Anna Timson, 38, Who Went Through Early Menopause At 17 Is Raising Awareness On The Devastating Impact It Can Have On Someone’s Life
Anna Timson was just 17-years-old when she was diagnosed with early menopause. She has, however, been taking contraceptive pills for the ensuing 20 years to help ease the crippling symptoms.
Now aged 38, Anna, from Warwick in the United Kingdom, is sharing her story to raise awareness about the condition that ultimately meant she’d never be able to conceive children naturally, Yahoo News reports.
Anna said she had normal periods when she was 14 and then when she was 16, she noticed they had become erratic and irregular.
The HR worker described her periods as ‘normal’ when she was 14, but began noticing they had become ‘erratic and irregular’ at 16.
“I would have to hang out of the windows in the classroom because I was so hot so the menopause diagnosis made a lot of sense,”
she told Caters News.
But Anna was initially diagnosed with a high level of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and immediately put on the pill. This regulated her periods and stopped the hot flushes and mood swings but after coming off the pill a few years later, her symptoms returned.
“When I eventually went back [to the doctor], they did blood tests which confirmed the menopause diagnosis.”
She was told by doctors to continue taking the pill to ‘mask’ her symptoms and she’s been on it ever since.
“If I’m not on some form of hormone replacement, I could get brittle bone disease which is why they want me to stay on it for now until I’m at the age where hormone replacements work.”
For Anna, who was a 21-year-old university student at the time, finding out she had premature menopause was heartbreaking.
“It was the worst possible thing I could have been told. It felt like I had had my future ripped away from me and I questioned why it had to happen to me before I had even had the chance to consider having children.”
Anna worried about what her future would look like now she had no say in whether or not she wanted to start a family.
“At that age, I hadn’t even considered having a family and that decision was taken away from me – it was devastating.
“I locked myself away for months and grieved; I went into complete shock and didn’t want to talk about it because, at the time, there weren’t many other people talking about it.”
Now, Anna wants to raise awareness for early menopause and the devastating impact it can have on someone’s life.
She regularly uses The Daisy Network, which is a UK charity offering information, advice, and support for women diagnosed with premature menopause.
“I think it’s a lot more spoken about and known about now and I’ve realised the importance of using my voice to speak out and share my story.”
But it hasn’t always been easy to open up. Anna recalls how her sister’s pregnancy in 2018 ‘opened up a lot of the trauma’ that she’s been through. She said:
“I finally sought counselling through the NHS and after six months, I felt ready to start opening up about it and now a lot of people are open to having the discussion.”
When Anna met her current partner Russell, 32, seven years ago she filled him in on her health journey immediately.
“I told him straight away that I couldn’t have children; I wanted to be honest with him,” she said.
They’ve had many discussions regarding their options for starting a family and even began looking into IVF after her sister offered to donate an egg.
While Anna is aware that the window for IVF will begin closing as she gets older, she’s proud of how far she’s come in terms of accepting her diagnosis.
“I was terrified people wouldn’t want to be with me and I wouldn’t find love because you think you’ll find someone, marry them and then have kids and I couldn’t do that.
“I feel like for the first time in a long time I’m at peace with the whole situation.
“I used to questions why it was happening to me but this experience has made me who I am today and if I can do something positive with it, I want to.”
ALSO SEE: Mum, Jennifer Bringle Who Went Through Menopause Before She Turned 40 Wants Other Women To Know This