THE MENOPAUSE – CHANGE AND CHALLENGE: MARGARET’S STORY

It was a typical sort of day for Margaret: travelling, making speeches, needing to keep focused, forever in the public eye. She was speaking confidently, in full flow, when suddenly the words stopped. Her mind went blank — as if her brain had seized up or disengaged from everything around about. ‘It was like my brain switched off’ she recalled later. ‘I couldn’t conceal it and tried to laugh it off. But it was very embarrassing and frustrating, on a different scale altogether from ordinary forgetfulness. I hoped that no one realised how bad I felt about it and how frightening it was for me.’

That episode and others like it were among the major reasons why Margaret, then in her mid-fifties and a prominent figure in Australian public life, sought medical help. (Like many other women whose stories are told in this book, Margaret prefers not to use her real name; in her case it is because many of the men in her line of business are liable to make her menopausal symptoms the butt of their feeble jokes.) At about the same time as her memory lapses occurred, she was having hot flushes day and night. She would wake feeling wet along the folds of her skin. Before sleep had a chance to return, her mind would swing into action with details of the busy days ahead. For about six to eight months she also experienced painful abdominal cramps similar to those she remembered from her adolescence; her periods at this time were irregular and sometimes heavy.

Given her frantic lifestyle, the bleeding was quite worrisome. ‘I never knew when my period was going to arrive. It was hard to be prepared, and I felt it was all getting too difficult to handle.’ The first doctor Margaret consulted recommended HRT, but seemed hesitant about the options when she experienced sore breasts and very heavy periods. ‘I went back a couple of times to get a different brand or dose. All up, I tried about three or four different combinations.’

After attending a seminar on the menopause she realised that her doctor was not well informed, and decided to try another medical practitioner. ‘She put me onto a patch, which gave me no bothersome side effects except a rash. I changed the position regularly, but eventually I had to give the patch away because I had rash marks all over my buttocks. I was very cross that I was one of the minority of women who experience this reaction.’ At the doctor’s suggestion she tried several non-drug techniques, including vitamins E and B and evening primrose oil, and these proved helpful within a matter of weeks. Drinking glasses of water before she went to bed also had a beneficial effect.

Margaret still gets flushes but they are less frequent and less severe than previously, and they seem to coincide with times when she neglects to take her vitamin and herbal tablets for a few days. It pleases her that neither her skin nor her vagina is dry, her periods have stopped, and she has no breast soreness. As for the forgetfulness, it doesn’t seem so bad these days. ‘I still forget things, but it’s not like before. At least the computer screen doesn’t go completely blank.’