World Menopause Day – advice and support

You are not alone. That's the message from the NHS to women on World Menopause Day, Tuesday 18 October.

Around 30% of women are going through the menopause right now, and the region’s NHS has joined forces with local organisations in Sunderland to offer information on menopause to help women (and men) understand the symptoms and how to manage them.

June Pace, a Project Manager for the NHS’s North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “There’s been a real shift over the past year towards better understanding of the menopause, but many women are still having to trawl the internet for anything they can find. We recognised there was a need to bring together a lot of this information in one place and we have selected what we feel is the pick of the information and where women can get support if they need it.”

June has also created a questionnaire to help women understand their symptoms and prepare for a conversation with their GP. Common symptoms include hot flushes, sleep problems and mood changes, as well as weight gain, irregular periods and night sweats.

Sharon MacArthur, aka Miss Menopause, works with employers and organisations across the UK providing menopause awareness training. Sharon works as part of the group who worked together to curate the webpage also adding her own website details. She said: “I always advocate that menopause is to be managed not endured, and education is key to helping everyone understand what options are available. This site is for everyone.”

Dr Saira Malik, a local GP, said: “Managing your menopause needs a personalised, whole person approach, looking at your general health and wellbeing. Your GP can help you with this and help find the best way for you to manage your menopause symptoms.

“As the menopause affects every woman differently, the questionnaire can help you understand your symptoms before you talk with your GP, so we can find the right menopause management plan for you.”

The ‘You Are Not Alone – Menopause Support’ webpage can be found at wellbeinginfo.org/self-help/health/menopause. It links to helpful discussion videos, television programmes, online books and healthy eating advice, and recommends a useful App. People can also find free support at nhs.uk/conditions/menopause.