Women say their lives ‘fell apart’ when debilitating symptoms of premature menopause, including memory loss, saw them lose their careers – with one revealing her marriage broke down as she ‘couldn’t bear to be touched’
- Debs Wallbank, 39, appeared on This Morning today to discuss early menopause
- Said she lost her job, marriage and even home because of her symptoms
- Suffered depression and anxiety and was forced to move back in with parents
- Lesley Salem also left job after memory loss at work after having the menopause
Two women have revealed how their lives fell apart due to the debilitating symptoms of premature menopause saw them lose their careers and even their marriages.
Debs Wallbank appeared on ITV’s This Morning where she explained the depression and anxiety she had suffered while going through the menopause had been crippling.
She revealed her marriage fell apart and she moved back in with her parents after she lost a number of jobs back to back, resulting in her losing her home.
The 39-year-old explained: ‘I didn’t know that was what it was at the time.’
When a woman’s periods stops before they are 45, either naturally of as a side effect of treatment, it is called premature menopause.
Debs Wallbank appeared on This Morning today where she revealed how she lost her job, marriage and even her home after she started going through the menopause at the age of 39
Debs continued: ‘I couldn’t concentrate on things.
‘I was married at the time but menopause took its toll. I didn’t want to be touched or near him.’
She lost several back to back jobs because of her symptoms, which included depression and anxiety.
Debs even had to move back in with her parents after she lost her house as symptoms persisted.
Lesley Salem had a similar experience. She got the menopause after she came off the pill when she was 46 and suffered from short term memory loss
Meanwhile Lesley Salem appeared on the programme and said she had a similar experience.
What is the menopause?
The menopause occurs when a woman stops having periods and can no longer fall pregnant naturally.
It is a natural part of ageing, which occurs in women between 45 and 55 years old.
However one in 100 women can experience menopause before the age of 40, which is known as premature menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency.
Symptoms often include hot flushes, night sweats, low mood, reduced sex drive, vaginal dryness, an increase in facial hair and difficulty sleeping.
According to NHS advice, symptoms can begin months or even years before your periods stop and last around four years after your last period.
Premature or early menopause can occur at any age, and in many cases, there’s no clear cause.
Source: NHS
She got the menopause after she came off the pill when she was 46.
She kept having regular periods but suffered from short term memory loss.
She would have conversations with people at work in the corridor but forget what she had spoken to them about when she sat down in her office.
She said: ‘As a result of that, I would get very anxious and suffer bad night sweats.’
Ultimately, she also left her job.
She now helps companies become more menopause-friendly.
Lesley told This Morning: ‘I had a sudden decline.
‘There’s 48 associated symptoms of menopause. I felt anxious. I was getting night sweats.
‘I hadn’t joined the dots with coming off the pill.
‘I don’t think there’s enough education yet about what the signs are.
‘I didn’t know there was a stage before the menopause. It’s often the emotional symptoms before the physical.’
The menopause is a natural part of aging, triggered when the ovaries start to make less estrogen. Little research has been carried out into why it is triggered and what the health risks are, however.
One in 100 women can experience menopause before the age of 40, which is known as premature menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency.
During the menopause – which begins between the ages of 40 and 58 years – the body goes through major hormonal changes.
In the early stages, this triggers hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and mood swings among other symptoms.
The process can also leave women with life-long health problems, including osteoporosis.
It can also lead to weight gain, which raises the risk of illnesses including heart disease, stroke and osteoporosis.
According to NHS advice, symptoms can begin months or even years before your periods stop and last around four years after your last period.
Both women spoke to Rylan Clark and Ruth Langsford about their experiences and called for employers to do more to support women going through the menopause
A survey of 2,000 women in the UK found a quarter were unhappy in their jobs because of a lack of support from their employers.
More than half said their workplace did not have a policy to make it easier for women going through the menopause.
The interview comes as experts said delaying the menopause by even a few years could extend a woman’s lifespan, since the hormonal change triggers ‘faster’ aging across the rest of the body.
Dr Jennifer Garrison, an award-winning scientist who leads the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, warned the process changes the body’s hormone balance sparking a more rapid decline.
Debs said she lost several back to back jobs because of her symptoms, which included depression and anxiety
Speaking at the Life Itself conference in San Diego, California, she said that women who begin the menopause in their 40s rather than around 51 years old — the average age — likely age faster than their peers.
Speaking at the conference hosted by CNN, Garrison said: ‘When a woman is in her late 20s or early 30s, the rest of her tissue is functioning at peak performance, but her ovaries are already showing overt signs of aging.
‘Yet most women learn about their ovaries and ovarian function when they go to use them for the first time, and find out they’re geriatric.
She added: ‘Studies show women who have later menopause tend to live longer and have an enhanced ability to repair their DNA.
‘But women with natural menopause before the age of 40 are twice as likely to die (early) compared with women going through natural menopause between the ages of 50 to 54.’
Lesley would have conversations with people at work in the corridor but forget what she had spoken to them about when she sat down in her office and ultimately also left her job
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