My Medical Menopause
I was diagnosed with severe endometriosis December 12th 2007 aged 31 after a laparoscopy and many years of pain.
I was due to get married in April 2008 so it was a concern of mine, but my husband was not too bothered about children so it didn't affect us getting married.
In June 2009 I was advised by my gynae to go into a medical menopause to help ease my symptoms to allow me to become pregnant. I must admit I got a second opinion privately and they agreed that I needed this treatment. So I went ahead. I had 2 injections, 3 months apart and it took 9 months to get back to a normal cycle again.
My body went from being hormonally normal to full menopausal in 2 weeks - it was certainly a shock to the system!
I found that I couldn't take HRT, I got bad migraines and this was the case with so many different types I have up. Well the 7 dwarfs of menopause reared their ugly heads! I found I had insomnia, shocking short term memory loss (still have some) so I would go into Asda and no remember how to get out - usually escorted out hyperventilating!! Cue the anxiety and depression kicking in, my poor husband didn't know what mood he would find me on when he got home- floods of tears or fretting about something pointless or hyperactive cleaning everything that didn’t move!
Finally the hot flushes were horrendous - thankfully I didn't go red - just poured with sweat!! After buying an expensive memory foam mattress with wedding money, it was like a furnace with the heat I was generating hehe! So through the night I would be the lightest night wear I could wear (sometimes 2 or 3 clean nightwear items a night) watching TV on mute with subtitles and the fan on full 😂😂😂 my husband would blissfully be sleeping away!
I went down the herbal/alternative medicine route after a consult with Jan De Vries. So a sage tincture 4 times a day for the hot flushes and something called Elthea for my anxiety and also helped me sleep. I still take it from time to time to help me sleep as it switches my brain off! I was also given an essential oil mix to help me focus, as I needed that for my work! I was as distracted as the young people I was teaching - not good!
However the grief was the worst part for me as it hit me through the treatment, that I was going to struggle having children, with the added side effects I was a mess! I went onto antidepressants 12 months after 1st injection and 7 years later I am finally off them but it has been a long and eventful road!
It's not all doom and gloom, there was two great advantages!! 1. The hair growth!!! For 9 months I could go for 3 months between waxing and haircuts - I did save some money. 2. I lost my inner monologue and filter!! My husband would be mortified at how I would say what was on my mind!! I became my mother lol!
As it turned it out, for me it was all in vain - I have heard lots of mixed reports of this treatment and how people have thrived on this, coupled with HRT! I guess I was unlucky. All in all it took me 3 years to recover from the treatment and all my endometriosis symptoms came back anyway! I gave it a shot and it didn't work - but hindsight is a wonderful thing.......if only.