You're Still NOT Crazy

Anxiety showing up out of nowhere? Racing thoughts, tight chest, and that constant edge? You’re not broken, it might be perimenopause or menopause. In this episode of Hot Flash & Sassy, we’re talking about how hormonal shifts can trigger anxiety, why no one warned us, and what actually helps. Honest, relatable, and validating because you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not crazy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hot Flash and Sassy, a podcast with hot takes, hotter flashes, and a whole lot of sass. Get this started with a question. Have you ever woken up feeling anxious for absolutely no reason? Sure have. Heart racing? Of course. Chest tight. All of it. Brain already spiraling. Done. Before your feet even hit the floor. Yep, maybe happening right now. Yeah. Are you asleep? Okay. No bad news, no obvious stressors, just anxiety. Loud, immediate, uninvited. If that's you, welcome. You are not broken. Nope, just join the club. You're very likely it's hormonal. Today we're talking about anxiety and perimenopause and menopause. Why it shows up out of nowhere, why it feels different than stress, and why just calm down is possibly the most unhelpful thing that can be said to you. I will throw it punch you. Yeah. Or it's the worst, isn't it? It's the worst. Even though I have been told in the past I'm not gonna say his name, but that when I've had high anxiety, it's like he's like, light a candle. What the fuck is the candle gonna dear?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Is this the same person that refers to himself as a Greek god? Yes. I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

I'm on to something. You are you you are like an investigator.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I experienced all those things, just so you know. Yeah, all of them. I have, but not I guess not in my younger years. This is something that's literally come on within the last maybe five years that I've experienced that. Nothing before. Is it a coincidence that my son is five years old?

unknown 2:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Just blame the child.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Oh, the poor baby, the cutest one. It's not your child's fault, it's your hormone's fault. No. Well, the child created the hormones. Okay, yeah. So just for those of you that don't know, Bodhi broke my body. He did, yeah. But then sent me into perimenopause, and then I had a partial hysterectomy, still in perimenopause because I kept my eggs, my ovaries, and they're still producing eggs.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Gosh.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

I know. That's fine. Thanks. Thanks, Bodhi. No, I'm just kidding. It's so not Bodie's fault. It's definitely Body's fault. It's definitely Jay's fault. What? 100%. Let's just blame Jay.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

That's where I'm going.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

But yes, I mean, I have experienced all of those at some point over the last five years. To be real serious, because it is serious. It's not something that you want somebody to say, just calm down, because you literally cannot. It's not a thing where you can go, okay, body, just calm down. No, your hormones are like F you, not calming down today. Yep. Yeah. Definitely. So um, why anxiety shows up in perimenopause and menopause? Well, we kind of already know that, don't we? Yeah. I mean, your hormones are F. So they're all over the place. Why would we think that they're gonna be okay with this? Why would they be just fine? And why wouldn't they affect anxiety? But the problem that I see with the whole topic on anxiety is that a lot of medical professionals want to treat anxiety, which here we go again. We're treating a symptom. This is a symptom. The hormones are the root cause. So we have to treat the hormones. Um, Holly, I think you have a little bit of a the list on all of the hormones, which we mention often in all of our episodes, um, but we dug a little information up about how each hormone plays a part in anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yep. So there are four main hormones that kind of impact anxiety. So you have your estrogen, which we talk a lot about. Estrogen helps us regulate serotonin, so your feel-good neurotransmitter. When estrogen fluctuates, serotonin can tank. So low serotonin equals anxiety, low mood, irritability, all of those things. All the things.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

I would like more serotonin, please. Yeah, where do I get that? Where do I get that?

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Hey Judy, can I have a pellet? We bottle serotonin.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

I guess indirectly our estrogen pellet is what's affecting our serotonin. It's it's helping us out. Yeah, but uh just like that. Just you know, go ahead and shoot that up. Shoot it in.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah. I do think there's serotonin maybe in some anxiety meds and things like that. I think that's what they they use. But um, again, maybe if it's the estrogen, you don't really need the serotonin.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

So uh progesterone. So progesterone is our natural calming hormone. It acts like nature's Xanax. How far?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

That please.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

So when your progesterone drops, especially in perimenopause, anxiety, panic, and insomnia can spike fast. So I did ask Judy about that. You did about progesterone? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

I asked her because I was curious if that was something that we could get just added to our little pellets. What else can we throw in here? All the bases here. Um, and she said that once upon a lifetime there was they did do pellets of progesterone. Okay. But your they could not regulate how quickly your body absorbed it. Interesting. So that is not the they didn't feel like that was helping. Okay. Because it could be just a quick jolt of it, I guess is the the easiest way to understand it. That your body absorbed it too quickly and then didn't have it for the rest of the period of the pellets, which for us were three months. Some people go four months, it depends. Um, but yeah, they that is something you can add it as a supplement somehow. We didn't get it like an oral pill, probably. Or or an injection, maybe. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, Judy, if you're listening, I will say as soon as we have you on, we need help here. Right. We need more details.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

I will say that I don't feel like I need the progesterone since I've gotten my hormones. Like, I don't feel like I'm missing something. Yeah. Um, I did think that progesterone was more like so you still have your ovaries. I think don't your ovaries produce progesterone? I don't know. I am not a medical professional. I'm not either.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

I don't know, but that'd be a good question.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah. Just think about it.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Okay, so those were two out of our four hormones. I just really like that it said that it's nature's Xanax. It is, it's very fine. And we have very fine please. Whatever kind of Xanax I can get. Yes. Um, okay, we're on to my favorite hormone. This is not the first time that we've acknowledged this as your favorite hormone. It's not really a sarcastic sarcasm. Uh cortisol. So cortisol is your stress hormone. It seems to be my number one. Um, hormonal changes make cortisol harder to regulate, which keeps your body stuck in fight or flight mode. Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

That sounds familiar.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

That probably seems like all of us. I feel like we're always in fight or flight, right? Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah. Well, at the very least, our body is. So yes. Because, you know, one thing's taking us to a high, the other thing's dropping us to a low, and it's happening all within an hour. It may be all within the 20 minutes or 30 minutes of our podcast. It could happen.

unknown 7:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

I mean, you just really you're on a roller coaster. Your hormones put you on a roller coaster. So your body doesn't know what to do. So of course it's gonna go in fight or flight. Right. And I don't like roller coasters. I actually like roller coasters. Oh, you too. Okay. I'm not a fan of the hormonal. Not a fan of the hormone roller coaster. Okay. I am a thrill seeker, not this fight or flight craziness that happens with the cortisol friends. Okay. Our last one, I don't feel like we've talked about this one before.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

I don't think we have. Adrenals. Years of stress plus hormone shifts equals an overwhelmed system. Your body is exhausted but wired. That's why anxiety can feel both physical and mental. Because it is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

I mean, that definitely makes sense. I mean, yeah. Thanks for the summary. Yeah, right. It's I mean, and it does say that it's long term. You know, if your body is has endured stress for quite some time, which by the way, I think five years could be considered long term. We've been going through this for a hot minute before we found relief. And we now know we're educated on what our body is going through. So it's not as much of a catastrophe, if we can say it that way. Yeah, no, it's true. It's knowing what the chaos is is really helpful for me because at least then, well, by the way, we say this often, you're not crazy. You're not. Did you know that? Yeah, I didn't until you told me. We're actually not crazy. We're going through a physical fight with our body right now as we transition to womanhood of a different womanhood. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

How else do we get our periods?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yeah, I we'll know that we had to go to womanhood to get the periods. Now we have to get rid of the periods. I mean, what in the world? Yeah. Who why didn't people tell us? Maybe they didn't tell us because they knew that this was a shit show. They're like, Who wants to warn us? We're not gonna tell you about that because your body is gonna basically shut down and you're gonna have no idea what it's doing.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Yeah, no one told me about any of this in my youth. A little warning would have been nice. But you know what?

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Let's relate it to childbirth.

unknown 9:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Nobody'll be fun.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Nobody told us about what happens to your body during childbirth. Maybe it's childbirth. A big old secret. Maybe we wouldn't reproduce if somebody shared all that.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Let me tell you that after childbirth crap, no one tells you about any of that. No. I'm like, what are those hot flashes? You wake up sweating. Yeah. After you have a baby, it's awful. And with the newborn. Yeah. And then they send you home with a bunch of stool softeners. I'm like, what's this for? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

No one tells you any of that. They do not. So what is this? A conspiracy? It is. Keep it secret. They keep it against women. So nobody knows what their body is going to go through and all the trauma it's going to endure. All of our elders have kept this shit from us. Liars. I am betrayed and pissed off. I'm going to have a combo with my mom tonight.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

She's very well.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

I'm going to give Nancy some props. So I'm not going to be too mad at her on this one. She's she's the one that helped me, but yes, she did take you to the pellets. But isn't it true there is some correlation here? I think there's there's gotta be some reason that there's no focus on the negatives that women have to go through. And yes, it's beautiful. Childbirth is beautiful, and aging is beautiful, and I love my wrinkles. Said nobody, but I mean you're you have no choice but to embrace it. I mean, I thought I was going a different way, I thought I was really empowering. I feel like I'm gone on a tangent. I feel like I'm very angry. She's fired up, folks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, isn't it in Pretty Woman where he says that with the therapy that the therapist helped him say that he was very angry? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

This is like therapy. This is like therapy. I do recommend that if people have things on their mind about this, you get a podcast. It is actually very helpful.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Just get in front of your friend that you rely on and bent. Yes. Bent the F out. Have you noticed I'm using the F and not using the vague word? Shocked by that.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

I listened back to a previous episode and you said that, and I was like, Look at you. Who are you?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I'm not trying to scare people off. I mean, this is only episode eight. Yeah. I think we should rope them in first before they realize how vulgar I am. You're really giving them a dose today of your anger, though. And I know, right? Um, I'm not drinking again. Just want to reiterate that. One of these days we're gonna have a margarita episode.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

I actually I can show it on our little video. Yes. I actually do because it's the end of work. We're in the conference room, but it's after work.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yeah, we're not recording on our lunch hour for work. So I can have a beverage. Don't tell the HR ladies that listen. Shout out to HR. We love you guys.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Maybe you shouldn't have shown that. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

All right. Well, I got us way off track. That's okay. That's all right. Anyway. Um, so let's talk about what anxiety feels like. Yes. Do you think our listeners know that they're experiencing anxiety? Um or you think this is gonna be new information today?

SPEAKER_01 13:22

No, I think that they know, but I don't know. I think it comes on subtly. I feel like when I first start going down the anxiety path, I didn't know that it was anxiety. Yeah. I thought there was like a whole bunch of other stuff. But once you learn about it, you're like, oh, I see that's what it is. And I think you get to a certain point where it gets so bad that you're like, you know that it's anxiety, but hopefully you've eliminated what else it could possibly be. Right. Well, and I think it gets worse when you don't actually treating it and doing something about it, it just like compiles.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Well, you're more aware of it, right? Yes. So it's more in the forefront. Yes. Yeah, yeah. So what are some of your symptoms that you've experienced? Because I get the heart racing. Yes. What do you get?

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Um, I would say that a lot of like the sleep, like the waking up in the middle of the night, like stressed.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

We talked about the witching hour.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah. That nighttime anxiety. I feel like that was almost my worst, which then impacts your day. We've talked about sleep and how important it is. Yeah. So if you're waking up a bunch, I mean, I would wake up and I would have it was like illogical. Like, oh, well, this could this happen. It was like I almost dreamed up a scenario.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

And I thought it was real life. Yeah. And then I would get up in the morning and I'd be like, that's not even something that happened. Where did that even come from? But you lost half the night of sleep. I lost half my night's sleep stressing about a made-up thing. Like, I think that was probably my worst, which then, of course, yes, impacted the rest of my day. I was exhausted. Of course.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Did you ever have the made-up thing come back to real real life anywhere along the way? No. No, you weren't even like seeing the future?

SPEAKER_01 14:54

No, no, I would. Oh, that'd be so cool.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Hey, that'd be a reason to have anxiety. We could tell you.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

No, it was never like predictive. It was always like really obscure, like just crazy made-up scenarios. A lot of times with work. A lot of times with work. I mean, I would I would and I knew immediately when I actually got up in the morning that that wasn't a real thing. Yeah. But I let myself spiral two hours.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

More than family and health for me. And I don't know why. Maybe it's like fear of disappointment or something like that, that I'm gonna forget something, or maybe it's because the anxiety is giving me brain fog, and I'm worried that I'm gonna look like an idiot because I've forgotten something. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's a big one. Definitely a big one. I hear you. Um, but the physicality ones, the chest tightness, the shortness of breath, I've had all of those um panic attacks. Yeah, panic attacks. What do you do for your panic attacks?

SPEAKER_01 15:51

So I have not been getting really panic. I actually panic attacks is something that I is the only thing that I got before perimenopause. Is that and I didn't have daily anxiety or anything like that, but and I haven't had it recently or in the last few years, but I mean like in my 20s, I went through about I feel like there was just a lot of change. Like we I was getting married and there was jobs and there was this, and it would like compile and I would have a panic attack.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah. Um when you just feel too much.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

I just felt too much, but it wasn't like a daily thing. Like I still it was okay. Where when I got into periamenopause after I had my youngest, I it was more of the daily. And so I haven't really had panic attacks. I've I don't know. I I do I hate to say this. I do try to breathe. I do try to do like the deep breathing and like that. I do too. But I I just try to if I I realized if I can stop the anxiety from compiling, then it seems like I can stop the panic attacks, right? Like it's like the first stop is clearing the anxiety, which I've done, so I'm not really having them.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yeah. What about that? That's a real I think that's a great testament to it is knowing, admitting that there's a problem. Yeah, you know, the first step. I I do the counting. Um, that helps me with my anxiety. What do you count to? Anything. Count okay. It doesn't matter, just start counting, and that helps. Um, it's really just in your brain. I think it's uh causes your brain just to refocus on something, try and find something um to focus on. But you got you I've talked about it before. I do the taping, um, but the breathing meditation. But I really feel the meditation when you know there's a lot going on, and you know more than likely something's coming, you know, that anxiety is a brewing. You kind of when you're more alert to it, you kind of know what's gonna trigger it. You know what's gonna set it off the most. So maybe adding meditation. I don't do meditation every night. Um, but when I do think I'm overwhelmed, I try to get a conscious effort to do some meditation. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

I think, yeah, trying to be a little proactive about it, like give yourself the grace and understanding. Like, I do think that we're wired to be like, I'm stressed right now, but I gotta keep going. And you're having this anxiety and you're trying to power through it. And it's like you don't need to power through it. Like, do what you need to do to get a little bit to get your head space right so it doesn't lead to that panic attack.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yeah. Take a beat when you know it's you're getting your plate's full. When it's overflowing is when the anxiety is gonna come and the panic attacks are gonna hit the hardest. So when you know your plate's getting full, maybe take a beat then to try and fend them off. Try to light a candle, guys. He's gonna be so mad. Okay. Hey, you know, maybe that'll maybe light a candle while you're meditating.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

There you go. See, he was on to something. He just he tells me that you like all of his ideas and I don't, so he's gonna start telling them to you.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Send him my way. Yeah, I will be a listener for you. I will um openly evaluate all the ideas, Jake. Okay, I got you. Great. I got you. Okay. All right. So um anxiety versus stress versus panic.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yep. So we talked about, we just talked about all of those things, but really, those are different things. So what are they? So let's let's clear them up here. Stress. Response to a situation, a deadline, an argument, a bad day. You're having a stressful day. Like you're you have stressful days, but it's not that lingering anxiety. That makes sense. Anxiety, it's persistent. Your brain is bracing for something, even when nothing is happening. So it's kind of it's almost like not as logical, right? Like we're stressed, you're kind of just responding where anxiety is not always logical, even, right? Yeah, that makes sense. I get it. Panic is sudden and physical. Your heart starts racing, dizziness, shaking, feeling like you might die. People get concerned that they're having a heart attack. I know. Um, which don't mess around with that. If you have a panic attack, I'm gonna tell you, you and you don't know that it's a panic attack, uh, go to the emergency attack. You need to go to the emergency. Like do not err on the side of caution. Yeah, do not do not chalk it up to that.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

And especially if you're not used to getting them, you know? Yeah, just go get chucked out. It's not gonna hurt anything, you know. Pay the co pay or whatever it is. Just get it checked out because your health is not something that you want to skimp around. Yeah, definitely. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Yeah. So yeah, those are kind of three, I think it it definitely gets blurred. Um, and this is another reason because it could be stress, it could be anxiety, it could be panic attacks that that we are told, you know, it's just stress. Yeah, it's just stress. You guys are just dealing with stress, you have a lot going on, and it's like, yeah, I am, but like it's more than that.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Well, but also it's not okay that it's just stress because stress isn't good for your body either. Your body physically reacts to stress. Right. Things start breaking, you know, you get more breakouts, acne breakouts from stress. Your body just decides to, you know, hold fat. It doesn't process um at the same level. I mean, stress is not good for your body either way. So I don't think that we should just say it's just stress. All those people out there that might want to respond to us in that manner. Yeah, right. And I silently throw butt you. Yeah. Anyway, I would never lay my hands on anybody, but just don't piss me off, okay? No, I'm kidding. Um, no, it doesn't, it's just upsetting because when you know your body's going through something that you can't control, it's frustrating when somebody's like, well, just shrug it off. You're fine.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

No, I'm not sure. Yeah, and you're like, I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

I know this is not right. Like, I shouldn't feel this way. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think it's a good way to break it down the stress, the anxiety, and the panic, because panic, I do feel the panic is the overwhelming physical aspect. I think that's a good differentiator between anxiety and panic because you do have something. Some physical reactions to anxiety. Yes. But the panic is really the you can't control what's happening to your elephant. It's so scary. It's so scary.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

You hear the people say they have like that weight of like an elephant on their chest. Like you just, you just so much. And you can't. I think people think that you can just control it. They're like, you know, toughen up. And it's like you don't want like it take it physically takes you over.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

So with perimenopause and menopause anxiety, we are telling you that you cannot. No. Your hormones are doing something effed up to your body, and you cannot control that. Yeah. And we understand. And you are not alone. You are definitely not. Um, so okay, so the other thing that our research showed was the sleep, blood sugar, anxiety triangle. So we talked about the cortisol, and we talked about um blood sugar crashes, trigger adrenaline. And then you add in caffeine, suddenly feels like crack. We all know that feeling. And by the way, I'm not eliminating drink it, man. And then alcohol starts increasing anxiety instead of relaxing you. Do you know people that get anxiety after they've drank alcohol like the next day? Yes. I have friends that have, yes. And that's a legit real thing. That alcohol is actually the one causing anxiety. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So your body is stuck in a loop. And you're anxious because you're tired. You're tired because you're anxious. So you can't really break that cycle. You have to be really conscious about that ahead of time. You don't want to go into that cycle. Now, listen, we've talked about this often, Holly. I'm not gonna stop my coffee and I'm not gonna stop my alcohol. What? I really like my beer. I love having a beer. Um, I mean, I don't drink every night, but I'm just telling you, don't take away my alcohol and don't take away my coffee, and everybody's gonna be safe. Fair, fair. You um, we actually you talked about it. You're really good at drinking water. So I think you can probably maybe even give up coffee. Do you think? How dare you? What? What is wrong? What have I done to you? I'm just throwing it out there. No, I cannot give up coffee. Okay. So, and you're not giving up alcohol either. It's as though she doesn't know me. Yeah, I know. Well, we just talk about my um love for caffeine and alcohol all too often. I just thought we should bring you into the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

You could give up alcohol much faster than I could give up my coffee. I don't drink very often. Yeah. But I do like the ability to have a cocktail.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Um, but I drink coffee every day. And I will not. I will become you. You take my coffee away, I'll throat punch you.

unknown 24:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

We got Holly saying throat punch because no, no.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

And I don't drink an excessive amount of it. I drink it in the morning, I don't drink it late into the afternoon, but I am not giving up my coffee. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

I'm not either, so we're on the same page. I've told my doctors that.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Hey, we can't do team Holly or Team Renee on that one. Not. We're on the same team.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

I feel like I got pretty fired. I got pretty intense there. I got intense there. I like it. Holly's fired up. Okay. All right. Well, let's let's talk about what actually helps. Oh, that's funny. Hormone-driven anxiety. Let's go to the lifestyle support. Let's talk about the stuff. We're not willing to do some of the things. Let's talk about the stuff that we can do. We couldn't possibly consider. All right. I think that the first thing we bring it up every episode, which is consistent sleep routines. Sleeping, your sleep is so important. I know it. I agree. And trying to make a routine is the best way. I it is the easiest if you could at least just try to go to bed around the same time and wake up around the same time. It does, it does wonders for you.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Yeah. That is one thing that I'm pretty consistent. I wake up at the same time. Okay, but you don't go to bed at the same time.

unknown 26:08

No.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

No, that's probably not going to start. Well, we'll give you half a point. I appreciate that. All right. Eating regular meals. You cannot starve yourself. We've talked about this. We talked about this on the last one, maybe. Starving yourself is not good.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

It's not. You're not doing any favors. You're hurting your body. The metabolism, that's not gonna help. It's not gonna go up, and you're not gonna lose any weight if you stop eating. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Uh you need to consume protein plus fiber.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

We talked about how important protein is, it's huge. You gotta try to get protein. Seriously, try it.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Even if you're not into the protein powders and whatnot, just get some of the protein shake, the what do you do? Those little protein shots.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Yeah, the oikos or whatever. Or 10 grams of protein, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

And sometimes I'll do a Greek yogurt at nighttime just because I feel like I need some more protein. Or I'm craving ice cream and I, you know, I probably shouldn't eat ice cream right before I go to bed.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

And that Greek yogurt's exactly the same as that ice cream. Not I tell myself that I eat it with a spoon, it kind of gets the same control.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Yes, yes. But it also has that extra boost of protein in it. So try it. You know, we talk about small steps all the time.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Small steps, which that's the next thing. So gentle movements, which we talk about walking, stretching, yoga. It's actually very impactful for you. It doesn't have to be some crazy routine you do.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Right. And it does not have to be an hour-long routine. Do 10 minutes a day, just try it out. See if you feel better.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

So nervous system regulation. So breathing, grounding, and meditation. We've talked about that.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Yep. Love them.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Uh, medical support. So hormone therapy, if that if you're interested. Um medication. It's all about it. Just message us. Right. Medication when appropriate. Um, checking other things such as your thyroid, iron, vitamin D, B12. I mean, maybe you're just deficient into vitamin, also. Right. I think that's important.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Right. Yeah, I think that's a good testament there, is that there could be some physiological reason for your anxiety as well. So get your blood work done, get checked out. If your doctor doesn't do vitamin um blood work or whatnot, ask them for it. You know, I mean, if you bring it to their attention, they will acknowledge it.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Yep, yep. That's an easy solution. You know, it's a supplement. So mental health support, so therapy, um, trauma-informed care, support groups, uh, saying it out loud instead of holding it in. I think that that is so therapeutic. Oh god that, and I think that's a big thing, that's one of our reasons of starting this, Renee, is like us talking and how good we felt just to get the validation. And since we've started that, the people that have come to talk to us in their stories, like you are not alone. You are not, and there's something about that that helps ease that anxiety. For sure. Definitely. Just say it out loud. Like, say it, say the awful things you're thinking, because that's that's how you feel. Like that is how you feel. Again, if you would you want to again, I I've mentioned before I feel bad for mentioning it now because he's gonna get upset. But like, if my husband walks in a room and annoys the crap out of me, that's not great. You think that's good? That's that's not great for my mental health, even. Because if that's my reaction, get you know, but now I can say that. I say it, that helps. I don't mind that he walks in a room now. I just want to be clear.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Uh well, and also we're setting examples for the littles, so that is it really important not to be annoyed by somebody walking in the room. Correct. But you Jake, you're getting all the love on this episode. Oh, yeah. The love. I'm buying a Jake candle.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

I just mean like a Jake candle. I just mean like that is taxing on you. That's not a great healthy mental space to be in, to think that you live with someone that could walk in a room and try. But if you get a talk about it, it actually makes it so that it doesn't feel that way anymore, right? Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Well, and your feelings are real. It's not you don't have to hide those. Yes. That is how you're feeling, and you're trying to work through it, just like everybody else is trying to get through the day.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

And you're not weak. It doesn't make you weak. You have those feelings, it's fine. Like, get it out there. That's right. Take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

Holly, we've talked a lot about a lot of stuff today. I mean, we've gone through the gamut, but we're approaching our time where we have to say goodbye to our friends. Yeah, we sure are. Yeah. Do you think they want to hear us ramble about anything else? I'm sure they do. Isn't this a delight? I mean, this is a very animated episode, and I'm really excited to get the um throat punch out of Holly for this episode. I can't wait. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

I can't wait. All right. Well, I do want to say also remind everybody that we're not medical professionals, so throw it out there. Let's just remind everyone of that as we wrap it up.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

At some point, somebody's gonna have to give me some sort of certification for being a hormonal expert because I am hormonal and it's not fun, but we are doing something about it, and we have some experiences that we like to share with our friends.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yep. All right. Uh so if this episode hit close to home, you are not alone. And we want to hear from you. So track your symptoms, advocate for yourself, talk about it. Remember, you're not alone. If you like this episode, make sure that you follow us on Facebook, on TikTok. I don't think we have an Instagram yet, but soon. Um, and like and subscribe to our podcast.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Thank you all for listening. We love you. You are not alone, and you're definitely not crazy.