02/05/2026
So, what was meant to be a great girls’ night out with my Mama and a catch-up with a girlfriend turned into another spiral of anxiety, stress, confusion, and a loss of confidence in my body—especially my gut.
I am all for the release of toxic waste, healthy bowel movements, and ridding the body of what is not needed, but now things were getting ridiculous and really interfering with my mind, heart, and life.
I physically could not bring myself to go to this event I had thought about non-stop for weeks, conned my Mama into coming with me, and then my body failed me—not once, but five times. Five bowel movements later, with the assistance of Gas-Stop pills, lemonade with lemon and black salt, Ajwain seeds, and Mama’s trusty mint spray, I found the courage to go with Ma.
More than halfway down Richmond Road, I panicked again. The headache suddenly reappeared, along with slight nausea and the dire need to use a loo. I apologised to Ma and turned the Kluger around, convincing my hubby to take my spot.
Funny thing—the closer I got towards home, the better I felt. My headache literally disappeared, my nausea was next to none, and there was no urge to go to the loo.
Was my body betraying me??? What was going on!!!
I suddenly felt relieved to be home—actually happy 😊😃 I even took photos smiling and was ecstatic to not be leaving my house. It’s not that I didn’t want to go—it’s that I didn’t trust my body to support me.
I felt betrayed by these sudden feelings of stress, anxiety, high adrenal energy, and the inability to predict when or where my next bowel movement would hit.
As they drove off, I sighed in relief. However, the confusing emotions were quite daunting, so I did what any slightly sane person would do—I consulted my cousin Sarita Khalsa. She reinforced my fears, and we both pinned this damn hormonal imbalance on the big P!
Although I’ve always been a bit anxious before leaving the house, this was just getting ridiculous. So my next stop for confirmation was Google, of course.
And much to my surprise—BINGO! I saw where things connected with the gut-brain axis. Words were jumping out at me: digestion, diarrhoea, and perimenopause—the varying hormonal levels and how this can affect your gut and bowel movements.
So yes, the running around trying to do everything last minute heightened my stress hormones—cortisol levels. However, the “greasy takeout pizza” I had for my extremely late lunch did not help the situation either—especially my hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, and my gut’s ability to digest that crap.
Now, the point of epiphany—my “holy cow, Indian adventure tummy issues” were not by chance, nor contamination of food or water, especially since all food was home-cooked, clean, and mostly vegetarian. It was these damn hormonal imbalances.
So, thank you for your patience, Mz Sandlas. Me missing your concert tonight gave me a moment to actually feel what was wrong with my body, sit with the emotions of confusion, despair, and betrayal, so I could dig deeper to find the problem—and hopefully, a resolution.
Would love to hear from other women going through anything similar and the steps they took to regain control of the situation.
As I navigate my journey through perimenopause, I ask that families please try and support the women—grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters. Each day feels like another science experiment with our bodies, as we literally have no idea what is going on. It’s like puberty all over again 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏻♀️😫🙏 just different!
