Peri-Menopause and Voice Issues

Hot flushes? Tick. (Even more) sleep issues? Tick. Nocturia? Tick. Aching joints? Tick. Exhaustion? Tick, tick, tick. Irregular periods? Tick.

Yep, you guessed it. Claire is in peri-menopause. And it sucks. So much.

I have never felt so ill or so unlike myself.

But it didn’t occur to me that the change in my voice could possibly menopause related.

It didn’t occur to my doctor either, who fast tracked me to check for cancer. No cancer but also no answers either.

And I still have a voice that tires easily and is croaky most of the time.

Literally, I can be chatting to my girls and fifteen minutes later my voice is so fatigued it is making my whole self feel tired.

Don’t get me wrong. I was over the moon it was not cancer. Instead, the ENT thought maybe I had silent heart burn. I had heart burn during my pregnancy and there was nothing silent about it! And anyway, I know my body and I just knew that this was not heartburn. I did as I was told though and took Gaviscon. It did nothing and two weeks later my voice was as bad as ever.

Yesterday, it was particularly bad. Kind of as a joke, I wondered out loud to Gary that maybe it could be linked to the menopause.

So I googled it. And sure enough. There it was in black and white. Menopause, or peri menopause, causes voice changes. It is apparently the thing professional singers dread the most.

HRT seems to be the only option, although since Davina McCall got on the HRT bandwagon, there is a shortage of HRT in the UK right now. A supply and demand issue.

Anyway, I’m not convinced yet. That said, if anything will convince me, it’s this gruff, masculine voice of mine.

There is one thing I know for certain, though, and that is…

…THAT MENOPAUSE SUCKS!