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A friend recently contacted me looking for articles and info on a stage
some Vampires go through, affectionately called second stage, or "Vampire
Menopause"
I wondered why so little has been written on this considering how many
people seem to relate to the topic when its brought up on boards and chats.
I mulled the topic over and have come to the conclusion that, for the
most part, the rather unusual physical aspects of this occurrence make
the topic a bit hush-hush, since in recent years the community as a whole
has leaned towards presenting the physical aspects of Vampirism as normal
and mundane and shying away from anything that might be misconstrued as
fantastical or metaphysical in nature. Second stage, for those who experience
it, seems to be anything BUT normal or mundane, and I suspect for that
reason its seldom discussed openly, but mostly relegated to private chats
and discussions among those who've gone through it and those who come
desperately begging for info when it hits them. Shunning the topic doesn't
make it go away, and doesn't make it any less real to those who experience
it. Its baffling and its frightening, and with so little guidance on the
topic most Vampires are left to deal with it alone or face the fear of
being called a liar or role-player. Second Stage is REAL.
First let me say that ANYONE, Vampire or not, who experience drastic
physical changes needs to see their health care provider. It could be
second stage... or it could be a serious medical condition. Don't take
the risk. Get it checked.
I went through Second Stage in my late 30s. I've heard of people going
through it younger but the majority of those experiencing it seem to be
40ish or older.
When I first started to deal with it, I honestly had no idea what was
going on. Initially the things that were happening to me seemed unrelated.
It was only when all was said and done and I got brave enough to bring
the subject up with others that it became obvious that there was a pattern
involved and that phenomenon was mostly confided to Vampires and most
often experienced by women, though many men have also said they have been
through it.
Second stage takes the form of a series of odd physical occurrences that
seem to go through the body one system at a time over a period ranging
from about 3 to 7 years, depending on the person going through it. When
its over the person is physically and permanently altered in many ways
including metabolism, rate of aging and many other aspects, as well as
the amount of blood they consume, if Sanguinarian, which appears to go
up drastically.
Many people experience some, or all of the following:
Skin:
For myself this was the first really drastic event, though order of
occurrence seems to vary Vampire to Vampire. My skin peeled from head
to feet, like a snakes, over a period of weeks. I hadn't gotten a sunburn
and there seemed to be no explanation for it. When it was over my skin
was much paler and much more UV sensitive. I now avoid UVs at all cost,
whenever possible. All the UV 70 sunblock in the world doesn't really
seem to help much. I can get sunstroke in less than 30 minutes, even
in the shade on a really sunny day.
[If you have sun poisoning
issues, you might actually find this
article to be useful. ~Sphynx]
Circulatory System:
This phase was, for me, marked by a sharp increase in my blood pressure
over a period of a few months and what appeared to be a couple of minor
heart attacks. It was terrifying - in fact, this for me was the scariest
of everything I went through physically as a Vampire. My Doctors could
not find a reason for it. In the end they put it down to stress, put
me on medication and a nitro inhaler and felt I 'd have to be careful
to keep my stress levels down as much as possible for the rest of my
life. A year later I was fine. There are now no signs at all that anything
ever went wrong. All the scarring they said the attacks left on my heart,
initially, is now gone. All I was left with was several rather baffled
but pleased physicians.
Appetite: I thought I had developed
Ulcers when this first started. I developed, rather suddenly, a number
of food intolerances to things that I had hither to, consumed on a regular
basis. Oddly one of these was garlic. It was a little embarrassing...
I mean come on... a Vampire who is allergic to Garlic? That's about
as cliché as it gets! I have since talked to a number of other
Sangs who have developed this "intolerance", which leads me
to believe that the whole "Vampires can't stand garlic" myth
may have been rooted in reality, though greatly overblown over the years,
as myths frequently are. While my tolerance to "normal" foods
became less, my blood consumption went up, a lot. Where I had once gotten
by with tablespoons with sometimes weeks between feedings, my need jumped
and stabilized at about 4 ounces every 7 to 10 days, which also varies
Vamp to Vamp. My blood consumption has remained steady at about 4 ounces
/ week or ten days, and as long as I consume enough I don't seem to
get sick much. I don't crave grains or starches like I used to, though
I do still crave fats in the cold of winter. I do still occasionally
crave fruit, but my body seems to respond best to large amounts of protein
and blood. I go with what works for me.
Metabolism:
I got quite thin. Where I had carried some extra weight in my childbearing
years, it all fell off me like I was dying. In fact, people who knew
me stopped me to see if I was sick. My appetite dropped off drastically.
While I was eating less, I found myself drinking more blood when I could
get it. I arranged for more, making up the difference with animal blood,
since I knew I'd never find a donor to keep up with my pace of consumption.
Instead of getting sick, I was getting healthier! I stopped getting
flu bugs, and started to avoid getting colds. I took up weight lifting
on a more regular basis than I used to and I muscled up at light speed!
It was incredibly awesome. My weight eventually leveled off to fluctuating
between 135 and 140 pounds.
Vision:
My eyes and vision still fluctuate as of this writing, wildly sometimes.
Some of my issues are normal aging and others can't be explained so
easily, even by my optometrist. When all this started my vision was
15 / 15, better than normal. I could always see fairly well in the dark
and could read street signs up to 3 blocks away, at least the larger
signs. While I now require reading glasses, since, as my father says,
my arms got too short to read the paper, the trade off is that my distance
vision has become even better and my night vision is awesome. Daylight
hurts my eyes and I avoid it or wear shades if I have to be outside
or driving. On the other hand, I see almost perfectly in pitch dark,
and starlight is enough light for me to see as well as most folks do
in daylight, making me an excellent companion for camping or power failures.
See? there is a silver lining to just about everything!
Hair and Nails:
its rather nice to finally be able to grow really long hair and nails.
I'm not sure when in the process this happened for me, but where I used
to have shoulder length hair and broken nails I now have hair almost
to my waist and I can actually grow nails that look manicured. Both
now grow very very quickly I'm fast approaching 50 at the time of this
writing, and while my contemporaries are struggling with ridged nails
and losing their hair, I'm growing my hair out and admiring my claws.
When I do break a nail I no longer sweat it. I 'll have it back in less
than a week.
Aging:
Somewhere along the way I stopped looking either young or old. Its odd.
No one ever knows or really guesses how old I am at first glance, anymore.
I don't know how long this phase will last, but at my present age its
very flattering to still be called beautiful and even ageless. Not that
I think I'm actually ageless, not at all, but I do seem to be aging
more slowly than my peers. Since Vampirism runs in my family I smile
and say "It's genetic" and I'm not lying. Some people just
seem to age differently than others. It could be coincidence, but this
does seem to be a trend with those who go through Second Stage. Almost
everyone I know who has gone through it is aging "gracefully"
so this seems to be another silver lining to the cloud of getting through
it. I hope it lasts. I'm enjoying it while it does. Years from now
I 'll write a new article and let you know how it goes.
These are just a few of the more noticeable changes I went through. There
are many others and having spoken to others who've been through it, everything
varies a bit, Vamp to Vamp. What we have in common, when all is said and
done, is an experience that ripped through our bodies one system at a
time, changing us irrevocably for what many would consider the better,
though it sure doesn't feel like it at the time we are going through it.
I know, myself, I thought several times I was literally going to die.
The above instances are not a complete list. Additional changes reported
by others who have gone through it include: Developing a powerful "presence",
magical / metaphysical abilities greatly increased, self control enhanced,
increased mood swings, increased incidents of "shifting" and
many others.
I do realize it doesn't sound at all mundane, and for many reasons the
Vamp Community as a whole seems to shy away from the topic. That said,
for many of us who've gone through or are going through it, Second Stage
is real. For those who have to deal with it it is drastic and often terrifying.
If you are a Vampire, and you think you might be going through Second
Stage, know that you are not alone. Here is my advice:
See your doctor regularly.
If you are Sanguinarian, try to increase your availability of blood
and your consumption if possible, since it seems to help a lot.
Get more physical exercise if possible, as it helps keep "hunting
instinct" under control
Relax as much as possible and know that "This too shall pass"
While I will not advise you to NOT discuss this with others, be aware
that its often treated with great skepticism by those who have not experienced
it. Fortunately there are more and more of us willing to discuss it,
and if you can find a group with older vamps in it to help you, the
support does make it much easier.
Remember that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and most of
us consider the changes to be positive ones once the worst of this is
over.
Every once in a while a vampiric aging conference is held in the online
community. Make it to one, if you can. If you can't make it to one, you
can find a log on Sphynxcat's Real Vampire Site or Smoke and Mirrors Support
Board, so you can see what others went through and how they coped.
You will get through this, and the results will likely please you. Support
is out there in the guise of those of us who have been through it already.
In the meantime
Stay Well
Stay Fed
Stay Together
Lady CG, Dec. 2009
This article is presented as part of an ongoing
effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online
vampire community. As such, the views and attitudes contained in this
article are entirely those of the author(s), and may not necessarily
be shared by SphynxCatVP. The webmaster is not under obligation to update
or otherwise keep current the contents of this article. Most
importantly, only you can decide for yourself whether this article or
any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - use
your own reasoning and judgment.
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