MENOPAUSE// … FINALLY BEING TALKED ABOUT.. A LITTLE LESS TUMBLEWEED AND RADIO SILENCE…BUT STILL A LONG WAY TO GO..
As you travel through your 40’s and into your 50’s, are you feeling the pull of change in your own body ? Sensing things are different? Not really understanding what’s going on?
Embarrassingly I was very unaware (and probably a little in denial) that the symptoms I was suffering were menopause – I had no idea, and actually thought I had the beginnings of heart problems. I’m talking a few years ago, when all this started around age 47; I vividly remember having these heart palpitations at night, literally my heart was racing and pounding.. it was absolutely frightening and didn’t let up for months.
Alongside these I also got brain splitting headaches, a very disconcerting fizzing sensation down the side of my face, zeppelin airship proportion weight gain and the well known night sweats …. I realised the latter were obviously part of peri menopause but I had no idea about the other symptoms.. so I started to research, Following Liz Earle and Dr Louise Newson, a menopause specialist (very new then, but who has totally revolutionised the menopause for women ). I hounded older mums at the school gates, asking what their symptoms were and went on a fact finding ‘home remedy’ mission.
However, after 3 consecutive nights of NO sleep at all, with two young sons and a husband working away, I literally collapsed in front of my GP and in my own words ‘caved’ in to HRT. I deemed myself a failure for not managing it via lifestyle (so was the pressure at the time).. I was totally inconsolable, my GP was brilliant and got me the help I needed, although it took me 6 months to get the HRT I wanted which was oestrogel and utrogestan.
HRT is a total game changer, I have my life back. I feel fitter, healthier, stronger, happier, more creative and much more myself, than I have done in years. I only wish my mum could have taken advantage of what’s available now, as she suffered chronic osteoporosis, depression, and sleep deprivation..
So now, I have totally embraced this phase of my life and want to help other women going through this transition to feel the same. There is SO much you can do through diet, exercise, and lifestyle – seeking hormone support where needed.
It’s so fascinating that in other cultures the menopause is celebrated – age is revered and respected, and menopausal symptoms are much less bothersome. Let’s take this journeyed, spin it around in the same direction – with knowledge ladies..
EMBRACE THE CHANGE