It’s time to change the face of our final taboo No shame in menopause

However, while such sharing is a great step forward, for Dr Newson, there’s still much work to be done.

“I want to see the remaining two-thirds of women feeling able to lean on their loved ones more during this difficult period too,” she says.

“Better still, I’d like all women to be properly informed about the menopause and the treatments available to them – and to feel able to ask their GP for help if symptoms are damaging their quality of life.”

Indeed, by the time they pay her a visit, Dr Newson frequently finds her menopausal patients are already isolated, depressed and at the end of their tether.

‘I just don’t feel like ‘me’ anymore’, ‘It’s like wading through treacle every day’ and ‘I’m just about hanging on by my fingernails,’ are sentiments Dr Newson hears daily. “As for their partners, many tell me they don’t recognise their wives since they started the menopause,” she continues. “They see them having night sweats, low confidence and mood swings – and want to help but don’t know how.”

Dr Newson is embarrassed to admit that she herself is a case in point. “I’m a GP, but it took my 12- year- old daughter to point out my excessive moodiness a year ago.

“Only then did I realise I’d not had a period for several months. It seems obvious now, but it took me months to realise I was actually starting the menopause myself!”

The menopause officially occurs when your ovaries stop producing eggs and your levels of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone fall until your periods stop.

This usually takes place between the ages of 45 to 55, but it can be earlier for some women. It’s the drop in oestrogen that causes many of the more unpleasant symptoms.

Women can find themselves suddenly suffering from low confidence and anxiety – and experiencing everything from the classic hot flushes, to brain fog, insomnia, bladder problems and a diminished libido.

Treatable

But many still don’t realise that these symptoms can present themselves up to five years before menopause actually starts, as oestrogen levels begin declining. This is known as the ‘peri-menopause’.

“It’s actually very sad that many women aren’t recognising these as peri and even menopausal symptoms - and therefore treatable,” says Dr