Strange things are happening to me

 It's still dark outside, though the first fingers of dawn are tapping at the curtains. I am awake. Again.

The now all too familiar tingle has begun to work its way through my body, a body that is no longer my own. I am possessed. The person I was is disappearing at a rate that scares me. Change fires up my neurons. "Take action" my brain yells. "Stop this thing." But I know I can't. Perhaps it is possible to slow it down, but I don't know how. The alien that is inside me saps my energy to move let alone fight. I am befuddled and frightened. 

I sink beneath the warmth of the duvet to seek comfort in sleep but it does not come to my aid.

Eventually I drag my weary body to the surface and begin my day. I creak. The pain in my joints slowly dissipates but never all the way. It lingers, reminding me it is there. It began in my hips but now my knees, shoulders and elbows have joined in. They throb. Just a few weeks ago I was leaping out of bed to exercise but now this malaise has united with the long-present mood swings, grey hairs and erratic periods.

The name of my foe is Peri-Menopause. This latest attack on my joints has come seemingly out of the blue. It wakes me at night and drags at me throughout the day. Mentally I still feel 30, but sadly my body is feeling every one of my 50 years.

Please tell me it gets better!