Let me introduce myself

An insight in to my life.

OK , so I've already given snippets of information about me, but I've not really given much away. So here is some information about what makes me 'me'!

I have been married for 23 years to Chris, and we have 3 children together, Chloe 20, Harry 18 and Erin 16. We live in Swansea In South Wales in a pretty village by the sea. I qualified as a nurse in 1997 and since then I have worked in Gynaecology and in General Practice and currently I work in a private Aesthetics clinic (more of this to come as I do treatments to help with the menopause).

In 2011 I was diagnosed with Pots (Postural tachycardia syndrome) which has multiple symptoms, the main ones being when upright my heart rate shoots up as my body cant adjust to gravity. Basically it means that my autonomic nervous system doesn't want to work properly, so any change in position, results in my heart rate increasing and a horrible dizziness until I am able to lay or sit back down.

As you can imagine this condition has had a huge impact on my life and the life of my whole family for many years. At first I did dwell on it and think that my life as I knew it was over, but after missing out on so much I realised that I had to control this and not let it control me, so I took charge. Don't get me wrong it's hard, I'm symptomatic every day but I can manage it, I know what to do, I don't let it consume me anymore.

So me as a person, I'm quite shy really, I like to stay in the background, I am very over critical of myself and put myself under immense pressure to be perfect. I've done some modelling over the years, (where each photo is scrutinised by me) however this seems to have dried up the same time as the menopause hit (paranoia overload) So my confidence has taken a knock, but that's life full of ups and downs, lets see what tomorrow brings.....

The decision to write this blog was made about 3am one morning when I couldn't Sleep. This is a regular occurrence for me, as I've previously said. I've had ideas in the past but never really done anything about them, but this was different , I felt as though I had to do it, I actually felt excited!

So there you have it a little bit of info on me, there will be more along the way but hopefully you are starting to see who I am. I look forward to updating you daily. X

Kathryn

Are you more thirsty during the menopause?

Well I woke this morning after what felt like I had just fallen asleep. I must have had about 3 hours sleep in total last night. but today is a new day, so eager to see what it throws at me.....

Last night was long, i'm getting very interrupted sleep at the moment, i'm finding i'm waking up very thirsty overnight, almost drinking a full bottle of water a night ( i've had my glucose checked and its within normal range) Please ladies if you are drinking more at night and weeing more, please see your GP to check for signs of Diabetes.

There is an actual reason behind this, and its all down to our beloved hormones, yes oestrogen and progesterone the lovely hormones that give us so much joy at the moment.... Play a role in role in fluid regulation. So when we get the hot flushes and night sweats this can lead to increased thirst.

Keeping hydrated is so important especially during the perimenopause and menopause as our bodies change. Dehydration sounds like such a drastic word yet so many women fall in to its trap without realising. It can creep up on you, so if you are already feeling thirsty the chances are that you are already dehydrated and your body is trying to tell you.

Dehydration has certain symptoms to look out for:-

• Thirst

• Moodiness

• dry mouth

• Dark urine

• Headache

• Muscle Cramps

• Confusion

• Tiredness

• Inability to think clearly

Looking at these symptoms its easy to group them up and say, "I feel like this anyway because of the menopause", as some of the symptoms are so similar, but maybe it could be that we all just need to drink more! Could it be that simple? Well maybe it can, let's all give it a go, increase our fluid intake and see what results we get.

Remember though....Water is best, keep alcohol and caffein to a minimum as these have a diuretic effect (make us want to wee more so could dehydrate us) Make sure that your wee is light straw coloured as this is nice and healthy. You can also get water from foods such as fruit and vegetables, so look at your diet and see what subtle changes can be made.

COLD FLUSHES....

YES THEY REALLY ARE A THING!

So who would have thought that you can get cold flushes? You get hot flushes with the menopause right? WRONG!! When I started getting cold flushes i honestly thought there was something wrong with me, I must have an infection, brewing something as why am i getting bone chillingly cold?

I must have checked my temperature 100 times, but it was always normal, what was wrong with me?

I must admit being a nurse who has worked in Gynaecology for many years I had no idea that you can have cold flushes as part of the menopause. Hot flushes are always talked about, but you never hear cold flushes being mentioned. I often heard women say that after a night sweat they got cold especially if their PJs got wet, but this was different, this wasn't after a flush this was exactly like a hot flush but instead of feeling intense heat you feel "goose-bumpy cold"

So the science bit:-

Like hot flushes, cold flushes are linked to the drop in Oestrogen levels that occur during the menopause. When these levels drop the Hypothalamus Gland (the gland that regulates body temperature) becomes more sensitive to subtle changes, resulting in it 'overreacting' by having a hot or cold flush.

Cold flushes are less common that hot flushes but can be just as disruptive and can occur multiple times a day or night, they can last for a few seconds up to 20 minutes or more. They can affect your entire body, or just part of it and make you feel cold to the bone! Having these chills especially at night can have a huge impact on quality of life as sleeping during the menopause is hard enough!

Things we can try:-

Although we can't stop these chills from happening, there are things that we can do to manage them -

• Wear layers so you can add and remove as required and be prepared at work .

• Limit the amount of spicy food and sugar as these can also affect your body temperature.

• Reduce/stop smoking.

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol especially before bed as these can also have an effect on your body temperature.

• Wear socks to bed to keep your feet warm.

• Have an extra blanket handy next to the bed just incase you feel cold overnight.

It's important to remember that the symptoms of cold flushes should come and go. If you feel cold all the time no matter what you do you just cant get warm, its advisable to see your GP as you may need your thyroid checking. It has been found that thyroid function starts to slow down around the time of the menopause, so a simple blood test may be needed to check levels to rule this out.

It's so important that as women we start talking about things surrounding the menopause. Gone are the days when any mention of anything "HORMONAL" was a taboo subject. So, start a conversation with your friends ad colleagues as chances are they may be going through similar to you and may have handy tips to help you manage, as having support is extremely important during this time.