Leanne is 58 years old and works as a midwife. She had a hysterectomy more than 10 years ago after experiencing abnormal menstrual bleeding.
She says this drastically improved her quality of life, but she continued to have hot flushes, which had started before the hysterectomy, and began experiencing extreme sweating.
Initially, Leanne tried strategies to self-manage her symptoms and tried Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) prescribed by her GP, but found these things weren’t effective at that time.
“Nothing made a difference to me at all until I went to a menopause clinic and saw an endocrinologist. She prescribed a different type and dose of MHT and straight up, it made such a difference,” she says.
“Plus, I discovered information about what can make symptoms worse so recognising and avoiding what can contribute and adapting accordingly has made a difference as well.”
Leanne encourages other women to do their research and hopes there will be more information and resources to help women in future.
“Hopefully we’ll have access to more evidence-based, professional resources. [Perimenopause and menopause] are only for a time and there is stuff out there to help.”
