When Your Body Changes the Rules

My earliest memories of health are of feeling different.

My digestive system never worked the way it seemed to for everyone else, and it wasn’t until later that I realized how many of us have quiet struggles that go unseen.

At six months old, I had surgery that saved me from an intestinal blockage but changed my digestive system permanently. At twenty, I lost part of my thyroid. In my twenties and thirties, insomnia, food intolerances, and recurring infections began. None of these were unique or devastating, but they were shifts I didn’t choose.

Our bodies don’t stay the same, no matter how much we want them to. They change the rules and shift in ways that can feel confusing or unfair.

Perimenopause

Perimenopause, especially, has been like that for me. It crept in quietly, years before doctors thought it should, and it took me a long time to even name what was happening.

I felt dismissed by the physicians who told me it was too early or that nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, I was living with bone spurs, worsening insomnia, skin changes, brain fog, and weight gain that didn’t make sense no matter what I tried.

It’s easy to feel betrayed when your body changes. To long for the version of yourself you remember. To feel frustrated when doctors dismiss your symptoms or when the mirror no longer matches the way you see yourself inside.

Listening to the Messages

But those changes are also asking something of us.

They ask us to pay attention. They remind us that resilience is built not by ignoring what’s happening but by learning to work with it.

If we do pay attention, we usually know what has changed. Our bodies tell us, even if no one else believes us. Doctors don’t live in our skin the way we do. We have to trust what we know and advocate for ourselves.

You’re Not Alone

Health changes can feel isolating, especially when they’re invisible or no one names them out loud.

I remember feeling calmer when I realized I wasn’t the only one anxiously watching what I ate, wondering how my body would react.

That’s why I talk openly about perimenopause now to anyone who will listen 😊 because naming these shifts lightens the load.

A Gentle Reminder

Your body is not betraying you. It’s asking you to listen.

It may never look or feel exactly as it once did, but it is still yours. It is still carrying you forward.

Reflection Question: What has your body been teaching you about change?

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