A woman has spoken out about her decade-long torment that left her plagued by horrific menopause symptoms despite multiple visits to a GP.
Aline Boblin even phoned the Samaritans after being misdiagnosed by medical professionals for 10 years.
The 54 year old began suffering symptoms ranging from tension headaches to heart palpitations around ten years ago.
While she didn't know at the time, they were linked to menopause.
Aline, who is originally from France and has lived in Solihull for more than 20 years, was forced to leave her high-flying job in IT which saw her fly around the world from Australia to the US.
She has since become a high-profile menopause campaigner and appeared on ITV's This Morning.
AIine runs Transformation in Action CIC , a social enterprise helping others going through similar ordeals.
She told Birmingham Live : "I started going to see my GP because I wasn't sleeping and was feeling generally down.
"I had brain fog and headaches. I suffer from migraines but they were not migraines. They were tension headaches which are hormone related."
The duration and severity of menopause symptoms vary from woman to woman but, Aline said, GPs often fail to pinpoint when symptoms are hormone-related.
She explained how this leads to some being diagnosed with mental health problems and placed on antidepressants.
"God knows how many times I saw my GP but it was a minimum of six specialists," she added.
"The symptoms are gone now. Thanks to HRT and lifestyle changes I'm fine on all those fronts. But I didn't link it to menopause at all until I got better.
"I had times when it was very bleak and then one time I derailed out of my life.
"I was having my happy career and happy life and I started little by little feeling worse, becoming more erratic at work and questioning my own abilities. I felt like I wasn't good enough."
Alongside her own community interest company, Aline now works in the community and voluntary sector.
She has adopted a butterfly as her logo and says menopause is "definitely a transition."
