'Menopause made me feel like I was dying of a heart attack - but one simple thing saved me' - video Dailymotion

Real Fix

Credit: SWNS

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00:00If you're a woman, you just get on with it.

00:02You know, you don't complain, and it shouldn't be like that.

00:07Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm 52 years old.

00:10I'm perimenopausal, and I am gladly sticking two fingers up,

00:16stereotypes of age.

00:18I come from a generation where the menopause wasn't really talked about,

00:23and the only symptom I really associated with it was hot flushes.

00:29So I knew my periods were going to stop at some point, and I'd get hot flushes.

00:35What I didn't know was perimenopause, which is leading up to the menopause,

00:38can take years, and your periods don't stop.

00:41You're not classed as having been through the menopause

00:44until you haven't had a period for 12 months.

00:47So for all this time, for a long, long time, you're constantly having symptoms.

00:54And I just assumed, and it's a word I really hate,

00:57the change, because it sounds so simple, doesn't it?

01:01Like it happens overnight.

01:02I mean, I'm still in perimenopause. It's been kind of over three years now.

01:06All of a sudden, I start feeling really anxious, very tired, joint pains.

01:13I'm just not kind of feeling myself.

01:18And then it kind of hit me, hang on a minute, you know, I'm 49.

01:23This is probably, you know, I'm heading into perimenopause here.

01:27I've had a bit of sort of anxious periods throughout my life,

01:29as I think most people do.

01:31But this was kind of different level anxious.

01:34So I couldn't eat. I felt too anxious to eat.

01:40My sleep pattern was completely disturbed.

01:42And I'd catastrophize a lot.

01:44So I'd take the smallest, most innocuous thing

01:48and turn it into something absolutely huge.

01:51I just didn't feel like me.

01:53You know, to the point where you start feeling that you start despairing

01:58because you think, you know, where has me gone?

02:00You know, why aren't I happy?

02:02Why do I feel scared and anxious all the time?

02:05I went to see my GP and I didn't get much help at all.

02:13And we just offered me antidepressants.

02:15And I think that's common from what I've heard with quite a lot of women.

02:19I've got to be more assertive.

02:22And I've got to go back to see the GP again.

02:25Lockdown hit.

02:26There's no chance at that we've seen a doctor.

02:30And I thought I've got to do something.

02:33And so I started writing comedy.

02:36Funny, mucky books for ladies.

02:38If I can make one woman laugh when I tell them that

02:42I did actually go to the corner shop

02:43and try to play with my shopping with dog treats

02:46and that makes them feel less alone, then, you know, my job is done.

02:51Because it's this age old thing, isn't it?

02:54If you're a woman, you just get on with it.

02:57You know, you don't complain.

02:58You just get on with it.

02:59And it shouldn't be like that.

03:02Nobody should have to suffer in silence.

03:04We shouldn't just be educating girls and women.

03:06We should be educating boys and men as well.

03:09So that they are equipped to support their partners.

03:13I think that's really, really important.

03:15In terms of coming into perimenopause and menopause,

03:18arm yourself with as much information as you can.

03:21Get to see a doctor and, you know, don't take no for an answer.

03:27Join as many groups as you can.

03:29Speak to as many women as you can because you are definitely not alone.

03:32I'm not taking any medication.

03:35I can't say I won't think about going on HRT, you know, if it carries on much longer.

03:42The menopause is it can be a time of new beginnings.

03:44It's definitely not an ending.

03:47You know, menopause women were fabulous.

03:50We're fun.

03:50We're feisty.

03:52And you can't beat experience.

'Menopause made me feel like I was dying of a heart attack - but one simple thing saved me'

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