'Menopause has been misdiagnosed, misunderstood and misappropriated,' Cork summit hears

On Friday afternoon, broadcaster and menopause campaigner Mariella Frostrup said: “Menopause has been misdiagnosed, misunderstood and misappropriated.” 

She spoke about how she “blundered into the menopausal space” despite being keenly aware of women’s rights and issues.

“I’ve been a feminist all my life and campaigned for women’s rights and to find myself facing a black hole of ignorance was really quite embarrassing. How did this happen? How did I get here?

“If I had known in my late 40s that the reason I was crippled with anxiety and having terrible insomnia was because I was perimenopausal, I wouldn’t have felt I was going crazy, I wouldn’t have questioned my own sanity," she said.

Frostrup, who was born in Norway and moved with her family to Ireland when she was six, is also the author of Cracking the Menopause: While Keeping Yourself Together and chair of the British-based Menopause Mandate.

Taking such a public stance on menopause has come at a personal cost.

“In the three years since I started seriously campaigning, I only got asked to do one commercial job", noting a drop from around 30 a year.

Aged 60, she sees menopause as a “liberation”.

In a way, it gives you a sense of power and a sense of self-belief that perhaps you didn’t have when you were younger… Women are imbued with a confidence at this stage of life.” 

Summit co-founder Sinead McNamara spoke about her experience of brain fog during the early stage of menopause.

“I was worried it was early onset dementia,” she said, adding that HRT helped “to make all the difference”.

The menopause is often a sweaty, exhausting business but humour can help to take the edge off it.

GP and lecturer Sumi Dunne's quote from Beware the Menopause Fairy drew loud laughter and applause: "At first she steals your figure, then she steals your sleep, next your mood, your patience, your eyesight and finally she eats your brain."

But the tone soon shifted when Dunne got down to the basics. Perimenopause and menopause “can be long and tortuous” and last up to 12 years, she said. Women often ask ‘Where’s the old me’ and “feel like a bag of cats.” 

"I needed a list for lists,” she said.

Along with HRT, Dunne suggested lifestyle solutions such as cutting back on caffeine and alcohol, dressing in layers – nylon uniforms are a no-no – and comfort packs in workplace toilets.

She suggested vaginal oestrogen (Vagifem) for vulvovaginal atrophy, which can lead to painful intercourse, urgency to pass urine and frequent UTIs. It was a recommendation repeated throughout the day.

“Doctors can talk sex,” she said, encouraging women to be open with the GPs about the impact of their depleting hormone levels.

Some 650,000 women are affected by menopause at any one time, 419,000 of whom are in the workplace, said Katie Ridge, head of employer relations at Adare HRM.

Drawing a comparison with pregnancy legislation, she asked why there is no protection for women experiencing menopause.

“Up to 60% of women who experience menopausal symptoms report they have had a negative impact on their work,” she said. “And 12% left employment early.” 

“At a point when women are within touching distance of a senior position, their bodies are going through menopause, and they feel very alone,” she said. “There’s no support or space [in the workplace] to talk about it.” 

Pointing to the lack of risk assessment for women going through menopause, Ridge added: “Employers have a duty of care in relation to the workforce.” 

Linking menopause to the “medical and private sphere,” she said, “fails to address menopause as a workplace issue.” 

Joanne Healy, head of group employee relations at Bank of Ireland, wants to put an end to the culture of shame that often prevents women from talking about perimenopause and menopause.

“A policy is only as good as its implantation," she said, adding that it needs buy-in at all levels.

Proving that HR is not just about recruitment and payscales, the company’s chief people officer Matt Elliott wore a ‘meno-vest’ - it simulates hot flushes – to work.

“It was enlightening for him,” said Healy. “But women can’t take off the meno-vest".

Menopause HUB CEO and founder Loretta Dignam got personal about menopause from the get-go.

“I found it lonely, challenging and difficult to navigate,” she said. “I thought I should power through it because strong women power through.” 

She met menopause expert Dr Deirdre Lundy who prescribed HRT and “got my old self back”.

Citing a large 2023 THM study, she said, "87% of women still think menopause is taboo”. And “80% want to see a menopause policy in the workplace”.

She asked attendees – including male allies - to join the menopause revolution.

“Our daughters and the generations to come cannot be silent like our mothers and grandmothers,” she said. “We have to do this together.” 

Other speakers at the menopause masterclass included Dr Caoimhe Hartley, clinical lead of Rotunda Hospital Menopause Clinic and founder of Menopause Health; Dr Karen Soffe and Dr Brenda Moran, joint clinical Leads at the Complex Menopause Clinic CUMH, Aveen Bannon, founder of the Dublin Nutrition Centre and Dr Samantha Cushen registered dietician, UCC.