My journey through menopause... A tale by Talents Rathebe.

The lovely Talents Rathebe here to her journey on menopause

I had just turned 40 years old when I arrived in the UK in 2011. I remember being so excited on my 40th birthday and thinking, "Life has just begun!" I had always heard people saying that life began at 40 and I was really looking forward to it. But then, I noticed some strange changes in me as time went by. I started getting hot and cold flushes, depression, mood swings, lack of sleep, gaining weight, forgetting things, anxiety, panic attacks, headaches and extreme tiredness, etc.

A daunting experience

Experiencing these sort of symptoms can be very daunting. You begin feeling like something is wrong with you, especially if you don't know what is causing all the symptoms. I was very confused. I had never felt like this before and I began thinking that something was wrong with me as a person. Little by little, I began isolating myself from my friends and loved ones. How could I expect anyone to understand me, if I didn’t understand myself either? 

Going through menopause

I landed at my GP’s surgery, in tears and so confused. I always took care of myself, physically and spiritually,  so how could I be dealing with unexplained insomnia and mood swings? Wasn't that supposed to be associated with spiritual problems? One minute I was happy and the next minute I was creating a storm in a tea cup. The worst of all was feeling anxious. This drove me crazy! Well, I found out I was going through menopause, which explained the symptoms I was feeling. 

If you are going through your menopause, you are not alone and there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. There are things that you can do to make things more bearable for yourself. Join me next week as I tell you what I've been doing, which has been working for me. Together, we can do this!