40ish - Driving Anxiety, Midlife News & A PCOS Update

Episode Date: June 4, 2026

This week on 40ish, Nicole finally concedes defeat as Lauren is crowned the people’s champion and the “who’s more down to earth?” debate is officially settled. Following a stranger’s meltdown in a nail salon, the ladies open up about how perimenopause completely knocked them sideways. In Midlife News, there’s a major update in women’s health as PCOS gets a new name, reflecting a growing understanding that it’s far more complex than many people have been led to believe. The dilemma comes from a listener whose driving anxiety has become so overwhelming that a two-hour journey feels like preparing for an Arctic expedition. And finally, a listener from Australia shares her frustration at the endless questions about childlessness after years of endometriosis, IVF and heartbreak. Expect laughs, honesty, motorway anxiety, menopause mayhem and at least one person silently judging foraged ingredients.We are doing a live show! July 5th 4pm London. Book your tickets here: https://podlifeevents.com/event-details/40ish-live-show-5-jul-2026-ticketsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/40ish-laughing-our-way-through-midlife-perimenopause-menopause--6942825/support.We love to hear from you! Get in touch with your dilemmas and rants.DM & follow us on Instagram   TikTokOrder Our Book here

Hi, Quazas, guess what? We, finally, I've managed to talk Lauren Innswe, are doing a live show. It is Sunday, July 5th at 4pm. You can come, you can have tea and you can get home for an early dinner and bed. Or you can come for an early glass of wine and just hang out with us. It's going to be fun, it's going to be great, we're going to do the podcast, we're going to hear from you guys, you're going to be a part of the show and we are so excited for it. Tickets are in the link below. Just click and get them while you can. Hello everybody. Welcome to 40-ish. I'm Nicole Goodman.

And I'm Lauren Michigan. This is the podcast Tackling 40-something life. Every week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, to be precise. We tackle everything mid-life, your news, your stories, your meltdowns, your dilemmas and our own joys, trials and tribulations of being 40-ish.

Yeah. Yeah. Even though I'm going to be 50-ish anytime soon and I bring that up every show. Every show. Because I'm very worried about it. What are you worried about? You'll just wake up and you'll be 50.

I'm worried that I've outgrown my own podcast. It's fine. People in their 50s listen to this show. No, I know they do, but they're not hosting the show. They're not. Please remember you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and there you get early access and ad-free listening across this show

and our other show, Self-Care Club. And you can watch the video every week on YouTube. And you can listen on any other podcast platform, but I'm sure you're perfectly happy. right where you are please can we remind you if you can follow and subscribe to the show that helps us more than you could possibly realize and if you've got something to share big or small we want to hear it so please email us hello at 40ish.co.com.uk Well I had the most 40 something moment in the nail salon this week.

Come on them. The nail technician had just got married and so should be. sharing her videos and photos and everything else with all the clients in the salon because we all wanted to like have a look. Oh, she looked stunning. The flowers were stunning. It was in Italy. It was the most beautiful wedding. Anyway, it was great.

So there were three women sitting in a row. And then one of the women asked, how long have you been married? And I said 25 years. And the woman next to me said 32 years. You married 25 years. 25 years this September. And the woman who asked the question, she said, I've been married for nine years. What is the secret to a long marriage?

Oh, is the secret to a long-rides. And I said, not wanting to get divorced at the same time, that's the secret. She said, I've been married for nine years. I absolutely hate my husband. Oh, dear. I said, oh, dear. Oh, dear. She said, we've got, she's the same age as me.

She said, I'm 48. I got married at 40 and we had a baby. And I just absolutely hate him. But to be honest, I hate everything. And I thought, oh. Okay. That sounds vaguely familiar. So it's going on here.

Anyway, the other lady finished her nails. I'd finished mine and this lady was still sitting there. And she said, I just don't know what's wrong with me. I've lost my confidence. And it's my birthday tomorrow and I just don't want to do anything. And I can barely do my job. And I can't even read a book or watch TV because I've got no concentration and my brain fog is out of control.

Anyway, I scooted. my wheelie chair over next to her chair. And I said, do you mind if I ask you a question? Oh, she wasn't actually telling you. She was sort of just saying it. In the salon. Yeah. I was like, do you mind me?

How old are you? She said, 48. I said, I hope you don't mind me asking. You want HR tea? No. I said, hmm. Have you heard of it? I said, sounds to me like you're quite deep in the thick of menopause, parimenopause.

She's like, oh yeah, my period stopped years ago. I'm like already there. I said, okay. have you taken HRD ever? She said, oh, I took it for like a week, but then I felt worse. And I like it. And so I said,

well, you might need to give it more than a week. She said, you don't understand. I was like, no, no, no. I do. I do understand.

She gave me basically every single symptom that we both had. That anyone could ever have. She just listed it. Bless her. And she's really struggling. And I said, listen, I'm not a doctor, but.

I do host this show and basically this is all we talk about day in day out she said but I think I'm like the only person who feels like this

I said I promise you I assure you we get emails and DMs every day women who feel exactly like you do she's like

did you feel like I did I was like yes I felt flat I had to put cushions over my ears when my husband ate yogurt

in the other room now he can eat yogurt freely you you had to put cushions over your ears in the

living room when he was eating yogurt in the kitchen. Yes, I did. And you felt that it was justified to be irritated by it. I mean, poor Ollie. I didn't tell him I was irritated by it. I just put the cushions hit for my ears because I couldn't bear the noise. And she said, and honestly, she's like, oh my God, the thought of him touching me, she's like, it makes me want to vomit.

I said, okay, this is not good. No. This isn't great. No. No. She's like, but he's just an asshole. I said, okay, listen. your husband, maybe he is an asshole and the HRT might not help that. But my feeling is,

you might find him less of an asshole if you were feeling more balanced. I said, you know what? Do yourself a favor and your child a favor. Go and see the doctor on Monday. She says, I can't even be bothered. I said, no. I know. I know. I know. I get it? I know. Yeah. But please, please. I said, honestly, I think you were sat next to me for a reason today. And the reason is so someone could say to you, put your life together, go and see the doctor, sort yourself out. I was like, you deserve better than this. You don't have to feel like this. The problem is when you're in it, unless you have the right counsel around you, unless the symptoms and the anger and the rage and the can't be bothered and the flatness and the anxiety and the hatred and all of it feels

so real. Yeah. Well, it is real. It is real and I don't want to, by me saying it feels so real I don't want it to seem as if it is because it is. Yeah. Because there were times where I just couldn't stand anything or anyone. And it was at the point where a glass hadn't been put in the dishwasher. I swear to God, this is a true story. When the glass hadn't been put in the dishwasher and I came into the kitchen and I saw it on the side

and it was next to a saucepan and I picked up the saucepan ready to chuck it across the other side. of the kitchen, I didn't. And I thought, you're not okay. You're not okay. Yeah. Because a couple of months ago, you wouldn't have felt such anger towards that cup sitting there. But it feels so justified in the moment.

And it's impossible to see outside of it. It really is. And also when that flatness, when that whole kind of despondency descends upon you, you don't have the energy to sort it out because you just don't care about anything. Yeah. She's like, I don't wear makeup anymore.

I don't get what I look like anymore. I said, well, you're in the nail salon. That's a good thing, yeah. She said, I haven't been in here for so long. I can't even tell you. I said, well, you're here. That's good. You've done that?

Yeah. Next. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. What's happening with her peers? Like, are they not on HRT? Is she not discussing this with her friends?

Has she just normalized it? I think she said I just don't want to go out and see anyone and do anything and I'm losing my friends. I mean, literally every symptom, every single thing we've ever talked about on this show. Yeah. I get it. I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't want to see anyone.

I don't want to go out anywhere. Well, this is what all the doctors talk about, isn't it? All the doctors that we've had on Self Care Club talking through the menopause and why it's so important because it's not just because there's all this talk about the risk of breast cancer with that crap study that was done in 2002, which was found completely null and void and it was done on the wrong age of women

and it was done on the wrong hormones and it was all just wrong, wrong, wrong. But the findings of that said that HRT causes breast cancer or it increases your risk of breast cancer and then everybody was taken off HRT. So there's women for 20, 30 years now that haven't been on HRT and it's probably, I mean, the doctors say it themselves. It's the, I think we will look back on medicine and it will be one of the worst things that happened in medical history because all of those poor women that suddenly, you know, put themselves at risk for heart disease and Alzheimer's and osteoporosis and the list

goes on and on and on and on but it's not just those big things it's the lifestyle stuff yeah it's that it's the feeling flat the feeling despondent the feeling hatred towards your spouse your partner i mean yeah all of that you can blow up your life or lose your life or lose yourself and that is very real and i don't think that's talked about enough because it definitely happened to me and i hope you don't mind me saying it it definitely happened to you but But because you had seen me go through it and you have access to some amazing doctors at your fingertips and you had heard,

I kept saying to you, didn't I? You've heard the same advice as me. You've heard the research. I don't understand why you are not going on HRT. I couldn't understand it. And you've watched me fall apart and I had to find my way through it blindly until I got on HRT

because I didn't know it was that. I didn't know. Because it was only really when I was going through, it was only really right at the beginning of the menopause being talked about so openly. But this is the thing, it's like you would just assume that everybody knows, but they still don't know. You know, I was out last night at a party and I was talking to my friend who said, I've got this book and I'm going to, actually, it was Dr. Cyrus's book and she said, I'm going to take it back to my friend because she's a menopause denier. I was like, but she's our age. We went to school with her.

What do you mean she's a menopause denier? She's like, she won't go out. She's become this hermit. She's really anxious. She's really weird about things like being hot. She's got all these issues and all these problems, but she will not take HRT. I'm like, why not? She's a menopause denier.

I'm going to make her read this book and the chapter. But what? She's denying that the menopause happens. Well, just like, she's so in it. She can't see that she's in it. And I was like, but what do you mean? She was like, remember when you were in it and you weren't ready to take the HRT, but you were in it? And I was like, yeah, she's like, that's where she is.

I said, oh, okay, get it. Yeah. Get it. What was your turning point? What made you think, okay, maybe I need some HRT? I think it had been a year since I'd first tried it and then come off it. So a whole year had passed. I'd had my blood's redone and I,

hormoneally speaking, blood work speaking, I had fallen off a cliff. But you'd fallen off the cliff. way before. Yeah. But I had then, again, plummeted from the low point I was at, literally at zero. And when I went to see the gynecologist to just talk it through, she just looked at the notes and not in a horrible way, but started laughing. She's like, well, it's really no wonder you feel so awful.

You've fallen off a cliff. She's like, your hormones are in the toilet. I can't even believe that you get out of bed in the morning. She's like, you, this is. Well, you barely did. To be fair. And I think I just really wasn't feeling myself. And you had really obviously noticed it.

And Olli kept saying to me, you're not yourself. You're not yourself. You're just not yourself. I mean, I bumped into Olly at the gym. I do bump into Olly at the gym. And normally it's high, how's it going? How's work? It's a very top level conversation.

And we might have a very quick coffee together. But it doesn't really go beyond that. And he pulled me to the side at the gym. I said to me, I'm really worried about her. And I said, I am too. But I know exactly what she needs to do. and she will get there with it. Yeah.

I mean, for him to do that and for us to have that conversation, you know, you were not okay. And I'm not saying it, like, I wasn't okay. Yeah. So I could recognize it so easily in you. And I can recognize it in my peers. Thankfully, a lot of my peers are really on it

with their HRT and their gynecologists and they really do look after themselves. But it's very hard to see out of it when you're in it. I think I needed to, be for whatever reason and I can't even explain it. I wasn't like psychologically ready. I think I had this thing in my head that I would be 50 and when I was 50 I would start. You know I'm very dogmatic like that.

It's black and it's white. Yes. So you really are. And I wasn't like mentally prepared because my mum was 51. Yeah. Went through the menopause started HRT and I just thought I'll follow suit. Yeah. And I wasn't like prepared for it to happen two years earlier. Yeah.

So I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I've got two more years. Yeah. But I didn't have two more years. I just didn't. And I think also it is that. And it sounds so nuts because we're talking about this every single week. We've interviewed every single doctor.

And I still couldn't just go. It was just fucking obvious. Just start. Yeah. But it took Elaine Palmer, who's been on this show, phoning me at 10 o'clock on a Friday night saying, do you know what? I think it's time.

Let's just give it a go. Come on. Let's give it a good go. And I was like, okay, yes. But I needed that. I needed someone to kind of take me in hand, who knows what she's talking about, prescribe, deal with me, sort me out and listen to her.

But you're lucky that you have her in your pocket. So lucky. So lucky. Only because of this show. Yes. So lucky. Because if you were left to the NHS, you would have been left to the NHS.

And that's a whole minefield. Yeah. Which they just could not sort me out whatsoever because as it turned out, for me, I don't absorb the HRT transdermally. Yeah. So I couldn't take the gel. I couldn't take the spray and I couldn't take the patch.

I didn't absorb anything. But I was using it. I still felt awful. I was being prescribed antidepressants. I still had the antidepressants in my cupboard. And I knew, I just knew that if I start on that, it's going to be really hard to get off it because that's a process as well.

And I just knew that my hormones weren't okay. And it wasn't until I then went back to my old gynecologist. Again, so privileged to have the access to these doctors. and he just took one look at me and he said, that's it enough. It's enough. We need to implant it. I'm like, just, just inject this shit.

Yeah. You had a rough ride for a long time. I did and I had every symptom going, apart from a hot flush, I don't get those. I am convinced that the reason that I had such a difficult time of it is so that I can host this show and do what we do now. I mean, that's lovely,

but also you shouldn't have to have suffered for like two and a half. years to be able to do a good job. You probably could have done a good job without that. No, I don't agree with you. I don't agree with that because I think I am so much more knowledgeable and wise as to what you can do, what help there is out there and all of the symptoms and how debilitating it can be. I feel so much more knowledgeable.

And I'm kind of pleased that I have that now so that I can understand when a listener writes into us and tells us that actually they're having a really awful time and they hate their husband or they can't be bothered to see any of their friends or whatever the symptom is between you and me we've probably experienced it right and also look what I went through so that I felt that I could help you and support you really well because I've been through it myself yeah yeah I think I do think women need to talk about it more I know it feels like it's omnipresent and everyone talks about it all the time. But they don't really talk about it.

I don't think they talk about the things that aren't very palatable. You know what I mean? I think the things that are like a bit embarrassing or they don't really want to admit to. Like it's easier to say to a stranger in a salon, I literally hate my husband and thought of him touching me makes me want to vomit. Like saying that to a good friend or someone who knows your husband is hard. Yeah. You know?

So it's those sorts of things. It's like no one talks about miscarriage. but a third of all women experience one. And then if you do mention it to someone, they're like, oh yeah, I had one. It's like, well, why isn't everyone saying this and sharing this? Because it would make life so much easier for everybody if everybody talked about it.

Yeah. Well, that's what we're trying to do on this show. Well, we're talking about it. Here we are. Talking about it. Yeah. Well, well done to you. And I hope that you've really helped that poor woman in the nail salon.

I hope she's gone to the doctor. I really, really do. Yeah, me too. I see her again. I'm going to check. Please. I will. She needs you.

I asked on Instagram because we had a conversation last week, maybe a couple of weeks ago, I don't know, I've lost sense of when the shows get released, who was more down to earth? Oh yeah. And then we asked James who was more down to Earth and he gave...

He didn't really give an answer to me. He did. He said neither of us were in the real world. Oh, that's his answer. Anyway, so I asked our Instagram followers. Oh yeah. When I checked it this morning, you were leading.

I know. Who knew? Let me have a look now. What did you ask? I said following on from our convoy on the pod about who's more down to earth, who would love your thoughts. Who is more down to earth? Yeah. You are in the lead currently with 53%. It's not much of a lead. And I am trailing behind at 47%.

Okay. I mean that's not much of a lead. No, but you still and we actually had someone, Catherine wrote in saying absolutely no contest. Sorry, it's Lauren. Sorry, Nicole. Okay, well, you're going to really like this then. But we also had an inbox. Yes. Did you see the inbox? From Amanda?

No, I think it was free. Oh, well, listen to this one. You're going to love this. Amanda said, listening to the latest episode, I absolutely adore you both, but I must wait in on who is more relatable. Lauren, you ruined your chances of being relatable when you went foraging for dinner ingredients.

That's when I knew. She says, that's when I knew. We are not the same. And Roxy said I'm laughing at the poll I voted of course But I have to add Based on 40ish

It would seem like it's Lauren With the doula background Not really caring about exercise Making compot from scratch Etcetra Very down to earth vibes Thank you But anyone that's listened

To the award winning Self Care Club Salkade episode Yeah And the hot towel Kianu Saman Terriaki noodle bit Oh yeah

That's one of my favourite episodes of self-care club Might think differently I'll explain what it is in a minute. I'm not because you're talking about how you're in first class. How I was sitting behind Keanu Reeves. In first class. On a flight back from LA.

And he lit your sanateriaki. I'm not sure first class and down to earth go together, she says. So I voted for Nicole. But you're both wonderful. So it doesn't matter who wins the poll. That's from Roxy. But Roxy, can I just say hashtag air miles? Do you know what I mean?

I have some midlife news. Polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS, which affects an estimated 170 million women worldwide, has been renamed PMOS. Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome. The change reflects a growing understanding that the condition is not just a reproductive or gynecological issue, but a complex disorder that can affect hormones, metabolism, fertility and mental health. The renaming initiative led by Helena Teed and Pneuxelior. published in the Lancer aims to improve diagnosis and treatment by giving doctors and patients a more accurate understanding of the condition. Many women struggle for years to have their symptoms taken seriously, but this shift signals that we're getting closer to recognising the complexity

of women's health conditions rather than reducing them to fertility alone. That's brilliant. Yeah. I wonder what, did you ask your friends Dr. Saira Hamid, what she thinks of this? I didn't, but I can. You should. I would like to hear her thoughts on this. Yeah, because she is an endocrinologist, so she must have a whole host of thoughts on this. I'll ask her. I think she's going to come on the show to talk about a new book in September. So we'll ask her then, actually. Great.

Okay, good. Should we get her to wait until September? She's like your best friend. Can we ask her? Can we ask her like this week? I might not care by September. People will still have PMS in September, by the way. I know.

But, like, I don't think we have to wait until September. You do have a lot of access to. I can ask her today. Just before we dive into your dilemma, a quick disclaimer, we're not doctors or healthcare professionals. If there's an issue you are seriously struggling with, please contact a qualified expert. Just interrupting this episode to say,

if you are enjoying it, please, can you share it with a friend who you think will love it to and don't forget to subscribe and follow wherever you're listening. Hello to both of you. I came across your podcast a few weeks back and have been loving it. It's lovely to hear such,

down to earth on his chat. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I love that. See, we are down to earth. And it really makes me laugh. My dilemma is something I have now been suffering with for as long as I can remember. So I'm not sure I can blame the menopause madness entirely. I am a 50-year-old, OK-ish driver, driving in local areas to work, school runs, basically places I just know.

However, if I was expected to drive any further outside my comfort zone to somewhere new, it would make me feel so nervous that the anxiety involved will literally keep me awake at night and I will often invent a whole load of excuses so I just end up not doing it. My fear is of getting lost, doing something stupid in my panic state like stopping or going into the wrong lane, etc. Particularly on a motorway when my palms would literally be sweating and I fear I will just end up having an accident. Sounding familiar. Very.

I'm not even sure where the fear has seen. stemmed from, but has been creeping up on me for years, but it's proper stomach churning phobia feelings that is making me feel quite sad at times. I have relied on others for years now to do the main long distance driving when required and have managed to dodge any major journeys with me in the driving seat. Now my eldest daughter is about to embark on a new exciting life at uni, which is a two-hour drive away from us and everyone keeps saying you will need to start getting more confident. I understand that I do need to get a grip and I want the freedom in my mind to go and visit whenever I want to and not rely on others. We don't want to drive with my husband next to me either,

as sweet as he is. I think that could possibly cause him to have anxiety as well as me as he would not be relaxed and would quite possibly make it worse. I'm also apprehensive about train journeys too, particularly alone. I'm just not even sure where this has come from, probably lack of doing these sort of journeys, as I've never needed to. I'm so fed up with the overthinking, worrying all the time about cocking it up and mainly the fear of just simply getting lost. I wonder if anyone else ever feels like this as I feel like it's just me. Everyone around me just seems to get on travelling without a worry and for the first real time I think this fear is going to truly hold me back and have an impact on others, mainly my family. If you can offer any advice, I would appreciate

it. Kindest regards, Kay. Has anyone else ever felt like this? yes, sitting here in this chair. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'll just leave this for you to answer. I mean, I totally relate to this. I have driving anxiety and I am pretty sure it was like my first sign of perimenopause. Because it started post-COVID.

Post-COVID. Yeah. Yeah. And actually, we did quite a few self-care club episodes where this came up. So we did one with Anna Martha. I can't remember which episode it was. Anxiety. And she said.

said that she had the same thing and she's a lot younger yes but she had three very very small children and she was taking like the bus in the rain because she wouldn't get in the car yeah and we were talking about my driving anxiety and then we did a show on hypnotherapy and i used my motorway anxiety as my hypnotherapy and the efty the tapping and the tapping yeah so we've done a few shows where this has come up for me i i totally relate and also it is not just you it is an actual perimenopause thing. I know you're saying that it's been going on for a long time, but my guess would be, as you've got older, it's got worse.

And now you've got a phobia of like being alone on train journeys too. I think, I mean, it is very common in really common women. But also the problem is with this kind of perimenopausal, let's call it a symptom or fear or phobia, it's not the sort of thing that sticking an estrogen patch on will sort out. No. Because I think it escalates quite quickly, doesn't it? Yeah, I mean, I got to the point where, because in COVID, obviously, no one was driving anywhere. And by the time we were back driving, I couldn't even drive on like an A road. And I would divert from Nicole's house.

When I had to go and pick my son up from school, I would drive home to my house and then do my own preferred route to avoid the main road. And that was awful. And obviously it was really impacting my life because I just wouldn't drive anywhere. And there was a whole day when he had a party and I got some other mum to be. pick him up because I couldn't do the drive and it got really bad and in the end I did kind of force myself to get used to the A-roads I still can't do motorways I will admit that and I had the same thing my son went to university two hours away yes yes and I knew I was never going to be able to drive up the motorway to get him in an emergency but I did know that I could just jump on the

train if I needed to and also if we ever need to go anywhere where we drive I always drive I know you're always happy and not in the car but it does still still fuck me off. Yeah. It does. It really does. You did do some motorway driving after the EFT. Did I?

Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah, you're right. I did. I drove to Blenham. Yeah. So that EFT is pretty powerful stuff. You're right.

I did do it. Yeah. I did. I actually think it is a horrible phobia and I so understand it. But you do, it's one of those things. You have to find some tool to help you through it. whether it's the hypnotherapy, the EFT, the talking to someone about it,

and then you do actually have to just do it because it is all in your head. And mine is also about getting lost and wrong lanes. Is it? Yeah. And not knowing. Yeah. Even though I've got ways and it's nuts.

Like, you know, there's no logic to it. And also you live in a city so it's so easy to jump on a train. It is, but it's often easier for me to drive. And it's also, for me as well as this lady, It's not like I didn't have, thank God, I've never had an accident, no one I knows died in an accident. It's not, there's nothing concrete. It came from nowhere. Nowhere.

And beforehand, I would drive on the motorway and I was fine. I never thought about it. And it was all okay. And now it's not okay. So I know that you and I are not the only ones. It's a real thing. It is a real thing. And I'm sure she's going to find a lot of comfort knowing that you have dealt with this and that a lot of other women have dealt with it.

Have you come, I haven't come across. I mean, some of my friends. and say, oh, I don't like driving at night. And I think that's also like the start of things, isn't it? I mean, look, I will obviously drive at night and I'm fine with it. I would rather drive in the day, but I don't have the phobia of driving at night, but I would prefer not to. So how did you get from driving from my house to your house to your son's school to now being able to do the A-roads? I'll tell you how, because we are recording time went over one day and I did not have the physical time to drive home and then drive to his school. I had no option. I had to

just drive. And I did it. And the first time I was really kind of, I could feel in my body quite tight, quite anxious, quite stressed. And then two days later I did it again. And then the next week I did it. And now I'm doing it. Two, three times. I don't even, it's autopilot. It's like brushing my teeth. I don't even think about it. I don't even, it doesn't go through my head. Oh my God, I've got to drive on this road. It's not a thing. And are you all right with all A roads now? So it was just a case of like ripping the band-aid off. I had to just do it. And I, because I was forced into a situation.

And I got there and I was like, this was fine. Yeah. This is nuts. Come on now. Come on. I still can't do motorways, but I do feel like if I had to now, if I absolutely had to, I probably could. You did have to.

When you went away with your sister-in-law. Yes. She wasn't insured on my car. Her car wasn't big enough for all of us that I had to drive in my car. So you did do it. Yeah. I did do it. I didn't love it, but I did do it. You know, I don't love the motorway, mainly because it's boring and I worry about losing,

I don't worry about losing focus, but I find it quite hard to concentrate for two hours at a time with just one road. Motorway driving is horrible. Also, my problem is I have a husband who loves driving. Like he actively enjoys long drives. So if we ever go anywhere, there's never a debate of like, who's going to drive? Because he wants to. He loves it.

Yeah. So I've got this out, which has made me very lazy and also has made me not have to deal with it. Yeah. So your advice to her is just rip the band-aid off. Rip the band-aid off. But if you don't feel able to do that, I would have some sort of tool in your pocket, whether it is a hypnotherapy session or some sort of see someone about it, whatever feels like it resonates with you. Also, maybe just do a small thing. Like, if you are going to do that motorway drive with your husband next to you, just do like two junctions.

Or maybe don't have your husband next to you because she said she'll, it's. will stress her out as sweet as he is. Yeah. But I mean, if she can't do the whole drive, at least there's someone else to do it. But just don't feel like the whole journey's on you. Just do something very short and manageable so that you know you can.

Because when you know you can, then you can do it again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, good luck. And thank you so much for the email. Sheree sent us a meltdown. Hi, girls. This is maybe a moan, possibly a rant. I've been listening to both podcasts for some time now. I'm not sure how I came across both as I'm down under in Oz.

We have a lot of listeners in Oz. But I'm glad I did. My friend, who lives in Australia, she said, I've been listening to a lot of 40-ish recently. She said, and you keep saying that you've got a lot of listeners to Australia. And I think it's completely down to me. And I was like, really? Are you broadcasting the show?

Like, how is it down to you? Is she a celebrity or something? No, she's a midwife. Well, how is it down to her? Well, I don't know. She's just decided that all the Australian listeners listen because she... How are her friends? I don't know.

I mean, I think she's told her friend. I'm pretty sure she's told her friends. But I don't know. Sheree is one of her friends. Shri. Are you really? Do you know my friend, Steph? She said, I'm down under and Oz, but I'm glad I did.

I wasn't able to have children, but I still find so many things relatable. I suffered from endometriosis when I was 22, nine and a half years undiagnosed. Bless you. So many doctors test frustrations. Later, I found a female doctor that finally got to the bottom of it all, not only endometriosis, but admiosis as well, six rounds of IVF just to give everything a try before I had to give up. But now, after nine years and divorced, I have an amazing supportive partner, a new home,

I own my own business, and I've come to terms with having no children. But it's still a question I get asked. Don't you want kids? Didn't you want kids? It's so frustrating and I just want to say, quaz off. I love the pod and I have a trip to Europe in two weeks and I'm praying to get tickets to your show. if the dates line up. Thank you, Shari.

I hope the dates line up. I really hope the dates line up. And I love Quas off. Quas. And I am so delighted to hear that you are doing well and you have made your peace and you are in a much happy

at better place. Good for you. That is lovely. It is lovely. Thank you for writing in Shiree. I really hope you can be at our live show. I don't want to say about what's happening with the live show

because then it keeps changing. It is happening and it is on July the 5th. July the 5th. fifth everybody at 4 p.m. At 4 p.m. In London. In London. We're about to go and pay the deposit now. We are. Yeah. It is happening. We will, by the time this is released, the show's released, we will have a ticket link in the show notes.

Yes. So please come along. Please come along. Okay, that's it for today. Oh yeah. It was quite a serious show for us. I felt like we were newsreaders today. No, you did not. I did. No, you did not. I feel like we were on question time. Did you?

Yeah. What's the name? Kirsty. What's the name? Who? The presenter of Question Time. I don't watch Question Time. Don't you?

No. I actually do. Do you? Yeah. Not religiously. Do you like it? Do you? Depends what's happening in the news that week.

I don't like it. Why? It just doesn't tick on my fancy. It's quite relevant and topical. It is, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it is. And it's good, and it gives you a good sense of like the temperature. I agree.

It's on at the same time as first eights, so, you know, I'm doing that. I like to go low. You know, you know, you can record things. I do know that. Did you? You just press the R on Skybox. Yeah. Even I can do that.

Can you? Yeah. Are you sure? We'll be back on... Thursday? No. Yes. No?

No, this is Thursday show. Is it? Yeah. I'll be back on Tuesday then. There you go. Okay. See, we're all over the place. We're all over the place.

We'll be back on Tuesday. Thank you.