I am a 46 year old women. I have been having trouble with sleep now and again. I feel terrible when I wake up and then feel a little bit better as day goes but feel very tired. The doctors keep saying it's depression and I have just started anti depressants. My mum was 45 when she went through menopause and her mum was 43 so I wondered if it can be menopause? I had blood test done last November and nothing showed up then but should I have another blood test as the tiredness been worse for about two months.

For some women the hormonal shift as they approach the menopause can cause low mood or depression and a lot of doctors would prescribe anti-depressants for this.

Unfortunately, a number of women find that they don't help. The blood tests are not always accurate as they depend on your hormone levels on the day so you can be in the menopause and the test can come back negative, it may be an idea to ask your doctor to do another test now. Also, low iron, low thyroid and low vitamin D can cause low mood/depression so I would ask your doctor to test for these just to rule them out.

Menopause age is often hereditary so it is possible that you are approaching it, not all women get hot flushes etc and some women don't actually realise that the symptoms they have are menopause related! If you feel that your doctor may not listen to your requests (which does happen!) then it may be an idea to take along a female friend or relative for support, make a list of all that you want checked and write down what the doctor says they are going to do for you, very often this approach works!

In the meantime you may find a fermented soya supplement helps, this is traditionally used to help gently raise/balance oestrogen thus reducing symptoms. Acupuncture can often be really helpful for this too so worth looking into.

Eileen Durward