Mum thought she was ‘going to have awful crash’ every time she got in car

A mum “lost sight” of who she was as a person when she started experiencing menopause. Sue Jones, from , felt like she had “totally lost her sparkle”. After years of successfully juggling work, family life and running a nursery business, almost overnight the nan-of-two felt “completely lost and no longer herself, but had absolutely no idea why”.

The 52-year-old said: “I felt like there was a drastic difference in me as a person, I suddenly didn’t recognise myself. I couldn’t sleep at night, I started to get hot sweats and I felt thoroughly insecure. I worried incessantly about small, everyday things like driving – every time I went out in the car, I’d be convinced that I was going to have an awful crash.

“As a result, I became very withdrawn. It got so bad that I was shutting everybody out, especially my husband. I even started to tell him that he needed to meet somebody else who was more fun and outgoing because that just wasn’t me anymore.

“I craved carbs all the time and was drinking more alcohol as a way of handling my stress. Unsurprisingly, I put on weight. Out of nowhere, I also started to develop early in my fingers.

I felt like everything was going wrong and was literally at a point where I didn’t know what to do. ” happens when your periods stop due to lower hormone levels. The process usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, however, in some instances, it can happen earlier naturally.

Menopause can also be triggered after surgery to remove the ovaries or the uterus as well as cancer treatments like chemotherapy. According to the , perimenopause is when you have symptoms before your periods have stopped. Whereas, you reach menopause when you have not had a period for 12 months.

Menopause can cause , hot flashes and aching joints. Sue said looking back now she can’t believe she “never connected the dots”. However, due to the stigma around menopause, the business owner never had frank discussions with her mother or friends about the side effects of the change and didn’t make the connection that it was her menopausal hormones that were severely impacting her.

The mum-of-three added: “I didn’t have a clue. I just knew I was not me and I had absolutely lost sight of who I was. I went down the herbal remedy route.

I tried switching to a vegan diet. I even cut out tomatoes and peppers after a specialist recommended an anti-inflammatory diet during a consultation about my osteoporosis and arthritis. I went through hell with a horrific diet and countless herbal remedies, none of which seemed to help.

” Sue finally broke down in front of a friend who recommended she try Bodyline’s M Plan, a personalised hormone replacement therapy treatment for women going through menopause. She said: “I went for a menopause consultation and one of the support leads carried out a women’s hormone blood test, before discussing my medical history and talking through my symptoms. The first thing she recommended was that I remove my IUD so that we could get a proper reading of my hormones.

“We discovered the weight gain was because I was oestrogen dominant. I was basically craving food constantly because I had no progesterone in my body at all. My body wasn’t producing any calming, happy hormones which was why I felt absolutely awful.

” Following the blood tests, Sue was prescribed a hormone replacement therapy prescription in the form of daily topical cream and oral pills. After seven years, Sue said she feels like herself again. She added: “My entire life has changed for the better.

I’ve lost two stone, I’m in a much better place both physically and mentally, I’ve got bags more energy and I feel so much more dynamic. My brain fog has completely gone, I can think clearly again and I’ve been able to make huge strategic decisions for my business, which has been immense. ” If you think you are experiencing menopause symptoms or perimenopause symptoms or want to try HRT, please consult your GP in the first instance.

.