Menopause is a part of women's health that many believe is not openly talked about enough. Many women going through menopause struggle to open up about what is happening to their body or feel ashamed to talk about the topic.
ITV morning show This Morning is working to change this stigma and help make sure that women never feel ashamed. On Wednesday, July 27 they parked up a huge double-decker bus in Cardiff, which was hosted by famous Welsh presenter Carol Vorderman, to help raise awareness.
Carol, who is known for her time on Countdown and as a panellist on Loose Women, spoke candidly and openly about her experience with menopause. Talking outside the menopause bus in Cardiff Bay, she said: “I’ve been through some of the worst symptoms of it...I didn’t have any physical symptoms but I started, when I was probably about 53, 54, to get anxiety for the first time in my life which then developed into a very deep depression."
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Helping to raise awareness for the menopause, which affects all women, Carol explained how there was very little help out there when she went through the menopause. She said: “It is only over the last five or six years that women have not been told to be quiet or to degrade themselves in a sense…it is a very serious issue...nobody, nobody, not in the NHS, not anywhere was talking about how that could be resolved very simply.”
Using her own experiences Carol urged women going through the menopause now to speak out and find help and support. She said: “It is all very curable, it is all very doable, that is the point really...Should I feel ashamed? No!... You shouldn’t feel ashamed, it is just your body changing, that is it! Fix it and live your best life.”
"Talk about it. It’s not depressing, it is actually I think a very positive thing that there is all this help...You can change it. You can do away with all the horrible symptoms and crack on with your life.”
Carol spoke about how HRT, hormone replacement treatment, helped her with her menopause. She said: “Within 48 hours I literally went from the deepest darkest depression to feeling fine…for some women it will take longer but that was just how it was for me.”
Also at the event were professional pharmacists Hannah and Matthew, who work in Boots pharmacies. Both gave great advice and encouraged women to never feel ashamed.
Matthew said: “Don’t feel like there is a stigma behind it as well, it is natural, every woman goes through it so don’t feel ashamed or anything like that. It is completely natural.”
They want to encourage women to talk to their friends and family about what they are going through. Women should also never feel awkward or ashamed about going to a pharmacist for advice about the menopause.
Matthew added: “I would say talk to somebody so either talk to friends…talk to others that are going through the same thing and pop along to a pharmacy and the pharmacists and the help desk staff are more than equipped to help with any questions.”
“It is definitely better not to bottle it up, it is definitely better to tell loved ones, friends, and family about what you are going through.”
Members of the female running club She Runs Cardiff, Vicky Knappett, and Deb Collins were enjoying the event. Vicky, who is 46 and from Hereford, believes women should be "out and proud" about going through the menopause.
She said: “I just think having a great big girly bus in the middle of Cardiff is a really good thing. People never used to talk about it enough, people would kind of hide it at work and things like that and really we should just be out and proud about women with hormone changes because it is natural.”
Deb, 58 from Cardiff, echoed Vicky's thoughts. She said: “I think talking about it, sharing, making it less of a taboo subject is quite a thing nowadays and it is fine to admit you might be struggling with it…I think it is wonderful that they can drive a bus into the middle of the Bay, have women turn up and chat and normalise it because it is very normal.”
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