Losing your mind – or is it menopause?

Thanks to qualifying as a Menopause Coach, I have been having some amazing conversations with some incredible and talented people. The fabulous ladies who were on the course with me are inspiring and the world of workplace consultancy will be lucky to have them share their knowledge.

I have also been having some truly shocking conversations with women who are lacking knowledge and receiving no understanding from the medical profession.

The story I repeatedly hear is something like this:

I did not understand what was happening – I thought I was going mad. I was capable and operating at a senior level in my career, but one morning woke up with terrible anxiety. Then I began to forget things – people telling me things at work, and forgetting them almost immediately. Finding that my ability to multi-task and organise had disappeared almost overnight.

My periods became heavier (or lighter or changed), my pre-menstrual tension and irritability increased. I felt incredible anger, no, thats not strong enough, rage over nothing in particular. At no point did anyone suggest that any of these things were related to perimenopause. My GP simply didn’t mention anything about menopause and just suggested I take anti-depressants.

Please understand I am not criticising our poor overworked GPs who are simply not given the training in the menopause and recognising the symptoms. A lovely lady I know has been suffering with crippling anxiety, which has lead to depression, for the last 18 months, and the therapy and medication she has been prescribed have made little or no difference to her ability to cope. She was a successful business woman, who is now struggling to keep herself and her business afloat. Her GP has just been very dismissive about her request to have her hormone levels checked, but fortunately she has managed to get a referral to a gynaecologist and hopefully will get a more sympathetic hearing.

Another very intelligent woman I was talking to, told me that she asked her GP how long menopause lasted and assumed that the menopause only lasted a few weeks. She had no idea that there was a lead up to the menopause, nor that the menopause is clinically defined as 12 months with no menstruation. Fortunately she had very few symptoms, so her ignorance did not have a significant impact.

Does any of this resonate with you? If it does you are NOT ALONE! YOU ARE NOT GOING MAD!

Contact me if you want to know more about joining a group to share your experiences or hear from other people and swap stories. If you want to find out more about the support coaching can provide, please message me.Mindfulness Benefits

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