40 OVER 40
About Me
This was me on my 49th birthday, 9 years into the perimenopause. The fact that my computer puts a red wiggly spelling line underneath that word with ‘no guesses’ as to what I could actually mean is telling.
The red wiggly line was how I felt for many of those years, wondering what the hell was happening to me as I started getting daily headaches, waking up at 3am, forgetting why I’d walked into rooms, trailing off at the end of sentences, and worse of all getting so angry at my young son who did absolutely nothing to deserve it. And all of this time I was running my own business, helping to care for my terminally ill father-in-law, running a household and keeping up with the toing and froing that comes with having a child in primary school.
It was only after I stumbled across a podcast that I realised what was going on and took myself off to the doctors for HRT. And I only got prescribed that HRT because the GP in question acknowledged that I knew more about the subject than she did. Thank you Liz Earle for that life changing podcast.
Knowing what I know now about the effects of the menopause and the daily challenges that women in their mid-life experience, I have decided to shine a light on 40 incredible women in the only way I feel qualified to do so. And that is by taking their photograph.
The Podcast
Earlier in 2021 I launched a podcast called Dear Hormones with my friend Kate Bauss where women write in telling us about the times their hormones have got the better of them, be it puberty, PMT, pregnancy or the menopause.
It's light hearted but with a serious message. I am passionate about women speaking up about their issues, to make topics such as periods and the menopause less of a taboo and wanted to do my bit in allowing women to talk openly about the things they may have said or done whilst under the influence of their hormones. It has certainly helped me to share some of the shameful things I said and did before I started taking HRT.
I felt lost at sea when my perimenopausal symptoms struck until I found a podcast explaining what was happening to me. Dear Hormones is my way of helping other women feel less alone on their hormonal journey and hopefully help them recognise their menopausal symptoms sooner than I did and get help.