Hello everyone
Hindsight is such a wonderful thing...had I known about this forum at age 46 when it all began to go wrong, I would have saved myself a massive amount of heartache, stress and money. I also wish I could write an open letter to the medical industry saying "When you or your organisation are providing a test commentary or professional service to a woman over 45 (or even UNDER 45!), PLEASE stop and think: might this possibly be menopause-related?"
My story is no different to many on here and similar communities. I went to my GP at 46 and said, I'm exhausted all the time, please help. She offered to test my iron. I said it would be normal. It was. And that was the end of the story as far as she was concerned. Looking back, I find that totally staggering. I struggled on for another 2 years or so.
Then I started paying for private tests (the usual culprits for tiredness ....VitD, thyroid etc.). All normal. But aha! My cortisol is spiking! What did that mean? Commentary from Dr. at test company: "You are suffering from stress. Learn some stress management techniques". Actually, what was happening is I had the same level of stress but not the hormones to deal with it any more!
I went to a nutritionist (even though I've always had a very healthy diet and lifestyle). 18 months and 3 expensive rounds of personalised supplements later I was no better. "You've probably got leaky gut syndrome" - I immediately paid for a test - negative. I also had prediabetic blood sugar - a total surprise for a healthy eater who had always been slim. Then came the hot flushes at 50 and I thought - oh thank god, that's the problem and I can get it fixed. GP put me on lowest dose tablet and they stopped overnight. I was overjoyed. But nothing else changed and my GP said there was nothing else she could do for me (looking back I am SO angry about that). I went to an endocrinologist. Another raft of tests, expensive enough to make you weep. "Nope, you're fine, try taking St John's Wort". REALLY?
There's more, including a locum GP who said it was probably CFS and tough luck there's no treatment... but you get the picture. NONE of these people thought to consider menopause as a possible cause (all of the above symptoms plus textbook fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety etc.).
I also suffer with chronic pain since age 30 so I am fighting that battle at the same time and have already had back and hip surgery. Suffice to say I kept running out of steam in the search for answers to my other symptoms, but I just kept on coming back to it when I could muster the strength.
In March 2023 I found myself just not wanting to be around any more. I self-referred for help with my mental health and was offered CBT. It did help me in a limited way, but despite what NICE in their wisdom are now saying (!) you can't bl**dy well think your way out of a hormone deficiency!
During that time I went over everything again and mapped out all my symptoms and test results over the past decade, after more research I finally realised they ALL pointed to menopause. Since then, like all of you, I've been on a crusade to get treatment. Advocating for myself through the exhaustion has been so hard, and several types of HRT have already failed, but I am at least now getting traction with my GP surgery and refuse to be fobbed off, judged or patted on the head any more. The catalyst was that my libido recently got up and went. That was the last straw.
So to all those whose information on here helped me get this far once I found MM and started lurking around here - thank you!!! At almost 57, I now have some hope that I will recognise myself again at some point later this year. There are no guarantees my next regime will work, but your support and your experiences have brought me back from the edge, and I'm so grateful for that.
