It’s not just women who suffer, it’s their entire families too

THREE years ago I was suffering – and seriously. The menopause had hit me with night sweats so intense I woke up feeling as though I had run a marathon in a jungle. Then there was the brain fog, heart palpitations and even tinnitus.

In fact, from the age of 45 I had developed as many as 26 symptoms of the menopause, including such severe hot flushes I had to ask my bosses at BBC Breakfast to turn down the temperature in the TV studio when I was presenting.

When I look back at myself in a film about the menopause I made for the BBC at that time, I realise how anxious and vulnerable I was. I feel sorry for that Louise, because now that I am on a fairly high dose of HRT I feel so much more calm and confident. For me, it has solved so many physical and psychological symptoms.

So when I read about the national shortage of HRT that is leaving millions of women like me unable to access vital supplies, my first thought was to worry about how I would cope if I ran out. The thought of going backwards to 2019, when I was between courses of HRT, is unbearable.

Faced with the supply crisis, I have started reducing my daily dose of Oestrogel to eke out my remaining stock as long as possible – and I am far from alone.

Female friends on my WhatsApp groups, from London to Hampshire and Norfolk, report being sent round in circles by GPs and pharmacies as they try to secure HRT gel, patches and pills. Worse, a number of friends say they are considering leaving their jobs.

They fear they will be unable to cope without HRT because it makes such a huge difference to their health at a vulnerable and important stage of their lives.

Many are working in demanding jobs that society depends on – from the NHS to teaching – while also caring for teenage children and elderly parents. But the threat to HRT supply is making women in midlife feel they simply can’t go on. That, to me, is heartbreaking because HRT is also so important to the happiness of their families, and to the way the whole of the UK works.

If your mum, your wife, your partner or your employee is not feeling themselves, it has an impact on everybody.

If men were having this problem, would we have got to this desperate situation? I don’t know the answer, but I’m sure they wouldn’t stand for it, and nor should women. If there was something men were taking that made their lives significantly easier, there would be pressure to change things and get it sorted out.

There needs to be a realisation by the Government that this is a serious issue. Women should be able to access HRT if it works for them. It should not be a choice, it is a necessity.

This is not just about helping millions of women. It’s about stopping the very fabric of British life breaking down.