One woman tells her story

Daksha first started noticing symptoms of the menopause when she was around 45 years old, working in a pharmaceutical company where she had previously been involved in selling HRT patches, she was well informed about what might be happening.  She also knew that her Mum had started the menopause around the same age and that this was quite common in Asian women.  She knows her two younger sisters will soon be following her!

The first symptoms she noticed were missing periods and then she started having hot flushes, these mostly came at night although she did have some during the day as well.  Daksha describes how she would go to bed and have just fallen asleep when she would be woken up by the very unpleasant sensation of a wave of heat rolling up her body from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.  Although the heat would only last a few minutes it would leave her wide awake, and after it had gone, her body would cool down meaning further rearrangement of the bedding.  For Daksha this disturbed sleep was the most difficult thing to cope with in a busy life where she is wife, mother and career woman.

Quite soon after these symptoms started Daksha went to her GP and he confirmed that she was in the climactory phase and going through the peri-menopause.  He decided that it would be best to monitor her progress and wait until a full year without periods had elapsed (the actual definition of Menopause) before starting her on HRT.

In the meantime she tried a variety of ‘holistic’ remedies, including sage-oil (recommended by her cleaner), black cohosh, ‘flash-fighters’ but with little success.

One of the main ‘symptoms’ Daksha mentioned is one that many women will relate to, the psychological dread of the menopause, not just because of the symptoms but because it really confirms that we are getting older.  Daksha looks great for her age, she is really young spirited and active (she took part in the Adidas 5k for Wellbeing of Women last September) and having had her son at 39 is used to keeping up with an energetic 9 year old.  But even though she isn’t ageing on the outside she says she really feels she is ageing on the inside and knows that her energy levels have dropped as a result of the menopause.

Last year, even though her periods hadn’t stopped altogether, she went back to the Doctor because she couldn’t bear the constant waking up in the night and was finding it difficult to keep up with being a wife and mother and holding down a full-time job without a decent night’s sleep.  She has now been on HRT for about 6 months and has felt some benefits – she still has the occasional hot flush but is able to sleep through the night.

Daksha says that sometimes she forgets what she is saying half-way through a sentence – and although forgetfulness is a known symptom of the menopause – she does worry that perhaps it is just ‘age’ rather than anything else.

Although the menopause hasn’t really affected her working life (she has still been very successful in her career throughout this period) she does worry that it has affected how much time and energy she has for her family, she is very grateful for her fantastically understanding husband particularly as she feels that she has become more short-tempered (which could be to do with the menopause or just being the mother of a very active 9 year old!) lately.  Daksha is quite philosophical about the menopause, knowing that it is just one of the stages all women have to go through and is very grateful for the support of all her family throughout this period.

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