Counselling and menopause

Perimenopause is the time when your hormones start to feel like the inspiration for Alton Tower’s next big rollercoaster. The side effects and impacts can be far ranging and often weird. Your body can feel hotter than the surface of the sun. On the nights you actually fall asleep quickly, you lie awake at 4am. Words that were just on the tip of your tongue vanish into thin air. Your period is a complete flake. Barely showing up for weeks but always guaranteed to come when there is a party or you are sitting on a beach. Not to mention migraines, indigestion, itchy skin, aches, fluttery anxiety from nowhere, rage towards the people who usually make you smile, and the list goes on.

A year after oestrogen diminishes and your periods stop, you are in the menopause. Now a future of hot flushes and terrible sleep might await you.

Some people might experience the fast track ticket straight to menopause due to treatment or surgery. Others may have a “chemical menopause”, which people with endometriosis can go through as part of their treatment. Any changes to hormone treatment can also bring about similar symptoms.

Counselling clearly won’t balance out hormones, but that doesn’t mean we need to suck it up and get on with it either. Being listened to and understood can feel powerful, especially as that is not always our experience when accessing treatment. Exploring what might trigger anxious feelings can be a starting block for learning what helps you to manage them. Having a space to process changes to your body and mind and an opportunity for uncensored swearing, ranting and crying can provide relief.