'Perimenopause cost me my job and family life'
Sally Williams says she wants other women to be aware of the "danger zone" of perimenopause.
By BBC News
Sally Williams says perimenopause cost her her job and family life, after years of struggling to understand what was happening to her before she eventually linked her symptoms to the menopause transition.
Williams, from the Wychavon area in Worcestershire, said the first doctors she saw thought she was depressed. She later realised her symptoms were connected to perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause.
She told the BBC she had to leave her finance job as her mental health deteriorated. At one point she spent almost 11 months in hospital across eight admissions, and said she became isolated from friends and family.
Williams said she did not see her family for three years and that her teenage son had to leave home and live with his father because he could not be around her. She described that period as devastating and said some relationships had been damaged permanently.
She also said hormone replacement therapy transformed her recovery and helped her “come back to life”, though she stressed it may not be suitable for everyone. Her message to other women is that the “danger zone” is the run-up to menopause, rather than menopause itself.
Williams is due to speak about her experience at Meno Fest at Worcester Rugby Club on 7 October, during Menopause Awareness Month. The event is intended to help people understand how perimenopause and menopause can affect physical and mental health, relationships, work and family life.