{"id":5339,"date":"2023-01-05T03:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T03:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/?post_type=menopauselibrary&p=5339"},"modified":"2024-08-28T13:17:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T12:17:38","slug":"my-story-i-was-at-rock-bottom-now-i-support-others-through-their-menopause","status":"publish","type":"menopauselibrary","link":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/menopause-library\/my-story-i-was-at-rock-bottom-now-i-support-others-through-their-menopause\/","title":{"rendered":"My story: ‘I was at rock bottom – now I support others through their menopause’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rowan shares her experiences of menopause-related anxiety, UTIs and heart palpitations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rowan was running a successful business when she started to experience physical and psychological symptoms that impacted her confidence and her career \u2013 but no one mentioned the perimenopause or menopause.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, she shares her story.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I lost my father when I was thirty-nine. He had brought me up, and I had cared for him before he died, and it hit me particularly hard. So when I had the symptoms of what I now know as perimenopause, I initially thought it was grief. But then it went on, and on \u2013 even two years later I\u2019d have emotional days when I couldn\u2019t stop crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I had been a fit and active outdoor person my whole life and had been working in the equine industry, running a busy event yard, teaching and riding semi-professionally. Yet here I was in my early forties, suffering from broken sleep, anxiety and lost confidence. It began to have a serious impact on my riding career, as the anxiety became unbearable and I had panic attacks. I felt so unwell all the time \u2013 like someone had knocked me off my feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Menopause, depression and anxiety<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I was too young to be perimenopausal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The only thing I knew \u2013 or thought I knew \u2013 about the menopause at that point was that I wouldn\u2019t have to worry about it until I was well into my fifties, and then it would just involve getting a bit hot and sweaty. How hard could that be? I spent half my life sweating doing physical work, anyway. I had no idea it could hit women of my age, or even in their twenties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m sure now that by the time I was 42 I was perimenopausal. Hot flushes weren\u2019t a big thing for me, but I was running a temperature and felt overheated the whole time. I developed urinary tract infections \u2013 I got electric shock pains through my pelvic area, had a really painful pelvis with cramping. I thought I was diabetic because I was really thirsty and wanted to go to the loo all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night sweats and heart palpitations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: My Story: Living with GSM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I went to see a GP because I thought I was run down. It was having a real impact on my life. I\u2019d stopped competitive riding, but I was still trying to work and be active and do my day job. I had night sweats; I\u2019d be shivering; I\u2019d be woken up with heart palpitations, which was really unnerving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The GP ordered blood tests and everything came back negative. Further down the line, I was tested for Lyme disease, connective-tissue disorders, Addison\u2019s disease \u2013 but nobody even mentioned menopause or perimenopause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I said to the doctor that I thought it was my hormones \u2013 that I thought my estrogen and testosterone were low \u2013 and asked if I could be tested for that. He couldn\u2019t even look at me. He turned away and said I\u2019d have to talk to someone who knew something about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018At this stage I was really struggling. This wasn\u2019t like a cold or flu, something that would go away in a few weeks. It was constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting HRT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I saw another GP and she gave me HRT. But I wasn\u2019t given any information about it. She asked me if I wanted patches, gel or tablets. How was I supposed to know? I said I\u2019d try tablets, so she wrote the prescription and off I went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Within three or four days, my temperature had come down, my dizziness and nausea had gone and I thought, \u2018Thank God, it\u2019s worked\u2019. But after several months, the symptoms came back again \u2013 and my muscles ached, brain fog crept in and I felt utterly exhausted all the time. I went back to the GP. I had done some research and now knew I needed body-identical HRT \u2013 and a much higher dose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: The Dr Louise Newson Podcast: When menopausal symptoms persist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018My life changed when I watched a menopause documentary and found a menopause specialist. I had to wait three months for the appointment and by that time I had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I tried to carry on, and then I slipped a disc in my back. I couldn\u2019t work \u2013 I couldn\u2019t stay awake; I was at rock bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling listened to<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018When I got to the specialist menopause clinic, I finally felt listened to. They understood what was going on, and the help I needed. I was told to keep increasing the dose of the estrogen every two weeks until I felt better. I was on testosterone as well, and after several months, I felt great. All my symptoms had eased, the chronic fatigue had lifted, the brain fog had gone and I was back to teaching. It took longer to sort out the progestogen, but I feel brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: My story of hormonal depression: when my hormones change, I change<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting others through their menopause <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Now I volunteer at my local GP practice running menopause-support meetings. This isn\u2019t just a meet-up-and-have-coffee thing \u2013 it\u2019s a place where women can come and gain more knowledge about the menopause and how to deal with their symptoms with up-to-date medical information. I\u2019ve also set up a Facebook group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m very lucky to feel as good as I do now, but it hasn\u2019t been without a fight. Women shouldn\u2019t have to go through this. We\u2019ve got to come out of the dark ages, and there\u2019s still a long way to go.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you like to share your experience of perimenopause or menopause? Write to us at shareyourstory@balance-app.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rowan shares her experiences of menopause-related anxiety, UTIs and heart palpitations Rowan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8139,"template":"","subject":[26,16,65],"content-type":[6],"library-format":[19],"library-author":[],"class_list":["post-5339","menopauselibrary","type-menopauselibrary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-hrt","subject-mental_health","subject-patient-stories","content-type-article","library-format-read"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/menopauselibrary\/5339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/menopauselibrary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/menopauselibrary"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"library-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-format?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"library-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-author?post=5339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}