‘I wishI’d
realisedsooner’
Menopause
SPECIAL‘Now I’ve entereda
more relaxedphaseoflife’
Ashley Cramp, 55, lives in
Wimborne, Dorset, with her husband
Mark, 50, and her son Jacob, 17.
For me, the menopause began with
extreme mood swings. I’d storm around
the house with a bad temper. One
morning in 2010, I found a pair of socks
left on the stairs, and I could feel my
face burning with rage and my hands
started trembling with anger.Blood-test results
My mood swings continued for months,
with me feeling angry one minute and
then tearful the next. I thought maybeI wasjustovertired.Mydoctorgaveme
bloodtestsandconfirmeda fewweeks
laterthatI wasgoingthroughthe
menopause.Atonly46,I feltshocked.
HeofferedmeHRT,butI decidedto
dealwithit bytakingsupplements,
improvingmydietandtakingupkick
boxing.Eventually,themoodswings
subsided– andnow,thankfully,I’ve
entereda new,morerelaxedphaseoflife.
BloggingaboutwhatI wasgoing
throughwassocathartic,plusI made
contactwithotherwomenexperiencing
similarthings,whichwasveryreassuring.‘Taking time
out for myself
helps me’
Amanda Start, 50, lives in Christchurch, Dorset, with
her husband, Patrick, 45, and daughter, Holly, 14.^
Walking my dog, Biscuit, along the beach, I inhaled
the fresh sea air. For the first time in ages, I felt
relaxed, but it took a lot for me to reach this point.
My symptoms first started in April 2016, when
I started over-reacting to the smallest things – the
slightest noise or movement would make me jump.^
On top of that, I’d been feeling down and depressed.Tackling the taboo
It wasn’t until I found myself sobbing in my doctor’s
office in April 2017 that I was able to get the diag^
I needed. I was going through the menopause andnosis^
everything I was experiencing was completely^
normal. I started taking more time for myself and
eating healthily, which really helped my symptoms.^
We need to tackle thetabooandhavehonest
conversationsaboutthemenopause.NOPAUSE
o talk about
Sally Akins, 44, lives in
Newport, Shropshire,
with her husband, Mark,
47, and their sons Oliver,
17, and Lyle, 16.
Opening my eyes with a
start, I grabbed my pyjama top around the
neck and pulled it away. I was drenched in
sweat and felt like I couldn’t breathe. I lay
there in a panic, consumed by a terrible
sense of dread, and all of a sudden, after
18 months of feeling like I was losing my
mind, I knew exactly why.
It was November 2017 and I hadn’t slept
properly for months, would fly into a rage
at the slightest thing. It was such a relief
to finally have some clarity.Finding ways to cope
Days later, a doctor suggested I was
perimenopausal, and I agreed. I was
shocked when I was told that phase can
start around 10 years before your periods
finally stop. I’ve since found ways to cope,
including eating healthily, taking exercise
and wearing cotton pyjamas, but the
biggest thing for me was working out
what was wrong. I wish I’d realised sooner.
●^ Sally’s blog: sallyakins.com●^ Ashley’s blog: lazydaisyjones.com● Amanda’s blog: simplystartliving.com