How many other women have been unknowingly suffering from the effects of perimenopause without realising it?

Five years ago, I thought I was losing the plot – spinning out with anxieties, aching joints, blurry vision, tinnitus and raging insomnia, not to mention increasing bouts of brain fog.

Visits to the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me (antidepressants anybody?) and I was told I was lacking in iron.

Because my periods were still regular, (if slightly heavier as I was in my mid-40s), there was no question of me being menopausal. Even older friends I talked to about it said I was way too young to be thinking about it…

So why did I feel like I was slowly shrinking inside of myself and feeling like a shell of my former self.