A DECADE ago the menopause was rarely spoken about, certainly not in public.
Despite the fact it affects every woman, “the change” was considered taboo and frequently suffered in silence.
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Now menopause is discussed everywhere; in podcasts, documentaries, and social media, and targeted with a growing market of products including supplements and herbal remedies to help ease its symptoms.
Increased awareness – fuelled by The Sun’s Fabulous Menopause Matters campaign – has been a life-saver. But with more information available than ever, it can be difficult to know where to find accurate advice.
If you want to know the symptoms of perimenopause – the lead-up to your final period – or whether you should be avoiding certain foods or using hormone therapy, Sun Health is here to help cut through the noise.
Dr Philippa Kaye – GP and author of the new book The Science Of Menopause – answers the most common questions on the subject and BBC presenter Gabby Logan shares her own experience of it.
Gabby Logan says HRT reignited her libido after becoming so disinterested in sex with her husband she worried it would “become a duty’.
The Welsh presenter, 51, first realised she was perimenopausal at the age of 47, but didn’t recognise it as such.
Rather, Gabby says she just felt like a “lesser version of herself”.
I couldn’t think that it had anything to do with the menopause. I was only in my mid-40s
And while the mum of two credits HRT with bringing her back, she has also taken up cold swimming among other lifestyle hacks to feel good again.
Gabby, who is married to ex-Scottish international rugby Kenny Logan, tells Sun Health: “I was feeling like a lesser version of my usual self. I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
“I’ve always been into health and fitness, and I started being extra careful about what I ate and I was training more — things that normally made me feel really good — but were now having no effect.
Out of control
“I couldn’t think that it had anything to do with the menopause. I was only in my mid-40s.”
But it was only when Gabby invited broadcaster Mariella Frostrup on her podcast, The Mid Point, in 2020 that everything clicked at last.
Gabby, who has 19-year-old twins Lois and Reuben with Kenny, says: “She was talking about her menopause, describing the symptoms — anxiety, impatience, shouting at family and friends, losing your temper over silly things, feeling a bit out of control and not on top of stuff, feeling tired a lot of the time with low energy levels and having brain fog.
“I thought, ‘Hello? This sounds very familiar’.
“My libido was definitely affected by the menopause and perimenopause. I found I didn’t want to have sex with my husband as much, and it felt like something I was going to have to do even if I didn’t really want to.
“It was almost like, ‘Is this going to become a duty?’ So many women say this and I didn’t want to become one of them.
“I wanted to keep enjoying having sex. When I understood that I could get my former sex drive back, it was an enormous relief.” Gabby saw a doctor who prescribed HRT after tests revealed her hormones were “on the floor” and she likely only had a couple of periods left.
“I was surprised to hear this but not particularly emotional about it. I just wanted to feel like me again,” Gabby says.
My libido came back within about a week and our sex life was back on track — even to the extent of having daytime sex. Our kids will kill me if I say any more!
“I’d had a very healthy relationship with Kenny. I loved him and fancied him, and hadn’t been able to understand why I no longer wanted to have sex as much as I had before.
“My libido came back within about a week and our sex life was back on track — even to the extent of having daytime sex. Our kids will kill me if I say any more!”
The couple faced more challenges when Kenny was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022, requiring surgery.
And while Gabby admits she has felt “bereft” transitioning to an “empty nest”, she focuses on hobbies to fill the void.
She says: “I regularly go cold-water swimming.
“It’s something I kind of fell into by accident.”
It’s one of several habits that relieve her menopause symptoms.
She says: “The menopause affects our physical and mental wellbeing, things like heart health and the threat of osteoporosis. Exercise can help guard against both, particularly weight training for osteoporosis.
“Simple walking and cycling are great things to do.
“What helps me is being as holistic as I can.
“I make sure I take all the right vitamins and minerals for a woman of my age.
“It’s also a good idea to read up on the menopause before it actually happens so that it doesn’t overwhelm you.
“There’s nothing like prepping before midlife actually hits.”
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