Your Menopause Doctor

23/10/2024

⭐️What a fun afternoon that was!⭐️

I had an incredible time on the BBC Radio Wales Afternoon show with the wonderful Behnaz Akhgar for a menopause advice hour!

It was an absolute honour to share insights and answer listeners' questions.

My first time in a radio studio was such a fun experience—seeing things from the other side was brilliant! Big thanks to Behnaz and the entire team for making me feel so welcome.

If you missed it, you can listen on demand on BBC Sounds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00243fp?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Here’s to more conversations about menopause and supporting each other! 🎙️💬

22/10/2024

✨️Exciting News! ✨️

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be on BBC Radio Wales 🎙️ tomorrow ( 23rd Oct) for a special phone-in session to talk about my favourite topic: Menopause!

I’ll be sharing advice, answering your questions and offering support to help you navigate this journey. 🌿 Whether you’re experiencing symptoms, supporting a loved one or just want to know more, tune in and join the conversation! 📞

📅 Date: 23rd October 2024
⏰ Time: 2pm- 5pm
📻 Station: BBC Radio Wales, Afternoon show

Got a burning question? You can call in and ask live! I’d love to hear from you and offer any advice I can.

I'm passionate and excited about bringing women's health into the spotlight and supporting each other with sharing knowledge and understanding. 💪✨

10/10/2024

🌟 What an incredible evening at Penarth Library’s Thrive event! 🌟

I had the pleasure of giving a talk on Busting Menopause Myths, and it was so inspiring to connect with such a passionate local community focused on health and wellness. 💪💖

A special thank you to Foothills Reflexology for sharing your amazing insights into reflexology and reiki, and to .thompsonwrites for our chat about all things Dawnstalkers and cold sea dipping 🌊❄️—such a fantastic way to test your limits and connect with nature!

It was also wonderful to finally meet the lovely team behind MenoPals Sully and learn about the incredible work they do supporting women navigating menopause in Penarth and Sully. 🦋

Feeling grateful to be part of an event with this vibrant community and the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences. 🙌🌿


thompsonwrites

07/10/2024

🪷 Exciting News! 🪷
I'm thrilled to be hosting a talk at the Thrive: Health and Wellbeing Showcase on busting menopause myths! 💫✨

Join me for an empowering evening dedicated to breaking down misconceptions, sharing essential knowledge, and promoting health and wellness as we navigate this important life phase together. 🙌💕

📅 Wednesday, 9th October
🕕 6 PM
📍 Penarth Library

This Thrive event is all about healing, positive vibes, and connection, and I'm honoured to be a part of it! Whether you're experiencing menopause or just want to learn more, come along and be part of a supportive, inspiring community. Let's chat, connect and thrive together! 🌿

15/06/2024

Fantastic day talking about menopause and how to thrive through these challenging years. So proud to be sharing the day with so many of my talented Aneurin Bevan colleagues 🫶

29/05/2024

🌟I’m very excited to be offering two workshops on menopause at this years Everywoman Festival. 

🌟If you haven’t heard of it, the Everywoman Festival is an incredible one-day event at the beautiful Insole Court in Cardiff, focusing on everything related to women’s health across the generations.

🌟The event is packed with seminars and workshops, combined with art, music, food and drink. It's an absolute bargain at just £20. See below for some useful discount codes.

🌟The event will be a wonderful opportunity to explore a wide range of topics and empower yourself with practical knowledge and advice.

My workshops:

🔥Menopause & S*x – prioritise your pleasure

💡The Truth about Menopause & Weight gain.

Both will be an introduction to menopausal challenges with very practical advice for how to thrive through these life changes.

Hope to see you there!

STUDENT24 - will give you 100% off a youth ticket if you would like to bring your children to the festival

NHS24 - will give 25% off a ticket for any NHS workers

UNI24 - will give 25% off to university students

18/12/2023

Fezolinetant, also known as Veoza is a new drug that has just won approval to be used in the UK 🙌 It is effective against hot flushes and night sweats and is NOT hormonal. Its very exciting to have another option in our non-hormonal armoury💪. There is a significant number of women who can't or for various reasons choose not to take HRT. Hot flushes can be horrendous and affect most women going through the menopause, so it is great to have more options for treating these vasomotor symptoms. There are other non-hormonal medications that we already use in this situation. These tend to be medications such as antidepressants that have been found to also reduce the frequency and severity of hot flushes. The drawback is they often aren't effective in all women and they do come with other side effects. It will be very interesting to see how Vezoa performs in practice and exciting to have another option to use. My understanding is it's going to be significantly cheaper than the £430 per month cost quoted in the article, but I should know more in the next couple of weeks.

24/11/2023

I had the honour of being able to join last night, to talk all things menopause. I strongly believe that in order to thrive through the perimenopause, menopause and beyond, you need two things. You need access to up to date and evidenced based information, so that you can decide how you want to approach your menopause and make choices that are right for you. Every woman also needs her tribe. That group of people that help you feel understood, no longer alone and make your belly ache with laughter. You can swap tips and bear witness to one another's challenges and successes.

Last night was all about being part of that tribe, sharing information, listening to others' stories, discussing how to overcome obstacles and leaving feeling positive and empowered. A huge thank you and well done to for organising such a fantastic event. It was wonderful to meet so many fantastic women and be part of your group for an evening 💖

23/11/2023

Really excited to be speaking tonight at Rhoose library for the Social Menopause group! All credit to Nicola for her excellent organisation, will be great to finally meet face to face and have a good chat about all things menopause!

Organised chaos here today. Putting together the information packs for the free support meeting later with guest speaker .menopause.doctor. Thanks for the resources .divine
Excited for later 💙💛💙💛

18/10/2023

World Menopause Day is today, 18th October! It's a time to celebrate, take stock and look to the future. Its a chance to celebrate midlife women for everything they are and all that they are achieving.

On a personal level, if you've been battling with symptoms due to the perimenopause or menopause and you've finally found your groove and got your self back. It's time to feel good, look at how far you've come and celebrate what you've achieved.

If this is all new to you, you're wondering what the hell is going on or you're really struggling with the day to day and wondering where to turn. Now is the time to get more information, talk to friends, use trusted online resources or speak to your doctor. I've included a link to a symptom checker on my website, which can help give some clarity over what you might be experiencing.

The theme for this year is cardiovascular disease. Globally, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and disability in women. Unfortunately, our risk of cardiovascular disease increases after the menopause. The good news is, there is lots you can do to reduce your risk. HRT can even also help. Positive steps that can help to keep your heart healthy include:

❤️ Not smoking
❤️ Doing regular physical exercise
❤️ Healthy eating
❤️ Getting enough sleep
❤️ Managing stress
❤️ Maintaining a healthy weight

28/09/2023

I was really excited to contribute to Menopositif: Cara dy hun drwy'r Newid Mawr (Menopositive: Love yourself through the Big Change). This book, the first menopause book in Welsh, will be available through Welsh bookshops in the next few days or you can head to https://cara.cymru/siop/ to purchase direct. Diolch

20/09/2023

I was honoured to be invited to contribute to a piece being run by on and the petition being raised by Becci Smart to improve awareness and education of the condition.

What is PMDD?
It is a mood disorder that is cyclical and related to the menstrual cycle.
Symptoms are present during the luteal phase, this is the time between ovulation and leading up to the menstrual period. Symptoms usually resolve within a few days of menstruation beginning.

When does PMDD begin?
PMDD can begin at any time in a woman’s reproductive life. For some women this can be from their very first period, for others it can start in the perimenopause.

What are the symptoms?
Symptoms include mood and emotional changes such as: anxiety, feeling depressed, irritability, anger, thoughts of su***de, feelings of hopelessness or overwhelm.
Cognitive symptoms such as: difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly also referred to as 'brain fog'
Physical symptoms including: breast tenderness, food cravings, changes in appetite, sleep disturbance, joint pains.

Why is it important to raise awareness?
- PMDD is common, affecting 5-8% of women in the UK.
- Severity varies from person to person but PMDD usually causes causes significant distress to those who experience it. It causes relationship problems, mental health difficulties and can make it hard to function.
- Those with PMDD can struggle to get a diagnosis and therefore access to effective treatment.

What to do if you are worried about PMDD or want to know more.
- Watch tonight's ITV Wales News
- Head to for symptom checkers and more
- check out the petition being raised by Becci Smart to raise awareness and education for health professionals on PMDD https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/245513