How I lost my Mojo at home and work thanks to Perimenopause!

I was 45 years old and suddenly felt like I had been hit be a tidal wave.

I felt burnt out, sleep deprived, self-conscious and unable to perform as well as I used to at work.

I had surges of hot flushes which periodically drenched me, was a lot more irritable and impatient with fellow staff and clients, had a frozen shoulder and aching knee, had some brain fog, especially with peoples names, and general exhaustion. There were days when I just wanted to walk out of the office and never return. I could barely cope at home with the kids and my husband, let alone deal with co-workers.

I can recall being performance managed for my comments in a workplace meeting which in hindsight were too outspoken, but I just seemed to lose the ability to hold back my opinions which I had once reserved.

Ironically, despite knowing quite a lot at the time about menopause, I still considered myself too young, I only had a 7 year old child, still had consistently heavy periods and there was nothing that made me initially think it was perimenopause. I actually thought I had a very, very long winded case of the flu.

As incredible as it seems, with 50% of the population going through it, most women still don’t know the basic facts about perimenopause and menopause, making it difficult to identify hormonal changes as a potential cause for not feeling well. In turn they are often not seeking the support and treatment options which could really provide them with significant symptomatic relief.

Our mothers were often also uneducated on the topic and/or quiet about it, there was no education at school and most of the medical fraternity have been poorly educated themselves about how to identify, treat and support. My own doctor wrote it off as anxiety caused by life challenges at the time, and prescribed me anti-depressants and melatonin for sleep.

Like me, many of my menopausal workmates, have felt neglected, overlooked, embarrassed and frustrated and opted to simply leave work, retire early, reduce their work hours, not apply for promotional opportunities, merely because they were feeling overwhelmed and insecure as a result of their physical and psychological menopausal symptoms.

As recently highlighted by the Senate inquiry into Menopause, workplaces need to better accommodate women who experience symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.

“All employers have a responsibility to address stigma around menopause in their workplaces. Implementing organisation wide menopause policies, promoting internal awareness for employees and managers about these issues and sharing menopause-specific workplace resources can all help to address menopause stigma.”

We are often in the prime of our careers when perimenopause symptoms strike, with an enormous amount to still offer an organisation. It is an inevitable time in our lives but it can be challenging and we need workplace support to help us get access to information about the symptoms, treatment options and lifestyle changes we may need to continue to be as productive, confident and empowered.

Better psychosocial risk assessments which include support for menopausal employees, menopause awareness training at work, workplace policies and procedures, flexible working arrangements are all steps in the right direction but it is still uncommon to find this level of support in many organisations.

At Corporate Wellness Solutions we look deeper at what amounts to a psychosocial hazard rather than just what the Code guides us on. That is why I decided to add menopause to our psychosocial wellness solutions programs.

We can provide you with all the perimenopause and menopause information and education from the experts, policy templates, conversation guides and prompts to initiate menopause conversations with managers and employees (from both perspectives), symptom trackers, checklist for businesses to compare how menopause friendly their workplace is and a wellness support program tailored to your employee needs.