From HRT to stuffing myself with tofu and even embarking on intense psychedelic therapy, I detest menopause so much that I’ll try pretty much anything to keep it at bay. But since returning from an Indian ayurveda retreat, I’m rethinking my relationship with its inevitability.

Aside from random joint pain, my difficulties are less physical and more emotional. In a household comprising a 52-year-old woman and a 16-year-old teen, it’s often the former (i.e. me) who’ll win the award for “Most Likely to Fly Off the Handle”.

These fun and games began around five years ago, aged 47. When the insidious symptoms started sneaking up on me – irritability, negativity, intolerance, joylessness, a general sense of “meh” – I did what quite a few unknowingly perimenopausal women do. I got divorced .

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