Mystery of the allergies that strike only during MENOPAUSE

Hay fever. Eczema. Asthma. Crippling food intolerances...

STROLLING past an olive grove on holiday in Corfu, Jane Berry’s eyes started to itch and stream, while her nose began to run uncontrollably. You won’t be surprised to learn that Jane, 54, was experiencing hay fever. What may be more surprising is the fact that, despite her age, she had never experienced such an allergic reaction before.

Surely, you might think, such conditions develop in your childhood or teens —not when you’re menopausal?

Jane, a customer services manager and mum of three, discovered that for her, the change of life kickstarted severe allergies that now plague her every spring and summer.

‘I’d never suffered from an allergy in my life,’ recalls Jane, who lives with her partner Justin, 50, who owns a book-selling business. ‘I thought you grew out of allergies, not into them, and given that I’d recently started going through the menopause, I assumed I was far too old to have developed hay fever.’

Hot flushes and night sweats associated with menopause are well documented, but allergies from hay fever to asthma, and even agonising stomach complaints and food allergies, are a lesser-known side effect of this hormonal upheaval.

Experts warn the rise in ‘new’ older allergy sufferers is so explosive, that by 2030 the number of allergy sufferers is predicted to rise from a quarter of the population to almost half.

PROFESSOR Ashley Grossman, a leading endocrinologist, admits scientific research into the link between hormones and mid-life allergies is lacking, which means that, just like Jane, most women aren’t aware that the two can be connected.

‘You can develop allergies such as hay fever and asthma later in life and the change in oestrogen levels during the menopause may be related,’ he says.

‘In men there’s a gradual drop in testosterone as they get older, in women the fall in oestrogen is dramatic and can cause a flare-up of a variety of different things. For example, migraines can often occur, as well as asthma.’

Holly Shaw, a nurse adviser, says that although there are no clear statistics, anecdotally speaking, midlife allergies are on the rise.

‘Allergies can occur during significant hormonal fluctuations such as adolescence, childbirth years and around the menopause, even when someone has been exposed to a particular allergen for decades.

‘Some women even suffer severe allergies during their menstrual cycle alone, so it’s clear hormones have an impact on allergic reactions.

‘We come across women seeking advice having developed a food allergy, eczema, allergic rhinitis or allergic asthma.’

Allergies occur when the immune system mistakenly identifies a substance as being harmful. To protect the body, it produces antibodies that prompt the release of chemicals into the blood, including histamines which cause allergic symptoms.

Histamines are part of the body’s defence system.

Their job is to get allergens — such as pollen, animal dander or dust — out of your body or off your skin.

This is why, depending on the type of allergy, sufferers sneeze, wheeze, itch or are sick. Jane Berry now uses over-the-counter antihistamines. She started the menopause at 50.

She says she has ‘got off lightly’ with symptoms apart from the hay fever, which blights her summers.

‘I’d never had an allergic reaction in my life until Justin and I went on that holiday to Corfu,’ Jane recalls. ‘Justin has always had hay fever so I took one of his antihistamines and it worked, which proved it was an allergic reaction.’

Jane assumed the allergy would disappear when they returned home. Not so.

‘Every May and August, my hay fever returns, although I’ve yet to identify which pollen is the problem,’ she says.

‘Justin and I love to visit gardens during the summer so I have to go prepared. Last May we went on holiday to Mallorca and the same thing happened as in Corfu.

‘Although manageable at the beach, my hay fever was terrible in the evenings. I now take antihistamines wherever I go.’

For Mahin Shaker, 60, a retired fashion consultant and boutique owner, the menopause left her facing a different sort of allergy.

As her hormones went haywire in her 40s, she found she could no longer stomach garlic or raw vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage without suffering agonising abdominal pain and vomiting.

‘I started the menopause at 44, and had a hysterectomy at 46 due to fibroid problems, which is when the allergies started. They still affect me,’ says Mahin, who is divorced with two grown-up children.

‘I began to get really bad pains around my kidneys. As the problem persisted I started to vomit for 48 hours at a time, too. I linked it to meals and specifically those containing garlic and raw veg.

‘I also developed an allergy to penicillin prescribed after a throat infection.’

Mahin was perplexed by this onslaught of mid-life allergic reactions and only found out the likely cause recently.

‘Late last year I saw a physiotherapist for back problems and when he was asking about my medical history he said my allergies were most likely triggered by the menopause,’ she adds.

The menopause legacy lives on. Only last October Mahin was rushed to A&E after unwittingly eating garlic in a chicken stew at a friend’s house.

She admits: ‘As a keen cook, I’ve had to totally change my cooking methods.’

For retired medical secretary Amanda Hughes, 55, the onset of menopause eight years ago brought asthma with it.

Amanda, who is married with two daughters, says: ‘As well as hot sweats, menopause is when I suddenly developed first asthma and then hay fever.

‘I’d had a chest infection but even after it had gone I kept on wheezing. My GP then diagnosed it but didn’t link it to my hormones. Shortly afterwards, I developed hay fever.

‘Now 12 years on, I still use inhalers and steroids for my asthma, plus antihistamines and a nasal spray for hay fever.’

Professor Grossman says the onset of a menopausal allergy that resists other treatments may be an opportune time for a woman to consider taking HRT.

‘My advice is treat symptomatically with over-the-counter or prescribed medication,’ he says. ‘But if it proves difficult then it might be worth considering HRT to rebalance the hormones.’

But not even HRT has worked for Amanda.

‘I started taking it in my early 40s, but it made no difference to my allergies,’ she says. ‘In fact, night sweats and hot flushes are back with a vengeance.

‘My GP hasn’t said that my allergies will calm down when my hormones do. But I live in hope as a flare-up makes me feel ill.

‘Hormones have more to answer for than I could have imagined.’