Hilary, this quitting caffeine thing is putting my in a doozy. It is my one fear - how I would operate without it. I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, I live a very healthy lifestyle but my one is caffeine! How are you doing now? I know you wrote this a few weeks ago so I'd like to know if all is better and what life is like without it! Has it helped with your "certain age" things?!
Hiya, Stephanie! Quitting caffeine was really rough and I don't really recommend it. I had terrible headaches and exhaustion for over a week. BUT, now that it's been a couple of weeks, I feel a lot more energetic and clear-headed without it. I've substituted mushroom coffee and tea for daily English Breakfast and they are both tasty blends though I still miss my cuppa! Another friend told me that these mushroom blends would give me energy and maybe they are? I don't know. I just need the ritual of a steaming cup of something delicious in the AM. The best news is, I'm not suffering nearly as much from the sweats though that could also be attributed to a new supplement that a friend recommended called Estroven. So, all in all, it's good news. I know that caffeine has good properties for health too, so if you don't feel icky on it, then why quit?
Thanks, G! I know. It’s wild. I’ve been caffeine-free for a couple of weeks now and I feel less sluggish and clearer headed. I’ve been taking a supplement that has helped reduce the sweats, so that’s good news. I feel like I’m way less cool figuratively-speaking for having ditched caffeine, but maybe it is good for my brain. We’ll see.
Great newsletter! I can relate to all you’re feeling with The Change! Keep writing about it, keep the noise going! Also, I haven’t met a too-fancy donut I liked yet! Near us there’s a gourmet donut place, and, well, I would rather get my donuts at Dunkins!
Thanks, Clare! On the donut front, I agree that fancy does not equal tasty. I love Winchell’s, which is the West Coast version of Dunkin’. Appreciate you weighing in. ❤️❤️
Dude, the pimply 16yo at that BB&B probably wished for danger pay after that interaction, much like your donutista and friend with the cooling mattress convo. Don’t know what hit ‘em.
Ok, I just skipped to the end of the post to tell you I snorted LOUD in a hospital room at the line Tar-No and agreeing with EVERYTHING re the donutistas ( we need a Philz for donuts, I think not ?? ) and just loving this week’s missive SO MUCH. Ok, back to reading it. ❌⭕️❌ ❤️
HAHA! Yay. So glad I brought some levity to your hospital visit. Hope all is okay. When I was watching the Blue Zones show, I was totally thinking of Sari and JP hiking that giant hill in the Castro. And of course you and Martine follow so many of the Blue Zone best practices, gardening, cooking, eating fresh produce, and surrounding yourself with good people. ❤️ We're all living to 100!
I was rooting for a third act triumph for the made-to-order donuts, because the only donuts I like are at Federal Donuts in Philadelphia, where the donuts are made a la minute and are like little clouds of joy. Versus most donuts, which I find to be greasy and doughy.
On a related note, I enjoyed the blue zones show, and nobody in Okinawa or Ikaria or even Loma Linda mentioned donuts.
HA! Next time you're in LA, I will take you to some donut places that aren't greasy and doughy. Re: Blue Zones best practices— I had just done 90 minutes of Tae Kwon Do after a 40-year hiatus and I wasn't drinking caffeine, so I felt like I wanted a treat. I mean, we have to live a little right??
1) All of those designer donuts look like glazed raised SO THEY ARE DEAD TO ME.
2) As soon as I began asking my Parisian girlfriends of “un certain age” about menopause and coping with it naturally, they lost their fucking minds. “Americans are CRAZY! Get the fucking hormones STAT!”
HAHA. Those donuts were dead to me too. I'm not against HRT! But I just heard from two friends that it's very expensive here in the states, around $150 a month with insurance because, you know, women are always getting grifted.
Get the focking HRT!! I suffered for stupid long, in the clutches of my Northern Cali let’s-try-the-herbal-remedy, until the day I was sobbing at Bed Bath & Beyond because they were out of the cooling pillow their website said was in stock. Expensive is correct but my sanity, productivity and the health of all the people in my vicinity is worth the $100/month it costs me in pills and patches. Suffering is optional! Doesn’t earn you shit. ❌⭕️
I will listen to the Trélaün sisters and get the effing HRT! I just lol'd picturing you sobbing at BB&B because they were out of the cooling pillow. The struggle is real. Now I just need to see if I can appt with my doc at Kaiser before 2025.
https://promensil.co.uk/. I took this homeopathic treatment during the worst of the menopause symptoms and found it somewhat helpful, as i never did HRT. Haven’t slept in years and still put the covers off and on many times a night! You’right- its bullsh++ that they havent come upmwith any cures or relief.
Thanks, Diane! I will take a look at the product you recommended and already bought the neck fan, which I'm very excited about. I can't believe you haven't slept in years and still have the energy to jet set all over the world. You're such an inspiration. Sending hugs to you. xoxo
Hilary, this quitting caffeine thing is putting my in a doozy. It is my one fear - how I would operate without it. I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, I live a very healthy lifestyle but my one is caffeine! How are you doing now? I know you wrote this a few weeks ago so I'd like to know if all is better and what life is like without it! Has it helped with your "certain age" things?!
Hiya, Stephanie! Quitting caffeine was really rough and I don't really recommend it. I had terrible headaches and exhaustion for over a week. BUT, now that it's been a couple of weeks, I feel a lot more energetic and clear-headed without it. I've substituted mushroom coffee and tea for daily English Breakfast and they are both tasty blends though I still miss my cuppa! Another friend told me that these mushroom blends would give me energy and maybe they are? I don't know. I just need the ritual of a steaming cup of something delicious in the AM. The best news is, I'm not suffering nearly as much from the sweats though that could also be attributed to a new supplement that a friend recommended called Estroven. So, all in all, it's good news. I know that caffeine has good properties for health too, so if you don't feel icky on it, then why quit?
Yeah I’m not quitting anytime soon! I had coffee and black tea and I took a nap today. I had all the good uppers and downers today!
Cannot believe you have ditched caffeine. So brave! I hope it helps bring down the internal thermostat.
Thanks, G! I know. It’s wild. I’ve been caffeine-free for a couple of weeks now and I feel less sluggish and clearer headed. I’ve been taking a supplement that has helped reduce the sweats, so that’s good news. I feel like I’m way less cool figuratively-speaking for having ditched caffeine, but maybe it is good for my brain. We’ll see.
As long as you keep up the napping I think you’ve got this.
Great newsletter! I can relate to all you’re feeling with The Change! Keep writing about it, keep the noise going! Also, I haven’t met a too-fancy donut I liked yet! Near us there’s a gourmet donut place, and, well, I would rather get my donuts at Dunkins!
Thanks, Clare! On the donut front, I agree that fancy does not equal tasty. I love Winchell’s, which is the West Coast version of Dunkin’. Appreciate you weighing in. ❤️❤️
Dude, the pimply 16yo at that BB&B probably wished for danger pay after that interaction, much like your donutista and friend with the cooling mattress convo. Don’t know what hit ‘em.
😂
“As predicted it was gross.” 🤣🤣🤣
😂 So gross!
Ok, I just skipped to the end of the post to tell you I snorted LOUD in a hospital room at the line Tar-No and agreeing with EVERYTHING re the donutistas ( we need a Philz for donuts, I think not ?? ) and just loving this week’s missive SO MUCH. Ok, back to reading it. ❌⭕️❌ ❤️
HAHA! Yay. So glad I brought some levity to your hospital visit. Hope all is okay. When I was watching the Blue Zones show, I was totally thinking of Sari and JP hiking that giant hill in the Castro. And of course you and Martine follow so many of the Blue Zone best practices, gardening, cooking, eating fresh produce, and surrounding yourself with good people. ❤️ We're all living to 100!
Excellent job! Hated menopause and glad it is mostly over. But, still the night sweats! Hang in there!
I was rooting for a third act triumph for the made-to-order donuts, because the only donuts I like are at Federal Donuts in Philadelphia, where the donuts are made a la minute and are like little clouds of joy. Versus most donuts, which I find to be greasy and doughy.
On a related note, I enjoyed the blue zones show, and nobody in Okinawa or Ikaria or even Loma Linda mentioned donuts.
HA! Next time you're in LA, I will take you to some donut places that aren't greasy and doughy. Re: Blue Zones best practices— I had just done 90 minutes of Tae Kwon Do after a 40-year hiatus and I wasn't drinking caffeine, so I felt like I wanted a treat. I mean, we have to live a little right??
1) All of those designer donuts look like glazed raised SO THEY ARE DEAD TO ME.
2) As soon as I began asking my Parisian girlfriends of “un certain age” about menopause and coping with it naturally, they lost their fucking minds. “Americans are CRAZY! Get the fucking hormones STAT!”
HAHA. Those donuts were dead to me too. I'm not against HRT! But I just heard from two friends that it's very expensive here in the states, around $150 a month with insurance because, you know, women are always getting grifted.
Get the focking HRT!! I suffered for stupid long, in the clutches of my Northern Cali let’s-try-the-herbal-remedy, until the day I was sobbing at Bed Bath & Beyond because they were out of the cooling pillow their website said was in stock. Expensive is correct but my sanity, productivity and the health of all the people in my vicinity is worth the $100/month it costs me in pills and patches. Suffering is optional! Doesn’t earn you shit. ❌⭕️
I will listen to the Trélaün sisters and get the effing HRT! I just lol'd picturing you sobbing at BB&B because they were out of the cooling pillow. The struggle is real. Now I just need to see if I can appt with my doc at Kaiser before 2025.
https://promensil.co.uk/. I took this homeopathic treatment during the worst of the menopause symptoms and found it somewhat helpful, as i never did HRT. Haven’t slept in years and still put the covers off and on many times a night! You’right- its bullsh++ that they havent come upmwith any cures or relief.
LOVED the Dain Buettner blue zone series!!!
Always. a great read, Hilary!!
Thanks, Diane! I will take a look at the product you recommended and already bought the neck fan, which I'm very excited about. I can't believe you haven't slept in years and still have the energy to jet set all over the world. You're such an inspiration. Sending hugs to you. xoxo