I firmly believe that with the right knowledge and the right attitude you can negotiate your menopause years with grace and ease.

Why should you believe that too? Let me explain…

At the age of 32 I had a hysterectomy and within a few days of the operation I started taking HRT. I asked very few questions at the time and assumed HRT was a cure – that I’d pop those pills to get me through my menopause years and then I’d stop taking them. End of.

As the years passed I started to question my doctors about when I should stop taking the HRT and the vague answer was early 50s. I wasn’t given any other information and like I said I’d naively assumed HRT was a cure anyway.

My questions became more persistent in my early 40s and the answers remained unsatisfying so I started doing some research myself. I wanted to know what HRT was doing to my body, the benefits and the risks, how and when to come off it and what would happen when I did.

What I found was a whole heap of confusing and conflicting advice.

Luckily my background is in data analysis and reporting so what that means is that I’m very good at taking loads of complex information and consolidating it into delicious bite size chunks.

Plus, I was running a very successful business showing women how to naturally manage hormone imbalance to aid healthy weight loss. That meant I already had an in depth knowledge of female health and hormones.

Despite that I realized I didn’t want to go through menopause alone and I chose to invest in personal support from a menopause expert too.

Over a period of weeks I gradually reduced my HRT dose and for quite a while I didn’t feel any different. And then suddenly the symptoms hit me like a series of low blows.

First a UTI. My first ever UTI – that was a fun couple of days! Enough said.

Then the rage. If you live in the Hertfordshire area you may well have been unfortunate enough to witness me jump out my car and yell at some poor woman who’d mistakenly pushed into the queue at the petrol station.

Next the hot flushes. I don’t know about you but they upset me so much. They’re uncomfortable and it’s impossible to dress normally – strappy tops in December anyone? I had a wardrobe full of cardies and a bag full of hair ties. Cardie on, cardie off, hair up, hair down. You’re constantly fidgeting and it’s embarrassing right?

Menopause weight gain appeared overnight sitting stubbornly around my middle.

I suffered really badly with night sweats too but it was the lack of sleep and exhaustion that made me want to weep.   I couldn’t think straight – not just forgetting stuff but getting words muddled up too. We still call beetroot rhubarb in our house.

I really felt like I was losing my mind.  All I wanted to do was hide away, retreat to the comfort of the sofa and binge on Netflix.

Which isn’t such a strange thing because traditionally that’s what women would do as soon as any signs of menopause hit them.  Well not get stuck into eight seasons of 24 but retreat from the community and spend time in the company of other women going through the same thing.

Of course we can’t do that now.  We’ve got jobs, businesses to run, kids to raise and homes to manage so escaping isn’t an option.

You don’t have to go through menopause alone.

What you can do is join the hot flush freedom fighters facebook group.  Just CLICK HERE and I’ll invite you in. I’ve created a safe place for you to share your stories, ask questions and support one another.

You really can learn to manage your body and you absolutely can be who you want to be.

Just like I did. The combination of my personal experience and my business background enabled me to develop an easy to follow five stage solution I call the Hot Flush Freedom formula.  It worked for me and it works for my lovely clients too.