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Tomorrow is World Menopause Day, a day which happens every year on October the 18th to raise awareness of the menopause and the support that is available.
I talked before about how in 2019 I went into surgical menopause, which is when surgery, rather than the natural ageing process, causes you to go through menopause.
I can’t believe it has been three years already – although in some ways my operation, week in hospital and my recovery afterwards do all seem such a long time ago now.
I’ve had a hernia from that surgery since then and I’m still waiting for that surgery, due to Covid and all of the delays. My hernia doesn’t cause me any issues at the moment, other than the physical and mental aspects of a big lump sticking out my belly and how that affects what I wear and how I feel. But I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people who have been waiting so long for surgery that is much more urgent – it must be so scary having to wait for such a long time whilst the NHS catches up post-covid.
I’m really terrified about having surgery again, because they have to open me right up a second time to fix the hernia properly and I really, really don’t want to go through the aftermath again, and so I go back and forth with whether I will have it done or not. Generally, I feel that I will because I don’t want this forever and it affects my body image and confidence a lot, but I had a few issues after surgery last time and it was pretty scary at times!
Other than that, it feels like things with my body have finally started to settle down over the last six months. I’m most likely going to jinx it now but I was still getting pretty regular ‘periods’ which I shouldn’t bloody get anymore and they finally seem to be giving up the ghost. Fingers crossed.
My types and levels of HRT have been changed a few times due to still getting periods and the only real thing left to try is having a coil fitted and I really don’t want that! I’ve heard so many negative things about them, although I know it really works for some people, but to be honest, I just feel like I’ve had so much fannying about down there (pun intended) to last a lifetime, and I don’t want anything else being shoved up there unless through choice thank you very much!
I’m so pleased that people are talking about menopause and the effects it can have on us now. There seems to be so much more discussion around it and how debilitating the effects can be, helped a lot by prominent women such as Davina McCall talking and writing about it, which is brilliant. It affects so much of a person’s life, from their mental and physical health to work and relationships.
So I just wanted to keep talking about it too, because the more we talk about these things, the more women can have the knowledge they need to help them manage it the best they can and understand what it’s really like and be prepared and the more research and funding can be done so that doctors can be well-informed and provide us with the best care, support and treatment if required.
I went into it barely knowing anything, just the small amount that I had read before my surgery. I wasn’t sure how much it would affect me suddenly going into the menopause, or how quickly I would see any effects and I was sent home with some HRT patches that I didn’t know how to use.
It turned out that it did affect me very quickly, and a couple of nights after my op I got crazy hot sweats at nighttime to the point where my back and nightie were soaking wet all of a sudden. I was in loads of pain, it took me ages to get up when I needed the loo or was told to go for a walk due to having no stomach muscles all of a sudden, and on top of that, I was dripping with sweat and unable to sleep. At times I felt very alone and clueless.
That’s not on the nurses and doctors at all, who were all amazing, but there was no mental or emotional support for that side of my surgery and it felt very overwhelming and quite scary. I didn’t want to do loads of research myself before as I knew I could find anything on the Internet and it would terrify and overwhelm me, but I would have liked to have been told when and how I was likely to be affected by menopause after surgery so I could have been prepared.
The theme chosen by the International Menopause Society for this year’s World Menopause Day is ‘Brain Fog and Memory Difficulties in Menopause’. Research has found that memory does change at menopause but thankfully it should improve afterwards.
I feel like these last six months or so my memory has got a lot worse and I am forgetting things that I would always remember before, like people’s birthdays and I definitely have more brain fog than I used to. It’s quite scary and I do sometimes feel like I’m actually losing the plot and getting old before my time, so it’s good to know that it should improve! I’m trying to be better at taking my vitamins again as I had got out of the habit for a little while and particularly my omega 3 fish oil as they are so important for brain function.
So tomorrow is World Menopause Day and the British Menopause Society has partnered with ITN to make ‘Menopause: Continuing the Conversation’. A programme to give guidance, information and advice and to provide support for women to recognise and improve their symptoms.
It will be on TV tomorrow and I’m going to be watching it. I really hope there will be something about early or surgical menopause as there is so little out there and it’s bloody scary to suddenly be going through it and not having a clue what’s likely to happen.
If you want to learn more about the menopause or find help and support, then Dr Louise Newson has a brilliant website with the world’s largest menopause library where you will find evidence-based, independent and unbiased information for those experiencing the perimenopause and menopause, as well as The Menopause Charity, also founded by Louise.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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