Emma Williams-Tully, a 39-year-old woman from Wrexham, was put into chemical menopause when she was just 20, due to undiagnosed endometriosis. Although Emma had started getting extremely heavy periods aged 10 and had gone “back and forth” to various health professionals, endometriosis was not mentioned for another decade and the process took a further 11 years. During that time, she was treated with a chemical injection called Prostap to manage symptoms, which halts the production of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone and puts women into a temporary menopause.
The purpose of Prostap is to test whether endometriosis is present, before embarking on invasive surgery. However, as oestrogen can be required for several things, including a healthy heart, brain, and bones, restoring its levels is tricky. Emma said she was offered only a “generic HRT” to combat the Prostap side effects, but that exacerbated her condition. She said that the common association of menopause with older women left her feeling isolated and unable to share what she was going through, even with close friends.
Katharine Gale, 50, is a women’s health nurse in Lampeter, Ceredigion, who also has endometriosis, and was using a medication called Zoladex before the symptoms of peri-menopause began in her early 40s. She said that there was a “lack of awareness” of help available, and that “we need to talk about the menopause more,” as it was failing women concerning their health.
Dr. Michelle Olver, a reproductive health consultant, said that balancing the symptoms of endometriosis with the side effects of “being switched off” while taking add-back hormones is challenging. She also said health services were moving away from a “one size fits all” approach but admitting access to support was a “postcode lottery”. The Welsh government expects to publish a 10-year women’s health plan for Wales by the end of the year and said the health secretary was committed to improving women’s health services
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