Carrie Mapes
Carrie earned a BA in History and a MEd in Education at UCLA. There, she met her husband, John, and they married after graduation.
Carrie taught in private and public elementary schools and has instructed students with learning differences at a private college. She also wrote and published teaching guides.
Once her children were born, Carrie became an active mom, volunteer, board member and artist.
Carrie served as a crisis counselor for Crisis Text Line to provide one-on-one crisis support through texts.
Carrie and John live in Los Angeles. Her son Michael is a senior at UCLA, and her daughter, Abby, is a sophomore at Duke. Carrie thought their departure to college would result in actively pursuing her art, but she has taken a turn into the world of wellness, women and cannabis.
– Contact Carrie –
Carrie on Menopause
Although I’d been experiencing and ignoring hot flashes, a dip in energy, and trouble getting back to sleep when I awakened in the middle of the night, it was memory fog that brought me to my knees. I had recently taken a family member to a memory clinic to address cognitive challenges and decided to make an appointment for myself. My growing tendency to forget names, struggle with finding the specific word to best express myself, and trouble with short term memory tasks validated my family’s regular response, “I already told you that”.
I told no one of my appointment and drove to the experts convinced that my diagnosis would be early onset Alzheimer’s; my only decision was whether to tell my family. Perhaps not. Not yet. I’d write them a letter instead. But, what if I didn’t remember to give it to them when things progressed? I’d have to give the letter to someone to hold. But who? In my head, I was the star of a tragic drama that was about to begin.
Like many women, I didn’t know that memory fog is a symptom of menopause. I was referred to my GYN who prescribed an estrogen patch with a monthly progesterone protocol. My symptoms, including the more physical ones, were relieved within two days.
But the transdermal estrogen patch didn’t stay put through my exercise routine. I’d forget to take a progesterone pill every morning and my 10-day protocol would take me 12 or 14 to finish and I worried about the effects of that. Friends who had taken hormones for years developed dark masses on their mammograms. Was I supposed to continue with the treatment forever or eventually discontinue the protocol? If I would eventually stop, then why not stop now? I just didn’t feel great about taking the hormones.
Carrie on Cannabis
I have never been a recreational cannabis user. In high school, pot was mostly a boy’s drug. I was also a little chicken. The stereotypical experience of being high, as I understood it, was never appealing. I certainly didn’t want to feel lazier and hungrier than I already did. A recent experience while researching for the development of this product confirmed that I am THC sensitive and I do not like being high. Yet, this journey has taught me that the therapeutic benefits of cannabis overshadow the psychoactive high produced by just one of its many components. I now use topicals and transdermal patches to combat my exercise-induced aches and pains. I also enjoy a low THC cannabis-based cocktail in place of a traditional gin and tonic.
Hello Again, Carrie
I use both Hello Again, Everyday and Hello Again, Sleep. Although the products can be used daily and nightly, I have found that semi-regular use keeps my temperature, mood and sleep systems in balance. When I use two suppositories back to back (for example, a daytime followed by a nighttime) I can skip the following day and still feel like my systems are working properly. Sometimes I let the nature of my day dictate whether I use the product. If I am going to exercise in the morning, then go home and work from home all day, I may skip using the vagitory that day. For more outward facing days when I know I will be in situations which require I be sharp, focused, quick on my feet or patient I make Hello Again a part of my morning routine. Social interactions trigger my hot flashes, so I also think ahead about that. If using the daytime product I may also use a tampon when I exercise.
Since using Hello Again, I have had relief from other, non-menopause related symptoms. My achy thumb doesn’t ache. My restless legs are calm.
I don’t have trouble falling asleep, however, I can often have trouble going back to sleep when I wake up in the night. With Hello Again, Sleep, I return to sleep quickly should my bladder, my phone or my kids wake me. More often than not, with Hello Again, Sleep, I sleep through the entire night.