AMA with Kate Muir about her book: Everything you need to know about the Menopause - Thursday 12pm

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hello,

We’re delighted to announce that Kate Muir, author of Everything you need to know about the menopause (but were too afraid to ask) is joining us for an Ask Me Anything on Thursday from 12 to 1pm. Kate is also a film-maker and you may remember her name from Channel 4’s Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause last year.

Kate will be joining us - live from MNHQ! - on Thursday 3rd February to answer all your questions on the menopause

Here’s a long blurb of Kate’s book: Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (and were too afraid to ask) is the thinking woman’s guide to the menopause, bringing you answers to all those questions that have been hidden behind a veneer of misplaced shame, bad science and centuries of patriarchy.

· What’s the perimenopause and when will it strike? (It’s sooner than you think)
· What’s happening to my body – and my mind?
· Why can’t I stop thinking about sex in perimenopause?
· How do I get my sex drive back after menopause?
· How do I look after my body and brain when my hormones disappear?

Muir draws on interviews with the leading medical experts in the field, interlaced with her own tumultuous journey through the menopause and the personal stories of women from all walks of life, sharing their varied experiences and hard-earned wisdom.

Muir also questions why the current medical establishment is getting the menopause so wrong, and why it’s essential that we understand the biology of our own bodies during this critical period that will define the latter half of our lives.

Join us on Thursday at 12pm - or post your question here in advance.

Thanks

MNHQ

I've never taken part in one of these before. Where do I find this tomorrow?

I'm still getting regular periods at 43 and still occasionally experience the most horrendous ovulation pain. However, I've had other symptoms that lead me to believe I might be peri menopausal.
How does this get checked? I'm assuming bloods at a particular point in the cycle.
Had my tubes cut and cautererised during baby #3 removal and have heard this can lead to earlier menopause. Is there any truth in that?
Finally, having breastfed for over 5 years in total, would this be considered a protective factor against breast cancer - when inevitably the increased risk is cited as a reason to deny me HRT?

I'm in peri menopause, my eyebrows have become so sparse, so this a symptom and will they grow back?

What advice do you have for women like me, who experience early menopause and others who experience premature ovarian failure (menopause before 40)?

I’m part of the Daisy support network for women suffering this (some even diagnosed as teenagers). We seem to be largely forgotten in this debate but we are often the ones suffering the most.

Hi, thank you for doing this and looking forward to reading your book. My question is does hrt interfere with thyroid function as I suffer from hypothyroidism and my dose is fine at the moment but scared it’s going to go haywire with the hrt.

@DoraSpenlow

Sorry, won't be able to join tomorrow.

Am I too old for HRT?

I am 68, had my first hot flush in 1999. They were tailing off until I had a compete hysterectomy 5 years ago and they came back with a vengence. I am usually OK during the day but I can tell when it's 6 pm without looking at the clock because then they start. Rushes of terrible anxiety followed by the heat, over and over again. I am lucky that I don't sweat, just get so hot. If only my DH could get them we would never need the heating on. This lasts until about 9am the following morning.

I have weeks of only about 2-3 hours sleep a night and am beyond exhaused. Absolutely no libido and my vagina has shrunk so much it makes sex excrutiating.

In the early days I was put off HRT by the reports of breast cancer, but have tried every alternative medicine/therapy going.

When I decided that enough was enough my GP would not prescribe HRT because of mine and family health issues. One locum put me on a very low dose (10mg per week, yes week) of Citalopram and this made an amazing difference much to my surprise. The rushes of anxiety stopped, which I expected but also the hot flushes which I didn't. And I could sleep! I was on these for about a year then another GP stopped them because he said I was becoming addicted.

So, is it too late for me? I'm getting to the stage where i feel any risk would be worth it just to get some sort of a proper life back for whatever time I have left.

Very grateful for any advice. (Sorry for the essay).

I'm so glad you asked this. I'm 65 and in a very similar position but I do have a vaginal ring for vaginal atrophy. I have no libido and awful sleep. I'm also worried about developing osteoporosis and really regret not asking for HRT when I was younger.

Evening all. My 2 yo was diagnosed as having glue ear (both ears) 6 months ago but on the last appt. last week was confirmed all gone. He is still however behind on his speech (we guess as a result), lots of babbling and noises but very limited words. We want him to be included as his peers have started communicating with one another. Does anyone have any advice how we can help encourage speech? I’m playing all the nursery rhymes and dancing and signing along like a maniac but he doesn’t seem remotely interested.

I had my menopause some years ago – no idea when, I had a Minerva coil because of heavy periods, and that ended them successfully.
This year, following COVID and first vaccination soon after, I started having menopause symptoms I’d not experienced before, primarily recurrent thrush and extreme vaginal dryness. After six months of being painfully unwell, this has been successfully treated and I am continuing to use Ovestin, which is working well.
I’ve read about COVID & vaccinations affecting menstrual cycle; has there been any research into links between COVID or Astra Zeneca impacting on the menopause?

@JennyAuker - did you mean to post on another thread?
I doubt your 2yo son is menopausal

Can you be immune to HRT?

I have been on gel and pills for 8 months and my main symptoms have not improved at all. Vaginal dryness, no labido and night sweats are as bad as ever.
The only effects - I have started bleeding and my boobs are like rocks!

What are the three most essential things you wished women knew about menopause when it comes to work?

How do I know if I'm perimenopausal or even menopausal if I take the mini pill? I take the pill for medical reasons so can't just stop. Will it be masking symptoms? I sometimes have night sweats, joint pain and I seem to have brain fog at the moment which could be signs but also just be ageing. I don't have periods when taking the pill.

What's normal?

Many symptoms of peri- and menopause overlap with general decrepitude. When do you know when to seek help and when to shrug your shoulders and just get on with it?

In my mid-40s, I never again expect to feel as fresh and energetic as I did in my early 20s. But (for me) brain fog, joint pain, heart palpitations and vaginal discomfort are the direction my body is going in and I don't even know if this is the perimenopause, as PPs have alluded to.

From reading about other women's experience I don't want to start the medical route and fighting for attention if this is just what bodies do when they age. But I also don't want to store up problems for the future that hrt could fix.

I had a hysterectomy, but my ovaries are still there. In the absence of periods, is there any way to tell whether I’m peri-, menopausal, or post-menopausal?

Dr Louise Newson suggests that "we all need to be rebranding the Menopause as a "female hormone deficiency" do you agree? Do you think this gives it a negative connotation? How would you rebrand?

How soon after having a baby can you experience perimenopause symptoms?

The menopause has caused me to suffer with insomnia and I’m desperate to find a solution. What can you recommend?

I am 54 and have been on the gel/ utro combo for 2 years now. The night sweats aren’t controlled by this. Up to 4 pumps now. The lack of sleep is making me exhausted and miserable. Are there any studies on the effectiveness of medication/ relaxation on the reduction of night sweats? Don’t know what else to do.

Sorry meant meditation not medication!

I'm 36 with regular periods, never given birth and no peri symptoms as yet. What is the one thing I can do now to prepare for or mitigate against the symptoms of menopause later down the line?

Hi Kate

Please can you advise me on any effect HRT might have on the likelihood of developing dementia. I have read conflicting reports on this: some seem to suggest that taking HRT reduces the risk, others that it increases the risk!

Thank you.

@WaltzingToWalsingham

Hi Kate

Please can you advise me on any effect HRT might have on the likelihood of developing dementia. I have read conflicting reports on this: some seem to suggest that taking HRT reduces the risk, others that it increases the risk!

Thank you.

Not sure if I'm allowed to butt in here but....

There was an update on this a couple of weeks ago in the press with a new report (you can find it online) @WaltzingToWalsingham. The risks appear to apply only to women who start HRT after 65, and even then the data is not sound. If there is any risk, it is tiny.

@ChickenStripper

I've never taken part in one of these before. Where do I find this tomorrow?

Hello @ChickenStripper - Kate will be logging onto this thread (here where we are) and answering questions in written form. So if you come onto the thread at 12 you should see answers from Kate (highlighted in pale red) start to come up. You have to refresh to see new answers. Hope that helps.

Thank you @JuliaMumsnet

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