Laura Woods, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, described being “plunged” into menopause aged 30 as “like hitting a brick wall”.
She had life-saving treatment for cervical cancer and said the only mention of early menopause and infertility as side effects of that had been “a five-minute chat and a few lines on the consent form at the hospital”.
Now 41, she said: “I suffered in silence – the brain fog, hot flushes, vaginal dryness and reduced libido – but my husband had to navigate those things with me.”
Now a clinical team lead at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, she also works as a counsellor for charity the Daisy Network, which provides information and support for women diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI).
“Charities like this and Menopause and Cancer are game-changers – both for those going through this and health care professionals,” she added.
“My hope is that in the future things really change.”
Dr Susanna Unsworth, a specialist physician at Cambridge University Hospitals and menopause specialist, said Addenbrooke’s Hospital was seeing more “younger women who are diagnosed and often their treatment is wanting to suppress their hormones and will bring about a menopause”.
She added: “I think often they are very unprepared for it, as they are not expecting this to happen.
“We do need to think about the health implications for these women.”
She said a clinic at Addenbrooke’s had been set up to help women prepare for potential early menopause.
