Myra West, 53, from Gravesend in Kent, still remembers how much her mother Marie suffered throughout her perimenopause and menopause years. With that in mind, she was determined to not endure the same fate. So, at the earliest signs of her own perimenopause, truck driver Myra started taking microbz women probiotics, and managed to avoid the worst of the symptoms that she knew lay ahead ahead. Here, she tells her story…
Mum was in her mid forties when she started getting perimenopause symptoms, her most debilitating symptom was that she would have heavy, heavy periods. She had always had regular periods up until her perimenopause but that completely changed. She would leave the house in Gravesend for work wearing the biggest tampon, as well as the biggest sanitary towel, but by the time she had arrived at London Bridge Station, less than an hour later, she would be flooded with blood. I remember her telling me that she was so embarrassed. Not even wearing the tampon and pad together was enough to cope with just over an hour of bleeding.
In addition to this, she started putting on weight, as time passed, she’d gained well over a stone, maybe even two stones. And then there was the brain fog and the low mood; this manifested as not talking, there would just be no talking at all, so communication became difficult. There may have been other symptoms too but we didn’t talk about them – it was mostly the heavy periods she told me about because they had the biggest impact. And sadly, my mum has passed so, I can’t ask for more details now, but it was a difficult time for her. Before and after the menopause she had lived a normal life, she was very high up in the NHS and worked full-time until her retirement.
During those menopause years, mum got on with things as best as she could, but it was a struggle, and I really didn’t want to go through the same thing. I think I first realised that I might be entering perimenopause around 2018, I was in my late 40s, a few years older than mum was when she started getting menopause symptoms. The major sign for me was my irregular periods, like mum, I’d always had regular periods up until then. The length between each period got longer, then it would go back to normal, then suddenly it would be six months without a period, then normal, and then maybe three months until the next one. Although the periods weren’t super heavy all the time like mum’s, I didn’t want to get to that stage. At this point, the only other obvious symptoms were bloating and low mood, it wasn’t depression, but just feeling miserable at times.
Saying that, it isn’t always easy to know what is related to menopause, I put plenty of headaches, tiredness, stress, and difficulty sleeping, down to just feeling under the weather or thinking it was work-related. It’s not like you ever sit and read about what’s going to happen when you hit menopause, no doctors, or anybody else, tells you what's going to happen, you just get on with things and then at some point you realise you’re going through it.
However, once I did realise, I was keen to get ahead of any further symptoms. A year into the irregular periods a friend of mine recommended microbz, she explained that it was a British company, that the products had billions of cultures in them, and she thought the probiotics were much better than anything you can buy in the shops. The price was very reasonable and you could get a subscription so you didn’t even have to go to the shops. I’d already heard that probiotics were good for menopause symptoms, that there was a link with the gut, and I’d also heard about the link between dementia and bad gut health. So, I decided to get some microbz women.
That was five years ago, and I haven't stopped taking it since. I can honestly say that it has helped me swerve the majority of perimenopause symptoms. My bloating stopped shortly after I started on Microbz probiotics, and while my periods continued to be irregular for another six months before they stopped, the low mood didn’t get any worse. I did start getting some hot flushes and suffering from low libido once I had hit menopause but everything has been manageable, and I haven’t suffered from any other menopause symptoms. I feel so lucky having had such a smooth transition during my menopause years, I saw just a bit of what happened to my mum, and I can only put my own positive experience down to Microbz.
I take it as soon as I get up, on an empty stomach before breakfast, and it’s just become a part of my daily routine. The liquid form is easy to take and it’s inexpensive – so I would recommend Microbz probiotics to anyone who is going through the menopause, but also to women who are not at that stage of life yet, to preempt symptoms and get your gut in good shape well in advance.
Then back up the Microbz probiotic with plenty of healthy prebiotic foods. I have five portions of vegetables every day, I have plenty of fruit, and I eat yogurt and granola with chia seeds and flaxseeds for breakfast. I do like the odd donut every now again – it’s all about moderation, but taking Microbz is an easy way of doing something good for your gut; and also preparing and tackling your menopause symptoms.
