Let’s talk MENOPAUSE!
Yes, I’m shouting. Partly because I’m now an irritable old woman and partly because we really, really need to talk about this. Gather your tribe - let’s talk.
You may have noticed that my blogging has become irregular, haphazard, forgetful and distracted - that just about sums up my last 6 months +, to be honest. Oh, and I also forgot my main password to my blog in the interim too (twice).
Meanwhile, my friend Alex has my lifelong gratitude for pointing out that I didn’t have dementia after all when I found I had taken the remote control out shopping with me whilst my iPhone sat at home on the coffee table!
Full disclaimer - I am not a doctor, nor a health care professional - just a 52-year-old woman that came dangerously close to ending up incarcerated for killing some random innocent human being due to hormone imbalance.
Hot Sweats
For most of my life if someone mentioned Menopause my mind wandered off on hot sweats and vaginal dryness. Let me tell you here that really isn’t the sum total of Menopause (scroll to the end to read the long list of symptoms) I have suffered neither of those or it may have dawned on me earlier that I had a massive hormone issue, but wow - I have suffered.
Hot sweats are my every day whilst living in a place with an average temperature of 45 degrees centigrade (113F) in July so if that was a symptom I hadn’t spotted it as one. What I actually had was a long list of symptoms that I just hadn’t figured out as an imbalance of hormones. Normally a happy, active, achiever type of person I had gradually become an irritable, miserable recluse that watched far too much YouTube.
Flame Thrower
The one instance when I really knew I needed help was when the outdoor kitchen was buzzed by wasps as I tried to cook omelettes. In a normal world, I would have knocked up some wasp traps, lit some citronella incense and gently shooed them away. But this particular morning my first thought was ‘If I took the butane torch to the outdoor kitchen-how long would it take to torch the place and burn all the little blighters’. Ok- I didn’t think blighters, but you can see I was in a very bad place.
Before I even got out of bed in the morning I was massively irritated with the day. On the one hand, thank goodness I live alone, but had I been living with a partner they may have picked up that my behaviour had very slowly become unliveable a good while sooner. Also possible they would have ended up under the patio too!
Postcode Lottery
Luckily for me in Spain, my private healthcare is much more patient-centric than what my UK friends experience. Not only is it quick (and expensive) but when you present with any amount of research it is viewed as a positive, not a negative. The double-edged sword is that some HRT is also available over the counter in Spain, which although could be very useful may mean that women aren’t having other health checks, analysis and the ongoing monitoring of a professional.
Wherever you and your tribe are in the world - seek out the help you need. Ask your healthcare provider for specific testing and also ask to see your results too. Some countries make hormone training optional to family doctors, not mandatory - resulting in your own research likely being more informed than they are. My first visit to a general doctor here resulted in my blood being tested for everything from cholesterol to bilirubin and yet sadly not the FSH testing that I requested.
Big spoiler here - blood tests may not actually be indicative. However, this is the standard that most medical practitioners use so I think it is a good place to start. If you have symptoms and blood results are normal - keep pushing uphill. Blood testing isn’t always the answer as our hormone levels fluctuate wildly, even by the hour, so the picture they show can be hugely inaccurate. If needs be, show this article to your healthcare provider. Do not waste hard-earned cash on saliva and urine tests that the private sector promotes - they are absolutely pointless.
Gather Your Tribe
We need to talk a lot more about something that directly affects 50% of the population at some stage. AND we need to tell the men too! How many husbands, sons and partners are witnessing these horrendous symptoms and other than fearing for their lives, could be the person who points out that help can be sought?
The family practitioner is the best place to start, but if you do not get the answers and tests you need - demand to be seen by a gynaecologist. Unfortunately, this is the only place where our hormone deficiency sits medically.
Whilst we are on the subject of gathering your tribe, let’s talk boobs too. Get it all out there over a glass of something cold and fizzy. In the UK mammograms are offered every 2 years from age 50 upwards - check when your tribe last went too.
Peri or Full
Six years ago I was told I was ‘peri-menopausal’ after some routine blood tests. At the time I felt on top of the world so paid it no attention whatsoever and carried on dancing the nights away in Ibiza’s best nightclubs and charging around the polo field on naughty ponies.
For the last 6 months, I couldn’t even entertain either of those things. Not just from depression and irritability but the intense joint pain that is another menopause symptom that I was completely oblivious to and discounted as many other things.
Having had a hysterectomy 10 years ago also meant not seeing any change in menstrual patterns which I had always seen as a positive but I presume a lot of women may be prompted to seek help when those fluctuations happen. This is a great article on the medical difference between Peri and Menopause, but basically, Peri just means the transitional phase.
The menstrual cycle becoming erratic is actually a long way down the road of hormone imbalance and waiting for that to be a sign may mean women are suffering unnecessarily. The clinical definition of Menopause is when you have been menstruation free for 12 months, but you could have been suffering Perimenopause for over a decade prior to this.
Natural Therapies
If you have read some of my blogs you are well aware that I am super keen on natural therapies, and genuinely believe in the power of nature. Nature can really help with symptoms of Menopause, but it cannot replace hormones that the body still actually needs. During the wait between finally realising what I was going through and getting all the different tests and subsequent results, I was of course researching what natural remedies could help me.
I do need to point out that reading up on such topics whilst suffering a particularly irritated day may not have been a good idea. The very suggestion of a healthier diet and taking more exercise coupled with cognitive behaviour therapy nearly saw my laptop launched into the sheep field. Where it would have joined the leaf blower that decided to choose that particular day to just stop functioning too.
However, some help was at hand after my first appointment with a specialist gynaecologist consultant in Seville in the form of a supplement called Serotogyn Nocta. Although it doesn’t treat the cause, it is rated to help with some of the erratic symptoms and I can report that it did indeed help my sleep and alleviated a fraction of the irritability whilst waiting on more results to come in.
Amitriptyline is another option if your symptoms are life-threatening - and mine were definitely life-threatening to others. Again, this does nothing to treat the underlying cause but it does alleviate some of the symptoms and of course, comes with its own set of side effects too.
On the day of my specialist appointment in Seville, I actually parked on the outskirts of town and got an Uber into the hospital and back even though the hospital has its own car park. Why? Because I could not trust myself to not ram another road user if they dared to cut me up. Then upon arrival in the hospital had a little cry as I realised I had left my sunglasses in my car! You can clearly see how my life had become!
Due to my earnest searches on these topics, I am now bombarded with advertising to try and prize my credit card out of my purse. Although some lotions and potions may help with a few vitamins here and there - this is just another way for companies to target a needy audience. NONE of these products is actually going to treat the cause.
Let’s Talk About Sex
Testosterone levels play a huge role in libido and sexual function during Perimenopause and Menopause and may or may not be required to be supplemented. Lack of energy and feeling tired is also a sign of testosterone lowering. Finding a good healthcare provider and having this discussion is really important here too.
Treatment
Davina McCall has done some great programs on YouTube about her own experience with hormone imbalance and introduced me to Dr Louise Newson. These two resources were so helpful to me - factual and informative and without drama. Dr Louise has a great free app called Balance which is great to record symptoms as a journal too.
As a menopause specialist clinic, Louise and her team offer video consultations at £195 which is not a small amount of cash - however, I would pay ten times that if I had no other answers available to me.
There are many options when it comes to treatment from patches to gels and creams and I am told it can take a few months to really feel the benefit. I will let you know!
Dr Louise Newson talks a lot about the risks of not taking HRT versus the risk of taking it. This is another reason I chose to not self-medicate and seek specialist help - I felt I needed ALL the information in front of me.
All women should have empowerment and choice over their own bodies, in every aspect and especially with their hormone health.
Other Health Risks
Risks of heart disease, inflammatory diseases, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, cognitive decline and early dementia, depression and suicide are well documented in women who do not balance their hormones. I was shocked when I started reading up on all of this, all I had known of before was the risk of osteoporosis - I now know this is by far not the only risk. Ultimately HRT is a preventative treatment!
What Symptoms?
The list of possible symptoms of Perimenopause and Menopause is long and also easily dismissed as other things. Of course, you may have 1, 2 or all of these but I certainly had dismissed many of these symptoms as other things.
Brain Fog
Lack of Interest in Life
Hot Flushes
Night Sweats
Insomnia
Mood Swings
Depression
Weight Gain
Memory Lapse
Itchy Skin
Migraines
Tingling Hands and Feet
Painful Sex
Lack of Libido
Feeling Loss of Self
Hair Loss
Palpitations
Joint Stiffness
UTI’s
Tinnitus
Irregular Periods
Breast Soreness
Burning Mouth
Change in Taste
Fatigue
Bloating
Digestive Changes
Muscle Tension
Electric Shock Sensations
Disturbed Sleep
Concentration Loss
Brittle Nails
Stress Incontinence
Dizziness
Allergies
Osteoporosis
Body Odour
Irritability
Anxiety
Panic Attacks
Conclusion:
Gather your tribe and please share this far and wide!
