{"id":5982,"date":"2023-05-01T01:23:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T00:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/?post_type=menopauselibrary&p=5982"},"modified":"2024-08-28T13:14:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T12:14:45","slug":"my-story-menopause-while-living-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"menopauselibrary","link":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/menopause-library\/my-story-menopause-while-living-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"My story: menopause while living with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to advocate for yourself during healthcare appointments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NHS nurse Laura\u2019s Bibby\u2019s perimenopause coincided with a life-changing spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, she shares her story to raise awareness of menopause and disabilities, and advice on how to advocate for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In 2019, at the age of 41, a devastating spinal cord injury caused significant changes to my whole body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This left me paralysed and needing emergency surgery \u2013 but unfortunately I was left with permanent damage to the left side of my lower limb, which resulted in me becoming partially paralysed. I was told I would never walk again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I have four daughters, and the youngest at the time was three, so essentially I swapped the pushchair for a wheelchair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m also a nurse and have worked in the NHS for 23 years. My job then was trying to improve care and services for people with diabetes who had foot amputations, so I had spent a lot of time speaking to people who needed wheelchairs \u2013 and found myself in the same position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Previously I had worked in trauma, but although you look after people who come in after trauma and are paralysed, you never think it will happen to you. So when I was told I may never walk again, it was a huge shock. I felt I had no option but to look at alternatives and find out how I could adapt and overcome my condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adapting to life using a wheelchair<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I went back to work quite quickly \u2013 after five months \u2013 using a wheelchair. I just adapted, really. But I also had intensive therapy with a company that specialises in spinal cord injuries. I went from being a full-time wheelchair user to someone who can walk with crutches, depending on energy levels and whether it\u2019s a good day or a bad day for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The COVID-19 pandemic interfered a lot with my recovery \u2013 my specialist therapy stopped for one thing. But working from home did give me that little bit of freedom to work on my rehab at home. I had been a yoga teacher before my injury, so by adapting my yoga practice, pulling in skills I\u2019d learned from therapy, and my own skills as a clinician, I made my own rehab programme. I went into the pandemic not walking, and when I came out, I was walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of perimenopause<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Looking back on it, I hit perimenopause around the same time I had my spinal cord injury, but it was hard to tell at the time because I was living with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and all the things that go along with having a life-changing event happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018About two years after the accident, I went to my GP \u2013 I probably had a bit of a breakdown \u2013 and was told it was because of my injury, and I was started on antidepressants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I fought against that, because I didn\u2019t feel my depression and low mood were due to my injury. I\u2019ve never been an emotional person \u2013 working in A&E, you can\u2019t just burst into tears when something sad happens, and I\u2019ve watched many people die and supported people through traumatic events. Yet here I was this person who was bursting into tears at the most ridiculous things. But my GP said it was depression, and that I should take antidepressants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018And then there was the joint pain. Again, the GP said it was due to the injury, and gave me more painkillers. And I also couldn\u2019t sleep and was anxious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

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

\u2018Nobody was putting these things together, nobody was connecting the dots. I was two years into my injury and suddenly developed depression and anxiety? It didn\u2019t sit comfortably with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It was only when I got the night sweats that I thought \u201cthis isn\u2019t right\u201d. I went back to my GP and asked for HRT. I had to fight for it, because they were a bit nervous about me having oral tablets because of the increased risk of clot, but I knew I didn\u2019t want patches because I already have patches for pain relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019ve just started on HRT and while it hasn\u2019t resolved all my problems, it has stopped the night sweats, and reduced the insomnia. So it\u2019s early days, but I feel it might make a difference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What upsets me is that so often people make assumptions that anything that\u2019s happening is to do with the spinal cord injury rather than to other things, such as perimenopause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Medicine is so scripted \u2013 I\u2019ve been under a urologist because of my spinal cord injury, but they haven\u2019t connected that, maybe some of my symptoms could be down to menopause. And the neurosurgeon doesn\u2019t talk to the gynaecologist, and so on. We should have multi-disciplinary teams that get together and say, \u201clook, she\u2019s in her 40s, maybe it\u2019s not the injury, maybe it\u2019s menopause\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using my story to help others<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019ve shared my story on Instagram<\/a> and so many people have sent me messages saying it really resonates with them, and that they\u2019ve struggled to get support too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I think there\u2019s a real lack of information about menopause and disabilities, and so many people feel they\u2019ve been brushed off when they\u2019ve looked for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I\u2019m a real advocate of people\u2019s rights and would definitely advise anyone who feels they have these symptoms \u2013 whether to do with menopause or anything else \u2013 they should go with their gut (it\u2019s usually right) and go to the GP with their concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I want to educate people living with disabilities about the extra challenges of menopause. None of us deserves to be brushed off.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can follow Laura on Instagram @ blue__brick_disability<\/a><\/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":"

How to advocate for yourself during healthcare appointments NHS nurse Laura\u2019s Bibby\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8269,"template":"","subject":[26,41,25],"content-type":[6],"library-format":[19],"library-author":[],"class_list":["post-5982","menopauselibrary","type-menopauselibrary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-hrt","subject-perimenopause","subject-wellbeing","content-type-article","library-format-read"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/menopauselibrary\/5982","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\/8269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=5982"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=5982"},{"taxonomy":"library-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-format?post=5982"},{"taxonomy":"library-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.balance-menopause.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-author?post=5982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}