I am Wendy, I am 48, and I am menopausal. I can’t claim to have had an ‘early’ menopause really, due to my great age, but I certainly had an abrupt one!

As a teenager I had hormone problems and was told that if I wanted to have children I would probably need ‘help’. As it turned out (four children later) I didn’t! In fact, I needed help to prevent me having any more children as contraception had never heard of me! Having tried nearly every method known to woman (and a few known to men) I decided to go for surgical sterilisation.

From the moment I woke from the sterilisation I had problems. My periods were very heavy and very painful. I tried various tablets to prevent the heavy bleeding but nothing really worked. This I endured for 10 years at the end of which the gaps between periods got shorter and the periods got longer. Eventually I was referred to the gyne clinic and had an op to remove polyps from my cervix and uterus. Following the op I continued to bleed to the extent that I was twice hospitalised with haemorrhages. The only answer was a Hysterectomy and oopherectomy

Until the actual TAH the surgeon did not know the cause of my problems. What he discovered is that I was suffering from Pelvic Congestion, a condition where the pelvic organs have a grossly enlarged blood supply. So, the op cured the bleeding problem but plunged me straight into menopause. While I am glad that I had the op (and, indeed, couldn’t have carried on without it) I was in no way prepared for the rigours of menopause. Like several others on this site I struggle with HRT but live in hope that one day I will find the right balance

This site has been a godsend and I hope that you find help and support here too. When no-one else understands – we do.

Thanks for reading my story.

xWendyx