CASE STUDY: Lorraine Thompson, Hot Flushes & the Menopause

CASE STUDY:   LORRAINE THOMPSON

Age:                 51

Occupation:    Medical and Cosmetic Tattooist

I HAD 30 HOT SWEATS A DAY BECAUSE OF THE MENOPAUSE

Hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog and anxiety were just some of the symptoms Lorraine Thompson suffered from as a result of the menopause.

The mum of three began experience symptoms at the end of 2019 and although she thought she would be able to manage the menopause, her situation became so severe she needed to seek expert help.

Explained Lorraine, who lives in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire: “It was horrendous – I felt dreadful and it really affected my work. I was having hot sweats up to 30 times a day. Because of my job as a medical and cosmetic tattooist, I work in a very sterile environment and everything is wrapped in plastic and I have to wear a plastic apron the whole time. I was literally like a wet rag.

“I’m a really tough person – nothing stops me from working. I always thought in my head that when it came to the menopause I would just tough it out and not take HRT, but it was terrible. I had night sweats that affected my sleep, brain fog, anxiety and terrible difficulty sleeping.”

After hearing about menopause specialists through a work colleague and doing her own research, Lorraine found out about the Online Menopause Centre (www.onlinemenopausecentre.com) – the first online menopause clinic in the UK. After seeing a specialist from the centre, she was prescribed a treatment plan that helped her return to normal.

Explained Lorraine: “I went on a training course in the north and met someone I knew through work. She told me about a newer and better tolerated type of HRT she was taking – BHRT (biologically identical hormone replacement therapy) – and how fantastic she felt. She lived in Scotland and I was actually considering going up to Scotland to see the same specialist she had seen.

How OMC helped Lorraine:

“I did some research and found out about OMC which really appealed as they are specialist doctors who are experts in dealing with the menopause. It was also so much easier because I could have a consultation online.”

Lorraine was prescribed a personalised treatment plan from OMC and within days she started to feel better.

“I was given BHRT which was a prescription personalised for me, based on what I needed. It meant I wasn’t just having a sledgehammer of hormones which you get with older types of HRT. I’m on a very low dose of estrogen because that’s all my body needs, rather than a higher dose, and progesterone.

“Within a week I could feel the difference and after two weeks it really turned everything around. The hot flushes have stopped – very occasionally I feel a bit of warmth but that’s manageable and the doctor at OMC doesn’t want to start putting me on higher doses of HRT just to tackle something that isn’t really a problem.”

Around 13 million women in the UK are currently perimenopausal (the period leading up to the menopause) or menopausal – equivalent to a third of the entire female population[1] – and its impact can be severely debilitating. Symptoms range from hot flushes/night sweats, headaches, sleep problems and joint pains to anxiety, poor memory, low self-confidence and loss of libido.

Lorraine now wants other women to seek better treatment and make sure they are informed about the menopause.

“I really feel that it is only just recently that the menopause is starting to be talked about – if it was something men suffered, something would have been done years ago. Sadly, there are so many male GPs who aren’t very sympathetic. I think it is really great what OMC are doing as they are making expert treatment from specialist doctors available to women, wherever they live.”

[1] Local Government Association Menopause Factfile https://local.gov.uk/our-support/workforce-and-hr-support/wellbeing/menopause/menopause-factfile#:~:text=It’s%20estimated%20that%20there%20are,the%20entire%20UK%20female%20population. (Accessed February 2021)