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Home > Knowledge & support > Resource hub > “Menopause is a time in our lives when women are expected to get on with it, diabetes or no diabetes”
About three years ago, when I was 49, I started noticing brain fog. I’d have memory lapses and forget what I was doing. At work, I’d jump from one task to another because I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than five minutes.
I went to see my GP, who suggested HRT and started me on oestrogen patches. I’ve used a coil for around 20 years, which gives me progesterone, and that combination seemed to work well for me.
I didn’t have any worries about going on HRT as someone with type 1. I’ve lived with it for nearly 40 years, so it’s always there in the background and I get on with life. I’ve never noticed menopause symptoms or HRT affecting my glucose levels.
One issue I experienced, separate from my type 1 diabetes and not often talked about, is bladder leakage.
Around 2010, when I was working in a school, the kids asked me to go on the trampoline. I realised I’d leaked. It had been happening more often, and I knew I needed to do something about it.
My GP referred me for tests and I had vaginal physiotherapy. Unfortunately, I still experience leakage and it has a big impact on my daily life. I wear dark trousers and always carry spare clothes. My husband has been reading about bladder lifts, which is something I plan to discuss with my GP.
I now know that menopause can affect bladder control, so perhaps that was an early sign.
Menopause is a time in our lives when women are expected to get on with it, diabetes or no diabetes. It affects all of us, so I’d like to see it talked about much more openly.
I’m quite fit, I cycle around 50 miles a week and play tennis. But I do have what’s often called a “menopause apron”, that spare tyre around my midriff that won’t shift. I’d only recently heard this could be linked to menopause.
These are the kinds of things we need to talk about, so other women don’t suffer in silence.
I was diagnosed with type 1 when I was 12, so I grew up with endless injections and controlled eating. Around 20 years ago, my consultant suggested trying an insulin pump. I wasn’t keen on the idea of being attached to something, but I thought I’d give it a go.
Within a month, I knew I’d never go back. My HbA1c, my average blood glucose levels, dropped dramatically. I didn’t realise how unwell I’d been without it.
I keep my pump in my bra. My colleagues are really supportive and don’t bat an eyelid with me pulling my pump out of my bra. It’s never bothered me, I’m practical and I adapt my wardrobe so my necklines are a bit higher.
Three years ago, I started using hybrid closed loop. It felt like the natural next step when my pump was due for renewal.
For the first few weeks, I kept correcting it myself, even though it was auto-correcting. This meant I was going low. I quickly realised that I had to trust it and let the algorithm do its job. If you keep interfering, it won’t learn properly.
It does take time to trust it, but once you do, things improve quickly.
With HCL, it’s all on my phone. I see all the graphs and data. Everything is there and I don’t have to think about it as much. You never stop thinking about diabetes, but it does take some of the pressure off knowing the system is constantly adjusting in the background.
The alerts can be frustrating, especially at night, but they’re also reassuring. My husband has the app on his phone too. He’s even called me while away on business to check in if his phone’s buzzed. It’s actually quite comforting to know he’s keeping an eye on things.
Most days I’m between 90% and 100% in range. Seeing that on my phone motivates me and tells me I’m doing something right.
My message to other women with type 1 approaching the menopause is that, for me, hormone changes didn’t affect my diabetes. That won’t be everyone’s experience, but it doesn’t always cause problems. If you’re worried, speak to your healthcare professional and take it from there. But from my experience, I haven’t noticed any impact at all.
Download our report exploring the needs of people over the age of 45 living with T1D.
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Our research is improving the lives of people with type 1 and making strides towards a cure. We’ll keep pushing until we make type 1 diabetes a thing of the past.
