Hi ladies
Very interesting thread as my daughter is 12 and although she hasn't started her periods yet, she is certainly having the hormonal swings! We are very close and when I started feeling really rough a couple of years ago - dreadful anxiety, feeling 'spaced out' - and realised that it must be the start of the menopause, I did explain to her what was going on and that it would pass. (Those symptoms thankfully have got much better although can't say the same for the physical ones!
) I said to her then that when her hormones started changing, she might feel a bit strange sometimes or have funny moods and that I would always understand as I know what games hormones can play. I was appalled by the thought of adolescence and menopause under one roof ('fireworks every day' as my best friend put it
) but in fact, I think it has helped me to sympathise with my daughter when she feels upset/angry/'weird', as I know exactly what she means!
My mother never discussed the menopause or even mentioned it to me until I started mine and then her comments were along the lines of 'I never had all these problems with mine, you must be very unlucky' (very comforting, thanks
). When I mentioned this to my very nice female GP, she made a rather dismissive noise and said she's sure older women just forget all the horrible symptoms they had! Mind you, my mother didn't do the 'period talk' very well either - I was left with the impression that I would only require 1 tampon for my entire period
I don't think I've frightened my daughter by talking to her about it, she is too young for it to have any real relevance at the moment but hopefully she has seen that there are ways to deal with things and that you do come out the other side. Now if any of you with older daughters could tell me when the mood swings and rudeness might stop (hers, not mine!), I'd be most grateful
Puffin x
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Topic: What have you told your daughters? (Read 6072 times)