So anyhoo

Last week I was listening to a fantastic podcast by Sam Baker with the author Denise Mina. Sam hosts a podcast called ‘The Shift’ that a client recommended to me. It’s about being a woman and about growing old gracefully (or disgracefully, wearing Converse, and still dancing to The Damned)

What really hit home with me was, as a woman in her late teens/ early twenties, all I heard when I went to visit my GP was ‘Are you on the pill? have you thought about the pill? Have you thought about the coil? Would you like some information about the pill/ the coil? implants? (repeat to fade).

When I got to my 40’s and now my 50’s, do you know what I heard from my GP when I visited? Nothing. Nada, niente, nothing, zip.

Why does the conversation dry up? (As well as my skin, and my eyes)

No questions about my period unless I brought it up, no questions about the crippling urinary infections that come along with menopause, no warning, no discussion. Unless I brought it up, and insisted on getting help, which didn’t really amount to much apart from a 3 day course of medication to help clear things up.

I would love to know why perimenopause and menopausal women are so prone to urinary tract infections for no reason whatsoever, but not being medically trained I can’t answer that. All I can tell you is to watch out for it!

What’s the best advice for women approaching menopause who have baffling symptoms?

Write down everything you can remember, or feel is worthy of remark, about your health.

Every time you feel a wee bit rubbish and it’s surprising, or any physical changes or discomforts you notice, how regular or irregular your period is, and if it is accompanied with crippling physical symptoms.

That way, when you visit the GP you have everything written down so you are not sitting in the chair, or on the phone trying to remember every detail of why you made the appointment in the first place.

Work on reducing your stress

Be mindful of eating fabulous food, as colourful as you can, and don’t starve yourself thinking that will help with the bloating.

Keep hydrated.

If you drink coffee make sure it’s bloody fabulous coffee.

Set yourself up for a great nights sleep, phone off early, and get a good magazine or a book

Try to do diverse movement every day. Walking, cycling, having a dance off with yourself.

Email me if you need to have a rant, happy to help info@elizabethbandeen.co.uk, or just make sure you start a conversation with your friends about it. I think you’d be surprised how grateful that friend is that you brought the subject up.

Onward. x