Kristina Svensson slept badly, was worried, sad and began to lose words – no one understood that it was the menopause.
Now she wants to combat ignorance and has ensured that employees within Partille municipality are trained about the menopause.
– You need to talk about it more and there needs to be more knowledge, she says.
Kristina Svensson did not understand what happened to her when she ended up in pre-menopause at 47 years old.
– I had trouble sleeping, became sluggish, had brain fog in my head, was at a loss for words, I felt sad and didn’t recognize myself at all. I also had physical symptoms, aches, excruciating pain under my feet and sought help for this, she says.
Thought she was demented
It took 1.5 years and several doctor’s visits before she met a district nurse who cracked the code and told her that it was just menopausal symptoms.
– I was very surprised why no one has said this. You need to talk about it more and there needs to be more knowledge. I thought I was demented or about to have exhaustion syndrome.
“Now we talk about it in every workplace”
In her work as head of culture and leisure at Partille municipality, she has now ensured that the employees can attend menopause training, because the mood also affects the workplace.
– I often speak in front of people and feeling so stupid and slow-thinking and not finding the words was very difficult. And then when you wake up several times every night and can’t get back to sleep it’s clear that it affects work.
Kristina says that the training has made women dare to go to their managers and talk about how they feel.
– Now they talk about it in every single workplace. And not just this rabidly jokey, but that you can actually talk about it.
The chief physician: “Hormonal treatment extremely effective”
Kristina felt better after just a few days of hormone therapy. It is a controversial treatment that has worried many as it has been believed that estrogen increases the risk of breast cancer. But the chief physician and gynecology professor Angelica Lindén Hirschberg says that they have much more knowledge today and that it is now easier to ensure that the patient receives safer treatment.
– A large group of women, approximately 30 percent, have such severe symptoms that they desire an effective treatment, and then hormone treatment is extremely effective. New knowledge comes all the time and we have a lot of data today that supports that if you are otherwise healthy, but have severe symptoms and start the treatment close to your last period, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, says Angelica Lindén Hirschberg.