My period is a week late, is it menopause?

social media is obsessed with my uterus

When my period was late in the past, the immediate thought was always pregnancy. Now that I am in my 40s, and every social media platform seems to know it, I am convinced daily that I am nearing menopause or on the apparently decades long perimenopause rollercoaster. How does social media know? I lie about my age every chance I get and by decades. If you are going to lie, go big.

Having easy access to information on menopause is both wonderful and confusing. Certainly the generations before did not have the same camaraderie around their reproductive system. But, the algorithm doesn’t know what’s fact vs speculation for women’s bodies anymore than it does for…..well women’s bodies (er, politics). In the same scroll, some meaningful looking woman with “Dr.” in her profile will tell me HRT (that’s hormone replacement therapy) will save my life and in the next post a different shiny doc will tell me it will kill me. 1 out of 5 TikTok’s on my FYP is someone selling a magical hormonal solution - wild yam cream. Another product all women over 30 need is estrogen cream for your face, it’s the fountain of youth, apparently. I haven’t tried either but affiliate links for reference.

So am I going to buy a pregnancy test or a bag of yams (I have no idea if this is the same as yam cream, check with TikTok)?