Scots nurse shares her struggles on 'horrible' menopause that led to early retirement

Katy Kennedy's menopausal symptoms rapidly spiraled out of control forcing her to take early retirement from a job she cherished.

A Glasgow mum and retired nurse has shared her experience with depression and the "horrible" symptoms she faced during menopause.

When 60-year-old Katy Kennedy first began experiencing menopausal symptoms, they were mild, and she could even "have a laugh" about them with her colleagues at work.

As her symptoms worsened, they became unbearable, eventually leading a heartbroken Katy to take early retirement after 34 years as a nurse at Glasgow’s Yorkhill Hospital.

Desperate for relief, Katy tried everything, including visiting her GP for hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a treatment that helps many women. Unfortunately, it had no effect on her symptoms.

Speaking to Glasgow Live , she said: "I had the usual perimenopausal symptoms and working in an environment predominantly women, it always starts off as a bit of a joke and it's a laugh when you’re having hot flushes and making fans out of paper towels to cool down.

"But in my personal experience, my menopause symptoms advanced and the restless legs kicked in at night, I was having racing heartbeats and the flushes weren’t funny anymore. It was horrible.

"My hormones were all over the place and I was crying every five mins or getting grumpy. I'd gone to my GP and although they were great, they’ve got a standard response. They tried me with HRT and it just didn’t work for me. I was delighted I got some and thought 'this is going to fix everything' but it didn’t. I don’t know why, it works for thousands of women but it just didn’t work for me."

Over time, Katy's depression deepened, and she eventually had to call in sick, admitting she "wasn't competent to work in an intensive care unit." This led to the difficult decision of taking early retirement.

"I started to get quite depressed because I couldn’t alleviate my symptoms," Katy said.

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"I had to phone in sick for work because I knew I wasn’t competent to work in an intensive care unit. I ended up getting depressed because I wasn’t at work, getting any sleep, and I was making my family miserable. I went to the GP and they put me on antidepressants and they just zombified me.

"I absolutely loved my job and it devastated me having to take early retirement."

Determined to find relief, Katy took matters into her own hands and began researching natural remedies. She discovered that magnesium is something many women, especially during menopause, tend to lack.

Katy decided to create her own magnesium cream. To ensure it was safe and effective, she enrolled in an aromatherapy degree program and took a course on safe cream formulation. After experimenting with many variations in her home kitchen, Katy eventually perfected the winning formula.

She said: "Nothing was working and I thought ‘I need to find a way that I could naturally combat this’ because although it was horrible, menopause is a natural thing. I thought there had to be something natural I could take that could combat these symptoms.

"I did a lot research and learn a lot of it was to do with blood pressure and the one thing we’re all lacking that’s to do with this is magnesium.

"I thought 'if could slept at night, I'll be a different person'. I learnt that putting a couple of essential oils on the pores on the soles of your feet is the easiest way to get magnesium into your body - through your skin. You put it on the soles of feet and calf muscles and it goes right into your blood stream, it regulates your blood pressure, and heart rate goes down. The first time I tried it, I slept for 6-7 hours. It just grew from there.

"I thought ‘there must be other women who are going through this’ and it all started from there."

Katy then shared the cream with her friends and family, who reported the same benefits for sleep and anxiety that she had experienced. She had the cream certified and officially launched LilyBee as a business, co-founded with her husband, Robert, and daughter, Lauren.

Since then, LilyBee's community has expanded, with viral TikTok videos e ncouraging women to share their menopause stories. This momentum has led the small business to launch its first Menopause Ambassador Program.

Katy said: "In our reviews and women getting in touch all the time, the phrases that are used are ‘game changer’ or ‘slept for the first time in a year, I can now cope’.

"Just knowing that makes me feel so emotional. I know how horrible my experience as and knowing you’re helping other women."

Katy is also passionate about encouraging better conversation around menopause and providing better support for women experiencing the symptoms for World Menopause Month in October.

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