The Unsexy Gadgets That Help Me Survive Perimenopause

Honest, neurodivergent-friendly solutions to everyday challenges

Hello,

I hope autistic perimenopause is being kind to you today! 🤞💐

I’ve been feeling flat and told my husband I needed chocolate, so he kindly went straight out to buy me some! 🍫 🥰

My current view. Can you spot the raggies outside in their catio? Meanwhile, the chocolate is rapidly diminishing…

Autistic perimenopause continues to be an ongoing nightmare for me, despite having acccess to attentive healthcare that is respectful and neuro-affirming, as well as having a strong, empathetic and loving support network.

Yet as my capacity fluctuates, I have had to embrace additional supports in an attempt to simply maintain basic standards of personal hygiene, and bare-minimal executive functioning, for myself and my household.

I think about you a lot, and wonder if the gadgets I have found useful along the way might provide you with some support too? So I have compiled a list of ten (ish) items that I use daily to survive my auti peri and buffer the regressions.

There are no affiliated links because I am Sam Galloway, not a celeb. Should Whittaker’s Chocolate offer me a sponsorship deal though, I would be bang up for that! Surely perimenopausal people are the highest consumers of quality chocolate?!

I accidentally left my Nespresso machine off the list, but that reminds me..!

Want to give me a reason to leave my house? ☕️ You can buy me a coffee here!

The title headings below are hyperlinked to the closest match I could find to the product mentioned. My own models may no longer be in production because I loathe shopping and upgrading stuff, which means you could probably buy an equivalent item second-hand, or buy a better version than I own.

I am not one to brag about myself nor feel jealous of others. Which is a fabulous feature of my atypical neurology! So please know this list is for informational purposes only, and not to establish myself as some sort of bloated, ragey hot, sexy influencer.

None of these items would make a difference to my quality of life in isolation, but combined as a toolkit they make the world of difference.

These photos are not sexy, nor are the gadgets themselves.

I do not have the capacity to stage a magazine-style spread that other social media platforms create that make you want to buy them. My photos are unapologetically grotty. Authentic and honest AF, ha ha! But I hope they don’t put you off these items!

So without further ado, and in no particular order…

---

Water flosser and electric toothbrush

I have made this photo smaller so you can’t see the mould (?) blooming on my water flosser. You’re welcome!

Why do I need these? Because I had a gum graft a few years ago and I can not begin to tell you how horrendous it was! And oral and dental changes occur for many in perimenopause, making our teeth and gum health an important aspect of personal hygiene. Some people may experience a dry mouth, and/or bleeding gums. I also have metal wire permanent retainers behind my 8 top and bottom front teeth, and flossing with tape is a nightmare. My teeth are crowded so normal floss string shreds, and it gets stuck in my teeth which is a sensory nightmare.

Manual flossing takes up time and energy that I don’t have, so I use a water flosser upon the advice of my dental hygienist. I add a tiny amount of mouthwash to the water tank and it somehow stops the unit from turning too funky.

If I don’t floss, the periodontal disease will return and I will most likely lose my teeth. No, thanks!

A water flosser is a tricky/messy piece of equipment to get the hang of initially but, once you do, it couldn’t be any more straightforward and satisfying.

My dental hygienist also advised me to get an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor. That is great due to me often zoning out when brushing my teeth, not to mention interoception differences that mean I can’t really tell if I am applying the right amount of pressure. Too much pressure means damaged gums, too little means I miss plaque and my gum recession escalates.

The timer function on electric toothbrushes is invaluable if you, like me, experience time agnosia.

---

AirPods

These may cost crazy money, but they are also high quality. My audiologist friend recommended Apple AirPods Pro when she recently advised that I have Tensor Tympani Syndrome, which was validating as well as being a shock. It manifests in me as hearing booming sounds within my ear when I am under stress, feeling extremely anxious and just generally being me. In addition to this, I also have lifelong hyperacusis, auditory processing differences and have been blessed with tinnitus in neurodivergent perimenopause. Awful.

I find my AirPods useful as the noise cancellation feature is very efficient. If I have an immediate trigger (for example, my hyperacusis manifests as a sensitivity to “scary voices” and gunshots on TV or in movies) I can switch to noise cancellation and avoid a meltdown.

I also can use them to give voice commands to my phone to write and send texts when driving, get directions, call people (this is rare, I hate calling people), play podcasts and audio books etc.

For Substack, they are great for listening to essays and articles. When writers have blocked the audio feature, I override it by using this accessibility feature on my iPhone 12.

I also like my Loop earplugs as they look and feel nice, and they reduce overwhelming general sound levels, but I must admit I default to AirPods now.

---

Power bank

When my Dad was dying last year, and my Mum called to tell me to fly from NZ to the UK immediately, I went straight out to get passport photos taken (I needed an NZ passport to get back in upon my return; my executive dysfunction loves time pressure in order to act!), whilst my husband went to buy me a hefty power bank so my phone was adequately charged through transit. I was on the first of three flights within hours.

My husband bought me a pretty pink power bank, but any colour works.

I use it daily to charge my phone, AirPods and Apple watch, as well as the kids’ iPads and headphones when out and about. So I have to be pretty anal about ensuring it is fully charged after use. Which luckily I am! It takes ages to recharge it though so I usually give it a full charge overnight.

My phone is pretty old now and the internal battery rapidly drains, but I haven’t needed to stress about it so far. I keep all the charging cables, the AirPods and the power bank in a zippy fabric pouch that goes wherever I go. It is one of the few reliable systems I have in my life-admin toolkit.

---

Smart watch

Yes, okay, I admit that this is another Apple product but it doesn’t have to be! As long as the interface removes as many barriers to use as necessary, whilst offering as many functions as possible, this can be a lifesaver (literally - mine will offer to call the emergency services if it detects a fall).

The uses of my Apple watch are numerous. Basically, I offload all my executive functioning onto it and use it to externalise my regressing/fluctuating working memory.

To say my cognition has taken another recent hit from neurodivergent menopause would be a major understatement.

So what is it good for?

• Finding my phone (it has a little button to press and my phone beeps like some kind of ADHD-busting voodoo!)

• Reminders (daily meds, bedtime, time to leave for appointments factoring in live traffic delays)

• Timers (put the bins out, turn off the oven, feed the kids)

• Daily and weekly calendar (self-explanatory, yet essential due to time agnosia)

• Exercise rings (I have a 30 minute daily exercise goal, as well as 12 hour standing goal and a kilojoules used/Movement goal. It tracks everything so I can do exercise snacs without having to remember to record everything - enabling my sporadic exercise OCD)

• Heart rate monitor and ECGs (feeds my health anxiety, but also useful for exercise effort analysis, which I don’t understand and need to avoid due to my sporadic exercise OCD)

• Sleep tracker (records duration/pattern of sleep)

• Text messages (I can read text message alerts on my watch and reply using the teeny tiny keyboard or the speak to text function, stopping me from getting my phone out and getting distracted every time my phone beeps)

• GPS (walking directions - great for people like me with no sense of direction)

• Podcasts (links to phone to play favourite shows and generally distract myself whilst hanging out washing etc.)

---

Robot vacuum cleaner

These are a few of my favourite things! 🐈 ⌚️ 🤖

What can I say about Jonny 7? 🥰 So-named because I wanted to call it Johnny 5 after the cute robot from the 1986 classic movie ‘Short Circuit’! But my husband programmed him in the iRobot app, misspelt the name and I had to process the change in my mind. Not easy!

Now, rather than “Johnny 5, I’m alive”, he is “Jonny 7, sent from heaven”, on acccount of being a Roomba j7. It makes sense in my head… 🤷‍♀️

Why do I love Jonny 7? Well, let’s just say when I command him to vacuum, he is never “too tired”, never has “something better to do”, and doesn’t think it is demeaning women’s work. What’s not to love? (Don’t tell my psychiatrist any of this, okay?)

Why do I need Jonny 7? Without him, my house would rapidly descend into an unhygienic mess, because I do not have the consistent energy to vacuum my house regularly. To use Jonny 7, I am forced to pick everything up off the floor, or else he trie to shame me by taking photos of clutter, and sharing them with me on the app.

I have a wonderful cleaner who vacuums twice a week, and does a multitude of other essential care support tasks for me, but with two floofy ragdoll cats shedding daily, and their cat litter tracking onto the carpet, Jonny 7 manages the demand heroically (almost) every time. Except when he gets stuck on a “cliff” (i.e. an uneven floor surface). With that level of paranoia, he fits right into my family dynamics!

---

Time Timer

The Time Timer interface on my phone is clear and simple.

The free Time Timer app was recommended by my friend who is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist. Again, this is necesssary for managing time agnosia, and allows me to perceive and experience time elapsing visually. It is useful for tasks I want to do and either once I start won’t want to stop (e.g. writing on Substack), and for tasks I want to never start (e.g. loading and unloading the dishwasher).

You can create custom digital visual timers on your laptop via the website, or using the app on your watch, phone or tablet device. They also sell physical versions of these, but they aren’t cheap. At least the digital version can’t get misplaced or broken!

Do you see the mute button on the photo? You can customise the sound that it makes once the timer has elapsed. Once I set it to “applause” and had the fright of my life when it went off ten minutes into extreme hyperfocus. If you are sensitive to sound, I would recommend turning that function off!

---

Calm app (and galaxy light projector)

Calm.com website - my homepage on the Mac version

The app interface offers loads of choice too. You can usually get a free trial and find a discount on annual subscription on line if you decide to sign up… Hurry up, beditme! A 'Pride & Prejudice’ sleep story has just dropped on the Calm app! (NB: Fellow P&P fans, have you seen Ben Fensome reeenacting the enire BBC series on Instagram?!)

I have subscribed to Calm for years now, mainly I only use it for the sleep stories for my kids and I. But at one point, and before auti peri decided to make me it’s next victim, I used to play all the daily meditations in pretzel pose. Humphrey the cat sleep stories are a firm favourite in my house!

Again, I have no affiliation, but I found this link to a 30-Day free guest pass if you want to trial Calm. As far as I am aware there is no benefit to me, unless you kindly comment below with any recommendations you have within the app for masterclasses, meditations, courses and sleep stories etc. I could do with being a bit more ambitious exploring the app!

Guest Pass access here, I hope it works for you!

The galaxy projector is super cool, but I can only find these cat photos of it to share with you, sorry!

Ragdoll Harry in Space

Galaxy projectors are super soothing for many people, especially those of us who are visually sensory seeking. The cats love watching them too, and it is a nicer option than a boring nightlight for my son who doesn’t like the dark. Ours can be controlled using an app, so you can control the colours, switch the stars on or off, speed up or slow down the speed, and set a timer so it switches off once you are asleep.

---

Dyson cooling fan (and electric blanket)

This is an awesome fan that has really made the biggest difference for me over the unbearably hot Kiwi summer. I must admit though, it does dry my eyes out, but I am British so I need to be able to complain about something at all times 🤷‍♀️

It can stop a hot flush in it’s tracks and (TMI incoming) when I am hot flushing and have just applied Estrogel to my inner thighs, I will stand in front of it a la ballet “plié” stance until it is dried. No shame. Don’t care. Desperate times.

I also mention the electric blanket because the weather is now cooling down here for Autumn, whilst the Northern Hemisphere gears back up for Spring. Electric blankets are lush because part of my awful hot flushing issue comes down to my general ND tendency to be unable to regulate my own temperature. So once I feel cold, I can be teeth-chattering, shivering and no more comfortable than I previously was with Estrogel dripping off my knees.

Electric heatpads are good for this too, and can be useful if you have joint pain as a bonus peri symptom.

---

Air fryer

I know everywhere raves about the Ninja Kitchen brand but I just have a basic cheap and cheerul unbranded one that does the job. We bought it in a panic when the kids were tiny, and we booked a break at an Airbnb and realised it didn’t have a full kitchen.

I rely on it when my kids tell me they are hungry and I have forgotten that people need feeding. (Three meals a day plus snacks is excessive and inefficient. Our species has evolved so poorly…)

Frozen pizzas, chips, burgers, chicken nuggets, ready made apple pies. Whatever. No shame, I am raising ND kids. If they eat anything, I am winning. Gone are the days when I was a proud housewife cooking up a storm. Why did I ever invest my energy into that anyway? Feeling conned.

However I do batch cook baked porridge, chicken drumsticks, and other protein-based foods for myself in the air fryer in a bid to not have all my muscles waste away.

I use a blender to make myself smoothies with protein powder so I don’t have to overthink food, usually on the two days a week I have personal training.

But I have a personal history and tendency towards disordered eating, and perimenopause is a prime time for these issues to flare up again. I am trying to avoid this at all costs, and trying to stop myself feeling guilty for having sat here eating all that chocolate…

A hot flush bonus is that cooking food in the air fryer doesn’t overheat the kitchen and I in the cooking process.

I am wondering now though if a pressure cooker or a Thermomix would be a worthwhile investment. Keen for feedback if you use one?

I would love to know if you already use these products, or if you have alternatives you would recommend.

NB: After I wrote this article, I fed it into ChatGPT and asked it for twenty alternative titles and subtitles. I liked this one the best!

It takes me all day to write an article, often longer, so by the time I want to hit publish, my ADHD meds have worn off and the worry of writing a rubbish headline really intimidates me.

Don’t know why I wanted to tell you that but I guess it’s just part of the authentically honest ND presentation I have, and feeling like not overexplaining myself is akin to lying… Is that just me?! Is that a latent trauma response? Maybe that is one to discuss with my psychiatrist, ha ha!

Take care of you!