Menopausestuff: such a difficult subject and we don’t talk about it do we?

Hi! I’m going to explore this whole menopause thing. I’ve been dealing with some of the symptoms for around 10 years and I haven’t spoken out before. I know a lot of people find that HRT solves their problems, and I’m genuinely pleased for them. That’s great news. But what about the people who can’t, for whatever reason, go down that road? 

I’ve decided it’s time to explore some ways to get reliable information, and look at some of the non-prescription treatments people use to manage their menopause symptoms. Things like hot flushes/flashes, anxiety, aches and pains and feeling ‘foggy’. And I’m hoping other people will share their experiences too.

I’ve been trying out a few supplements, too early to say yet whether any of them work but they were recommend by a FB group I joined recently. One is CBD oil, a brand called ‘Meno’. You’re meant to take a few drops before bed to help with hot flushes/flashes in the night and anxiety. And I’m also trying a supplement called 5-HTP that someone recommended. I’m considering another supplement called maca root too and Omega supplements. All this alongside finding ways to keep my blood sugar levels stable, another reason that people have hot flushes. 

Pleasure riding, mindfulness and me

As I set off on Ned for my first Pleasure Ride this season at Church Farm, Coombes on the South Downs, I felt the weight of my winter depression lift and float away into the puffy clouds of that perfect summer day. I’d struggled with the short days of a particularly harsh winter, managing Ned’s chronic mud fever and juggling the challenges of the work-life balance. Running a small business, looking after two ponies, as well as training a lively German shorthaired pointer puppy certainly took its toll. I’m also, apparently, at a stage in my life when anxiety is a common companion and can frequently affect sleep and quality of life.

At some point in the depths of winter, in a particularly dark moment, I downloaded a Mindfulness app called Headspace. Each day, for ten minutes, a lovely man called Andy helped me to concentrate on my breathing, noting my thoughts but letting them drift away, helping me to switch off from all my anxieties and just be – in the moment. It was immensely calming, a lifeline. 

What helped as much, though, was my daily interaction with Ned. Being middle-aged, rather like his rider, means that he needs to be kept fit and active throughout the winter if he’s going to manage our summer outings to EGB events. He’s not the cuddliest of horses on the ground – he can be a bit nippy, especially when changing rugs, and – to be honest – he really doesn’t like being touched all that much either. 

However, Ned has a real zest for life, unaffected by his 21 years. He loves to work – and he’s certainly never a boring ride (a tendency to spook keeps his rider alert at all times). I have to admit, there are some days when I feel just a tiny bit apprehensive about setting out to hack on my own but once I’m on board this gradually disappears and the sense of euphoria that takes its place by the end of the ride is immensely addictive.

Without fail, at some point in the course of each and every ride, there’s a moment when that horsey Mindfulness works its magic. I become aware of being in the moment, and I feel so thankful to be alive, to be out in the beautiful Sussex countryside – even if it’s blowing a gale and pouring with rain. I also feel immensely privileged to be able to work from home so that I can fit this little bit of horsey Heaven into my everyday life.

Which brings me back to Pleasure Riding. Around four years ago, I met Jan and her delightful pony Sparky. Sparky has only one eye, which doesn’t bother him a bit. Sparky and Ned immediately hit it off so Jan and I had no option but to carry on the acquaintance. Shortly afterwards, Jan acquired Cody and Ned likes him almost (but not quite) as much as Sparky, so that’s OK. They live a little too far away to hack with regularly – and there are busy main roads to negotiate at both yards. So, meeting for the brilliantly organised Endurance GB South East Pleasure Rides – mainly on the South Downs – is a perfect solution. I’m not a good navigator (as Jan will affirm) but the rides are exceptionally well marked. 

The sense of freedom and space – as well as an awareness of the beauty of the place – that we share when we meet for a ride is difficult to put into words. We’ve witnessed some wonders of the natural world, including close-up aerobatic displays by a pair of Red Kites on the top of Findon that seemed to have been perfectly timed as we passed; listening to skylarks; spotting orchids close to our path; and, of course, the unspoilt panoramic views on the top of all our South Downs adventures. It’s become a bit of a standing joke between us that we have to keep stopping to take pictures as we go. Sparky, in particular, objects to this. 

Of course, we also do a lot of talking. We once added nearly half an hour to a ride because we were just too busy catching up to notice we’d turned the wrong way out of the starting gate at Plumpton. But, without fail, there are moments on each ride when we both fall silent and just become aware, in the moment, of the power of the horse to heal us.

Power naps – is it ok to have a doze at work?

OK, I admit it – I’m a great fan of afternoon naps, especially if I’ve had a few nights of poor sleep. For years, while I juggled bringing up three children under four-and-a-half with building up my copywriting business, it was my survival strategy. Despite years of broken nights and early mornings, I managed to continue to work around the chaos and exhaustion, with my secret weapon being a daily 20-minute snooze after lunch, at the same time as many office workers were taking their lunch hour. Nowadays, with a more peaceful home office and a fast-growing business, I don’t always take time out; however, following recent research showing the many health benefits of napping, I’m tempted to reintroduce it into my working day.

Feeling tired during the day isn’t unusual. According to the National Health Interview Survey, as many as one in three of us sleep six hours or less each night, with sleep deprivation being linked to psychological problems including depression. Tiredness has also been shown to increase the number of calories some people consume following a bad night’s sleep, according to research from King’s College, London. However, having even a short nap has been shown to help our mental, physical and emotional health, and even to reduce the risk of dying from heart disease.

Many people use caffeine to keep themselves alert during a long working day, especially around 3pm when there’s a slump in productivity. However, although caffeine is fine in moderation and can temporarily make you feel more awake and energetic, too much can cause side-effects including anxiety and digestive problems as well as muscle tremors. Having caffeine late on in the day can also mean your night time sleep is disrupted.

Whether or not we actually feel tired, for most people our reaction time, memory and alertness is reduced in the middle of the afternoon. In Latin American countries, the Siesta is built into the working day, enabling employees to wake feeling refreshed so that they can feel more alert as they return to work later into the (cooler) evenings.

How long?
The National Sleep Foundation recommends a short nap (20-30 minutes) to improve short-term alertness and performance, without feeling sleepy afterwards. This is backed up by a study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) that showed just 30 minutes of napping could reverse the effects of a sleep-deprived night, as well as reducing stress and strengthening the immune system.

Research carried out by Matthew Walker, a psychologist at the University of California Berkeley, suggested that the timing of the nap was also important, with the optimum time being after lunch.

Having a longer nap has been shown to help improve the ability to remember facts, faces, and names. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggested that people who took an hour-long nap after lunch did better on mental tests than those who took shorter or longer rests, or didn’t nap at all.

Napping at work
There’s plenty of advice about how long we should nap without it affecting the quality of our night time sleep but, in the end, taking any sort of break from our desks isn’t always possible. Whether we can take a nap or not is likely to be down to whether we work from home, the culture of the company that employs us, and whether or not our surroundings are peaceful enough to make it possible.

Airline pilots and air traffic controllers already benefit from sleep breaks during their shifts because of evidence showing the negative effects of sleep deprivation on decision making. Examples where sleep deprivation has been a factor in poor decision making include the Chernobyl explosion, the Exxon Valdez disaster and the loss of the Challenger space shuttle.

A number of organisations, particularly in the United States, including Uber, Google, Ben & Jerry’s, Procter & Gamble, Facebook, and PwC, have already recognised the positive benefits of napping in the middle of the working day; these include healthier staff and increased productivity in the afternoons. They’ve developed a culture where it’s acceptable to nap in specially designed rooms or Sleep Pods which block out noise and light and which have a timer so no one oversleeps.

Top tips for napping

1. Clear it with the boss!
2. If you’re short on time, keep naps to between 15-20 minutes
3. Find a quiet place where you’re unlikely to be disturbed
4. Switch off/silence your mobile phone and other devices
5. Practise deep breathing to help yourself to relax

Do we need to call ‘time’ on alcohol in January?

If you’ve over-indulged over Christmas, you might be struggling through a ‘dry January’ and wondering whether it’s really going to improve your health. So what’s the current advice on alcohol? And how can we reach a ‘safe’ level without feeling we’re missing out?

The answer seems to be that, although there may be little harm in having the occasional drink, there is in fact no ‘safe’ level of alcohol that applies to everyone because our bodies respond to it in different ways.

A good starting point is the Department of Health’s recommendation that men and women should drink no more than two to three units a day (or 14 spread over a week), and should have at least two alcohol-free days a week. There is more information about this at patient.info.

The physical effects of too much alcohol include:

• Liver disease, stroke, osteoporosis (thinning bones), reduced fertility, stomach ulcers and heart disease
• Increased risk of cancers including breast and throat cancer
• Weight gain, poor skin, insomnia and sexual problems

Alcohol has an impact on mental health, affecting judgement and causing mood swings, as well as disrupting sleep patterns and making people feel more anxious. There is also a strong link between alcohol and depression.

When does enjoying a few drinks become a ‘problem’?
There’s no easy answer to this because most people who drink more than is recommended don’t notice any effects at first, beyond the occasional hangover. It can take a number of years for the damaging effects of alcohol to be noticed – and by then they can often be serious.

Drink problems or alcoholism?
Most people who have problems with alcohol aren’t alcoholics – defined as people who are addicted to drink and are unable to control their drinking – they just drink more than is recommended.

Lower risk drinkers, who stay within the Department of Health’s guidelines, are at less risk of health problems, although there is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol for everyone and drinking any alcohol can obviously be dangerous if you are driving or operating machinery, pregnant, supervising children or taking part in energetic activities including swimming.

Men who are classed as ‘higher risk drinkers’ regularly drink more than eight units a day (or 50 a week) and women more than six units a day (35 a week). Having this level of alcohol  means these people are three to five times more likely to get cancer of the mouth, neck and throat and up to 10 times more likely to develop liver disease. Men increase their risk of high blood pressure by four times and women by at least twice, and women are around 1.5 times more likely to get breast cancer.

Steps to successfully reducing your alcohol intake include:

• Cutting down on how much you spend on alcohol each week
• Gradually reducing the amount you drink over a period of time
• Letting friends and family know
• Switching to lower strength drinks
• Using smaller glasses
• Giving your body a break from alcohol for at least two days each week
• Drinking plenty of water alongside your alcoholic drink

You should begin to notice benefits straight away, including:

• Feeling less tired
• Losing weight
• Finding it easier to get going in the mornings
• Feeling more positive and energetic
• Sleeping betterCutting back over a longer period means you’ll have a healthier heart, stronger immune system, and better long term health.

Getting help
If you’re worried about your health, or would like more information about how to cut back, arrange to see your GP as soon as possible. The Drinkaware website also offers advice, support and personalised help.

If you think you may have a drink problem and need support, Alcoholics Anonymous offers a national helpline where you can talk to someone about your drinking, a questionnaire to help you decide if you need help, and advice about how to live without alcohol, ‘one day at a time’.

http://www.lewis-barned.com

 

Gastroscopy – the good the bad and the ugly

Sometimes it’s good to experience a procedure from the raw end. It can help you to have empathy and compassion as a health writer, particularly as much of our work is aimed at patients who are thinking about having some type of procedure/surgery. For some months I’d had the feeling of having a lump in my throat, especially when I swallowed. Before my appointment for a gastroscopy, I had been thinking that I would look upon it as a project, as a learning experience, try to remain positive and recognise how fortunate we are to have such an amazing NHS to treat us. In all my other experiences of tests and procedures, staff have been overwhelmingly kind and have gone to great lengths to prepare me both mentally and physically for what is to come. Unfortunately this wasn’t my experience this time but of course it’s the exception that proves the rule…
It was last thing on a Friday afternoon and I overheard the nurse telling another patient that they carry out 40 gastroscopy procedures each day so what did I expect? Well, firstly I had expected to be able to bring a friend or relative with me, at least into the waiting area; and only when we arrived did we discover that this wouldn’t be possible. Not a great start for me as I was already dreading the procedure and had hoped David would distract me while I waited.
Then I was asked by the nurse whether I’d come for a colonoscopy. Not a great next step – luckily I knew the difference!
When I’d been offered the appointment, earlier in the week, I’d been given the choice of having a light anaesthetic or being fully conscious with a throat spray during the procedure. The description by the appointment booker made it sound so quick and simple if I avoided the anaesthetic that I chose the latter. I don’t normally mind medical procedures, I’ve had three children with minimal pain relief (one born at home) and consider myself to be reasonably tolerant of pain.
It wasn’t quick, at least the wait wasn’t. After two hours, growing increasingly anxious – I just wanted to get it over and done with and get home – I was finally taken to the procedure room. It was dark inside with just a bright light over the bed and there were three people; the nurse I’d seen when I arrived who had checked my notes in the waiting area; another assistant; and the doctor who was carrying out the procedure who didn’t introduce himself to me beforehand.
I was asked to leave my coat and bag on the chair and to lie on my left side. I was given an anaesthetic spray to swallow and fitted with a ‘mouth guard’ to keep my mouth open during the procedure. The patient information booklet I’d been sent in advance described the diameter of the gastroscope as ‘less than that of your little finger’ but it seemed an awful lot bigger than that to me, perhaps closer to the diameter of a very large man’s finger, which was rather unnerving. Anyway, the first gastroscope was faulty – luckily this was discovered before it was inserted – but this seemed to create a certain amount of tension in the room. The doctor told me to shut my eyes and relax…
My gag reflex is, I discovered, particularly good. Unfortunately, at this point, my whole body went into panic mode and the nurse noted that my blood pressure and pulse were rocketing. I was reminded to ‘breathe’ and then to ‘breathe more shallowly’, but it was hard to focus on this while I was gagging so much.
The procedure seemed to last forever, as the gastroscope was pushed further down into my stomach/duodenum. Finally, it was brought back up and I found myself lying there, feeling completely traumatised and shaking for some minutes.
The good news, and what I’d hoped for so much, was that they couldn’t find anything worrying. Of course, this is what matters most and being told straight away was very reassuring. The doctor said he had no idea what had caused my symptoms. He asked if I was an anxious type of person (he could be forgiven for believing I am, based on my reaction to the procedure!). However, I’ve since been told it’s much more likely to be due to acid reflux.
Unfortunately, during what for me was a very traumatic experience, I felt a distinct lack of compassion from the healthcare team around me. There was no small talk to put me at ease either before or after the procedure; no gentle explanation of how I might feel or a strategy to deal with any feelings of gagging; no sense of real concern about the way I’d felt; and I really did feel like a number passing through a clinic – to the extent that when the doctor passed through the ward following the procedure he totally ignored me.
So how would I summarise this experience? ‘Clinical’ probably best describes it in a single word. And, if there’s ever a next time, well ‘knock me out’, at least then I won’t notice that no one wants to engage with me.

Abreast of feeding

Abreast of Feeding

We’ve all be told at some time that Breast is Best – but no one said it was going to be easy, did they? It may be the most natural thing in the world but when, like me, you’ve searched for your baby’s Rooting Reflex, teased him with your Areola and sat agonisingly waiting for the Let Down Reflex to do its stuff, only to leap through the roof when he finally Latches On, you wonder whether it’s all worth it…

For the first ten weeks of Alexander’s life I dreaded every feed. I didn’t have much time to dread them, though, because his idea of a feed was to be permanently latched on. Somehow I didn’t find the professional help I needed in the first few days – over the busy Christmas and New Year season – and by the end of the first week my baby was choking on blood from my red raw and cracked nipples.

Apart from the embarrassment of creeping round Boots, searching out every brand of nipple cream on the market, there was the added agony of watching other new mothers painlessly popping their babies on the breast every four hours, where they sucked contentedly and dropped off to sleep in between. That was always how I had imagined it would be – but Alexander and I just couldn’t get it together.

When even the electric milking machine – kindly loaned by the midwife – began to despair of me (and oh, the indignity of watching your whole breast disappear down a glass tube!) and Alexander still refused to put on weight, I was persuaded to top him up with formula milk. The doctor explained, “Not everyone can breast feed and in the old days either your baby would have died or you would have found a wet nurse”. Thus feeling defeated, exhausted and very weepy, I agreed to offer Alexander the bottle which he took to immediately. I couldn’t help seeing the whole dilemma as battle to be won, even though I knew no one else was judging me but myself.

So, not to be defeated, I carried on breast feeling, sitting in agony for hours while Alexander stimulated my breasts.

In the tenth week I finally went to see an NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor who had hitherto been a tower of strength over the phone. Within minutes she had diagnosed the problem – Alexander wasn’t latching on properly. Overnight my life – and his – began to change.

It wasn’t by any means an easy transformation, but little by little he took more from me and less from the bottle. Soon he was spitting the rubber teat out with disdain but still managing to put on weight. By the time he was three months we’d got the whole business down to a fine art.

At nearly a year, Alexander is still a breastfed baby. It’s all very easy these days and in fact it’s proving difficult to persuade him to take a cup, which presents its own problems. I am convinced Alexander has the largest collection of trainer cups in the world and I have nightmare visions of waiting at the school gates at dinner time in a few years’ time, ready to unbutton my blouse so he can have a drink! Sometimes I get impatient at his slowness in thus weaning himself from me – but I know I’ll miss it when he does.

The office bitch is good for your health. We took the test…

We have an office bitch; the furry kind, of course, with long ears and a cold wet nose. As freelance healthcare and medical copywriters, we take our own advice; and that includes having some extra paws about the office which, according to a study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management, is good for your health. Researchers found that dogs boosted the morale of staff, as well as reducing their stress levels.
Maisie, a German Shorthaired Pointer (or GSP for short), joined us last year at the age of eight weeks and spent her early months learning about what the job involved. Just over a year on, we agree that having a canine associate has been good for our health and here are five reasons why:

1. A dog is always available to stroke. This helps to reduce blood pressure and makes us feel good by raising our levels of oxytocin.

2. Maisie was keen to be involved in all aspects of freelance life, including helping with those mundane chores that homeworkers quickly realise are there to replace sociable breaks by the coffee machine.

3. We now have an office comedienne. Psychologists believe that laughter is the best medicine, helping you feel better and reducing stress levels. She’s a great listener and frequently adopts expressions that make it difficult to take yourself too seriously.

4. We are fitter and healthier. Maisie is a German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP), a high-energy dog requiring around two hours of exercise a day – no matter what the weather is doing.

5. We’ve learned about Doga, a new trend that’s becoming popular in the UK and is said to have beneficial effects for both dogs and humans (although she manages the postures better than we do).

Although she’s employed as a canine, we’re not sure she always sees things that way. She likes to be treated as a colleague during working hours, and she can often be found catching up on the latest doggie news…

A little piece of Heaven in Handcross, West Sussex

 

 

It’s a fact, according to mental health charity, MIND, that getting outdoors and into nature can improve our mental health. So, after one of the coldest and wettest Springs on record, I asked my mother and my daughter to join me in putting the theory to the test. And we discovered that visiting a beautiful garden that you haven’t had to weed yourself, followed by a lovely cup of tea, is wonderful therapy.

We didn’t have to travel far. Just up the road from our village, in the middle of Sussex, tucked away off an unassuming road, lies a little piece of Heaven called High Beeches Garden. It’s taken me a number of years to discover, despite having lived close by, but I’m now smitten and have a Season Ticket so that, every once in a while, I can escape from the madness of everyday life into this oasis.

We spent the afternoon walking along the well kept paths of the gardens, stopping every so often to sit on one of the benches and admire the stunning, far reaching views. We found wild flower meadows, woodland, and open sunny spots along with all the plant treasures you would expect from acid soil still in full bloom. And at the end of the afternoon, when we were beginning to tire, we discovered that just inside the entrance is one of the best spots in the whole of the 25 acres. So that is where, at the end of a Sunday afternoon, having walked amongst the ancient oaks, waterfalls, and brightly coloured camelias, azaleas and rhododendrons, we were able to sit companionably and quietly reflect as we looked across the perfectly laid out gardens towards the South Downs.

 

Meadows, birds of prey and more…

Meadows, brimming with wild flowers and buzzing with bumblebees, are a quintessential part of the British countryside. However, their dramatic decline in the UK has led to a massive reduction in the number of insects, flora, small mammals and birds.

Tucked away in the heart of the High Weald of Susssex near Handcross, however, there’s an opportunity to see one of the best natural acid wildflower meadows in the country in full bloom at the delightful High Beeches gardens. The meadow is set amongst 25 acres of spectacularly beautiful gardens brimming with rhododendrons and azaleas, magnolias, primulas and other flowers in full bloom.

And if you happen to be free to visit this Saturday 15th June there’s also a falconry display with an opportunity to see peregrine falcons and kestrels at work, and have a go at flying them yourself.

Tea as a life saver

Last Friday we hosted a tea party which raised £1,100 for The Eve Appeal’s Make Time for Tea campaign. They’ve been raising money to fund research into ovarian cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer death in women, which accounts for more UK deaths than all of the other gynaecological cancers put together. Over 6,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year in the UK and 4,400 will  die. However, the good news is that if diagnosed at an early stage, the prospects of a positive outcome are improved.

When an email came through a few months back inviting me to host a tea party I thought, why not? After all, it seemed like a good excuse to see a few friends, catch up on news, and drink lots of tea and support a good cause. So I decided to phone round a few companies to see if they would help me raise money but I was totally unprepared for how incredibly supportive everyone has been, including over 60 friends who were prepared to come along and support us…

Special thanks then to the following companies:

Tregothnan Teas in Truro for providing a selection of their wonderful products
South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding for supplying us with their delicious scones
Rodda’s of Redruth for delivering fresh individual portions of clotted cream
Auntie Val’s of Storrington for buckets of their irresistible strawberry jam
Lulu Gilland for lending us cups and saucers and kind neighbours who lent tables and chairs
and Sainsbury’s in Haywards Heath for supplying a voucher for milk and sugar.

Other businesses supported the tea party by donating fabulously generous raffle prizes. So, many thanks to:

Ascot Racecourse for two pairs of tickets
Rhubarb Catering for two tickets to Gallery Mess at the Saatchi Gallery
Hillier’s Garden Centre in Horsham for a stunning plant
Jeremy’s Restaurant at Borde Hill Gardens for a meal for two
Ocado, for supplying a £50 voucher
Jenny Fitzgerald for a generous bottle of whisky
High Beeches Gardens for a season ticket
Tulley’s Farm for a wonderful fruit hamper