A mum says menopause symptoms in her 30s turned her into a "loose cannon" - but doctors misunderstood and told her to "quit her job" and "have a glass of wine"(Image: Jane Pangbourne/ SWNS)

'Doctor told me to have a glass of wine after I started getting menopause symptoms in my 30s'

A GP apparently said Jane must have been having "problems in her relationship" after she recounted the symptoms she had been suffering from.

by · The Mirror

A mum who started going through the menopause in her 30s has shared her story after doctors allegedly dismissed her symptoms and told her to just “have a glass of wine”. Jane Pangbourne, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, first started to notice changes in her behaviour at the age of 37.

She would suddenly feel angry, experienced a dip in her libido, started having panic attacks at work, and couldn't solve problems. One one occasion her anger was so bad that she threw a chair at her husband Roger.

Following this incident Jane went to a GP and says she was was told there must be problems in her relationship and to “have a glass of wine”. Suspecting it could be perimenopause (the transition into menopause), she asked for HRT but was told she was too young and there was a huge breast cancer risk.

Eventually, aged 41, the mum-of-two was given the hormone treatment - and after years of heartache, she felt better within just three days of getting the right meds two years later.

Jane, now 57 said: "It was heartbreaking. I suffered for so long and the medication I needed was really simple.

Jane was told she was 'too young' to be menopausal. Jane and Roger pictured in 2001 before she became balanced on HRT( Image: © Jane Pangbourne© SWNS)

"When I eventually got the right HRT I was better within three days. I remember Roger just said, 'Oh, you're back.'

"My daughter said I'd been manic and unpredictable and suddenly I was calm again. I just didn't know what was wrong with me for years. I felt totally miserable but there was nothing to be miserable about.”

She recalled how she had gone from being “totally in love” with her husband to being “angry and upset” all the time. Jane continued: “I wasn't at all interested in sex. He wanted to make things better but I just wasn't interested.

"It was very frightening. None of us knew what was going on. My periods were irregular. I used to travel a lot for business but started having panic attacks and anxiety attacks when I was driving on the motorway.”

Jane would also get red faced and sweaty and have heart palpitations. These were so bad that she’d have to stop driving. "All this is really common for perimenopausal women but I didn't know this at the time, lots of women don't,” she said. "I just felt like a loose cannon, but I knew I wasn't mad.

"I thought maybe it was some kind of burn out. I asked the GP about menopause but was told I was too young. Women can go through menopause at any age.”

Jane is now a HRT educator, via her business Menopause Not Mad and has written a book entitled 'I Choose Menopause', which was published in September.

Jane recalled how she suddenly felt angry, was sexually uninterested in her husband, Roger, now 58, started having panic attacks at work and couldn't solve problems( Image: © Jane Pangbourne© SWNS)

She has also started a petition on Change.org calling on the Government to make a standard leaflet available at every GP surgery, with info about symptoms and management of menopause.

The petition has amassed 35,000 signatures in just five weeks, since Jane started it on October 6. "I just want the government to fund production of a leaflet which GPs can give women so I can save other women from suffering like I did," she said.

She added: "It's quite basic information that women need - women aren't stupid and can work it out for themselves if they're given the right information - but women going through menopause are being missed time and time again.”

According to the NHS, symptoms of the menopause can include:

  • Changes to your mood, like low mood, anxiety, mood swings and low self-esteem
  • Problems with memory or concentration (brain fog)
  • Hot flushes, when you have sudden feelings of hot or cold in your face, neck and chest which can make you dizzy
  • Difficulty sleeping, which may be a result of night sweats and make you feel tired and irritable during the day
  • Palpitations, when your heartbeats suddenly become more noticeable
  • Headaches and migraines that are worse than usual
  • Muscle aches and joint pains
  • Changed body shape and weight gain
  • Skin changes including dry and itchy skin
  • Reduced sex drive
  • Vaginal dryness and pain, itching or discomfort during sex
  • Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs)
  • Sensitive teeth, painful gums or other mouth problems.