by Gina Broadhurst, 47, co-owns a company with her husband Simon, 52. They live in Surrey with their daughter Genevieve, 11 and son Sterling, 10. For five years she battled perimenopause symptoms with including anxiety, exhaustion and memory loss, before starting HRT and deciding to give herself a new challenge.
Going to bed after another exhausting day at work, I put my face into the pillow and sighed. I had no idea why I needed to cry but as the tears flowed, it felt like a release.
I was so sad. tired of being tired, tired of being angry all the time, tired of feeling like a second rate version of myself. I couldn’t put my finger on why I was crying but this had been going on for months. What on earth was wrong with me?
Until my early forties, I was the picture of health with no real illnesses. I had a busy job in advertising sales but a supportive husband and two lovely children. Life was pretty good.
But around 41 years old, I began to suffer severe headaches, a pressure that was driving me crazy. Painkillers didn’t help and I was also exhausted. I could sit in a chair and fall asleep within five minutes. I felt like an old lady in a nursing home.
Dealing with memory loss
When I went to see my GP, I told her my symptoms and she ended up writing ‘TATT’ on my notes – ‘Tired For Life’. She did a blood test to see if it was menopause but because these blood tests only detect if you are in menopause – not perimenopause – the results did not give any correct answers. My doctor said my symptoms were probably due to work stress. I had to slow down.
I began to suffer severe headaches, a pressure that was driving me crazy.
I walked away feeling disheartened that I had no answer. My symptoms got worse. I started forgetting words – very simple things like ‘chair’ or ‘cup’. I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn’t recall the word and I was worried I was getting early dementia. My joints started to get worse, my skin developed rosacea and I even started getting spots – something I never experienced even as a teenager.
Of course, I know now that these are all classic signs of perimenopause but at the time, I had no idea. Even as little as seven years ago the discussion of menopause was not what it is today. I simply thought I was going mad.
My symptoms got worse. I started forgetting words – very simple things like ‘chair’ or ‘cup’.
I quit my ad sales job in 2018 and joined my husband in his business which made things a little easier. But the symptoms continued. The rage I had was affecting me. I would fly off the handle at the most insignificant thing.
Starting HRT
Things came to a head at the end of last year when I contacted my GP and said: “I can’t deal with this anymore, I feel like my mind is going crazy and I need something do something!”
I was previously told I couldn’t take HRT because of a rare blood disorder which means I’m more likely to get blood clots. I discovered this when I was trying to get pregnant and I was still under the gynae team at the hospital. But it was when I was talking to a new doctor on that team that I found out that I was allowed to have HRT, but not certain types, so I was put on patches that contained estrogen and progesterone.
I couldn’t believe it. Finally, I might be given something to relieve the symptoms. But for one reason and another – including missing my referral from the hospital staff – it took me over five months to get the prescription. That’s why I approached the GP full of rage that day, telling the surgery that I was literally going to ‘sit in’ if they didn’t get me that prescription right away.
I started HRT earlier this year and the change was almost immediate. My headaches improved, my mood improved, I no longer felt like I was walking around in cotton wool.
The GP agreed that something was wrong and would help me get the HRT as soon as possible.
I started HRT earlier this year and the change was almost immediate. My headaches improved, my mood improved, I no longer felt like I was walking around in cotton wool. I began to find my words again. My skin was getting better, my joints didn’t hurt. I also started taking other supplements like collagen and menopause vitamins and my confidence came back. I felt more at ease with myself.
A talented new project
A month later I was chatting on Instagram with the regional director who runs the Miss Surrey pageants. I jokingly said something like this to her: ‘I’m about 20 years too old for you’ and she replied saying: ‘No, you’d be great for the Classic Division where there are older women .’
He planted the seed of an idea. I decided to ask three people – my mum, my husband and my sister – if I should do it, fully expecting them to say no. But they were not. My sister’s response really worried me. She lost her husband to brain cancer and said to me, “Yes, take every opportunity to do what life throws at you” so I decided to enter Miss GB. I created a live video series on Instagram called Live For Now to help women like me feel more empowered and confident.
Miss Great Britain is not about being the prettiest woman but being the best version of you and after being so terrible for so many years, this is the message I wanted to convey. I spent my early to mid forties feeling like a shadow of myself so I wanted to prove that it was never too late for anyone to shine again.
I spent my early to mid forties feeling like a shadow of myself so I wanted to prove that it was never too late for anyone to shine again.
I decided to invest some time in ‘myself’. I have never even been on a catwalk so I hired a coach to help me present myself to the audience and judges. I threw myself into fundraising for charity and even abseiled down a building and climbed Scafell Pike to raise money.
I did a lot of work on my own self-confidence, including imagining myself winning. I would buy myself little things like necklaces with crowns in hopes of showing victory.
The big day
But going on stage in October in a theater full of 600 people was still terrifying. I remember standing backstage in the wings wearing a gold jumpsuit, watching the other women walk out and thinking, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’
The competition takes place over two days and involves not only clothes and fashion but also interviews with a panel of judges. The moment I dreaded – the swimsuit round – was one of my favorite moments. There were women of all ages and sizes – a woman in her 80s with pink hair and a Muslim woman in full modest dress. It was very liberating. Only a year before I was worrying about even leaving the house. Now I was strolling in a bikini in front of strangers.
It was still scary to go on stage in October in a theater full of 600 people. I remember standing backstage in the wings thinking, ‘What have I let myself in for?’
On the last day when my name was announced as the winner, I could hardly speak because I was so shocked. But what made me most happy was the look on my children’s faces. I could see them in the audience. They had invested so much in ‘mummy’s new hobby’ that they went completely nuts when I won. I was over the moon.
Spreading a positive message
As well as the crown and title, I won a £500 travel voucher, a £1000 voucher to spend on an aesthetics clinic and a photoshoot. But for me, it wasn’t about the prizes. It was about doing something I never thought I would do, getting out of my comfort zone and having one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
I have done what I wanted to do, which is to show other women my age that life is not over when you hit perimenopause.
I now hold the title until next October and will be appearing at events such as switching on the local Christmas lights. It’s all in good fun and I don’t take myself seriously. The kids love it when I put on my crown and ‘Queen Mode’ is activated.
But I did what I had to do, which is to show other women my age that life is not over when you hit perimenopause. But it is important that women recognize what is going on with their bodies and insist that doctors listen to them and get help. This stage of life can knock your confidence but it doesn’t have to be – and I hope I have proof of that.
