“I had an ovary removed due to a cyst aged 41, a few months later I started suffering with severe anxiety and insomnia. I was treated for many months with antidepressants. I started to gain weight, had no lust for life or any desire to be intimate with my partner. After a particularly bad panic attack around a year later I begged the GP to check my hormone levels.

My FSH was over 100 and very low estrogen levels. I finally started HRT and within a few months I felt like me again. I wanted to spend time with others, I lost weight and started to enjoy life again. The icing on the cake has been starting testosterone, following another battle with the GP!

I now have a fulfilling relationship again and I cannot stop preaching to friends of the benefits of HRT. I have taken on a new role in my work- I am a nurse, and now do the HRT reviews to hopefully help other women. Not all women have the expected hot flushes, I thought I was losing my mind.”