Burnout and Medical Menopause

I was 41 when I had my first appointment with Newson Health and was immediately prescribed HRT, testosterone, oestrogen and progestogen, in fairly high doses that just kept rising over a period of months.

In that appointment I felt heard for the first time in nine years.

At 32, as a result of my first Burnout, I had developed severe Endometriosis and Chron's disease due to the stress my body had been under for a prolonged period of time.

By the time the stress had taken hold of my physically, what followed was seven months of hospital admittances due to the physical pain that was causing me to pass out. 

I once passed out at the top of the escalator at Liverpool Street Station from the street level to the concourse, and would have gone back to work if I hadn't ripped my clothes and instead headed straight home on the train and worked from the kitchen table for the rest of the afternoon.

Seven months after the physical pain had started to impact my body, I was in hospital and had two operations in 48 hours, one an endometrial ablation to remove the endometriosis, which immediately stopped my periods and put me straight into a medical menopause, something I wasn't aware of at the time.

It was a couple of years later and sitting in my GP surgery for some routine blood tests to monitor my medication, I saw a poster highlighting the symptoms of menopause.  I had them all and then some.  So I made a follow up appointment with my GP to discuss it, having had my Mum tell me that I needed to avoid HRT at all costs as she'd been told it was the cause of breast cancer (we are now more educated on the topic).

My GP immediately dismissed my symptoms, I was too young.

Months later, more GP appointments, more tests, no solution, but menopause was ruled out again based on my age.  I was being made to feel like a child who was desperate for attention.

So I resigned myself tot he fact that everything i was experiencing could be still related to my Burnout. 

But my intuition told me different.

I changed GPs and booked another appointment, this time armed with as much information as I could get my hands on, including details of all of my symptoms and logs and went back to the GP.

My GP immediately dismissed my symptoms and told me I should probably see my specialist team for my Bipolar.

A few years later and still no progress, and I spent thousands of pounds on tests with a private GP who specialised in women's health.  All of my tests had come back normal.

I asked about menopause, that hadn't been tested, but it was unlikely given my age, so I was back to square one.

Fast forward a few more years, the Davina documentary on menopause has taken the UK by storm.  Davina is being blamed by doctors for women demanding treatment for menopause symptoms, HRT began to be in short supply, and still I couldn't get my GP to listen.

A friend of mine had spoken to Newson Health, they'd helped her enormously.

I made an appointment, the first available slot was a few months down the line, then a cancellation came up, and by the end of the call, I was being prescribed HRT, all of it.  Newson wrote to my own GP to ask them to take over my care from there on in to save me hundreds of pounds a quarter, they refused, still stating I was not menopausal.

Newson Health are, in my view, life savers.

But I shouldn't have needed them.

I've always been in tune with my body, until that first Burnout.  And as I was coming through that first Burnout I knew something wasn't right.  Being dismissed and ignored for so long, I am convinced, further impacted my mental and physical health, contributing to the impact of my now lifelong conditions.

11 years later, 44 years old and now officially perimenopausal, and I know that things are changing, but still not enough.

Many people at Burnout, are being ignored by employers and medical professionals and being left to feel that they are the problem.

Many perimenopausal women are being ignored by employers and medical professionals and being left to feel that they are the problem.

Many of the symptoms of menopause and Burnout are similar, and could also be the symptoms of many other health conditions but we need to listen more to our bodies.

You need to know what is your normal, and ensure you get the support you need for anything is not your normal. 

We can't prevent menopause, but we can prevent Burnout, and we need to.

I navigated my Burnout alone, not once but twice.  Nobody really understood it, or knew how to help.

For me, Burnout has forever impacted my health, life and work, it doesn't need to be the same for you!

Kelly

Have you downloaded your copy of the FREE Burnout Assessment?