroidery from my pillow case had made deep indentations on the left side of my face. I looked like I had been stung by a crocheted doily.

I’m so done.

Cheers to all things menopause! XO