Simar is a busy woman with a challenging and rewarding career and a supportive family. She experienced medically induced menopause at the age of 48, which has been a difficult journey.
A recurrence of breast cancer and breast cancer treatment brought on early and sudden menopause. Simar’s periods stopped, she experienced severe hot flushes, sleep issues, aches and pains and mood swings. Prior to this she had no perimenopause symptoms.
“There was no build up. My doctor said I was pre-menopausal, but I felt that my body did not prepare itself and when menopause came it hit me like a truck. It really affected me badly,” she says.
Simar is keen for people to talk about the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, so everyone can understand that it is natural and normal.
“I want people to understand what we are going through and what the symptoms are.”
Simar feels frustrated when people look at her if her face is sweating and ask, ‘are you ok?’ or ‘what is wrong with you?’. She wants people to understand that it is menopause, so she tells them.
“I was in a meeting with 20 people, I was talking and I just had to stop and say, ‘I am going through menopause, just give me a few minutes,” she recalls. “They laughed and it was ok. I think we all need to say it.
“My children and my husband say I am a strong woman. I am strong, I always hold it together. But sometimes the symptoms of menopause bring me down.”
Simar’s message is that we need to talk more about it, everyone is different, and the solutions will be different.
