Hi all
I'm also in a difficult predicament with work (see my thread on Femoston v Femseven for details!)
I saw an occupational therapist at work a little while back and she was quite supportive to be fair. Since then I started taking Femseven sequi patches however they haven't made any difference at all yet- not that I'd expect them to at this stage.
But, and this may be (probably is) a coincidence, I did get hit by a terrible, crashing depression with full-on suicidal thoughts about 4 days after applying the first patch (I'm not a person who has a history of mental health difficulties). Anyway, I ended up phoning the Samaritans because I was so desperate. They persuaded me to go to the A&E department where I was taken under the wing of the mental health crisis unit. Since then I have been given a short course of sleeping tablets along with an anti-anxiety pill for the mornings and a heavy duty anti-depressant (mirtazapine). Much as I hate to say this, I am feeling better (and calmer) now ... So I think these medications do have their place, but, as with HRT, getting the right combination can be difficult. I was given Sertraline by my GP for perimenopausal anxiety and it made me extremely agitated and disrupted even further my very poor sleep and concentration.
Anyway, returning to the OP's main point about menopause and work! All of this has led to me being signed off for another 4 weeks and I suspect that it's only going to add fuel to the fire of my employer who I'm pretty sure is eyeballing me for redundancy, despite anything the occupational therapist might say. The reality is I'm 'objectively' underperforming and I've been there less that two years, so I think that means they can pretty much do what they like.
Like others on here (Binbon2 - hello!), my work demands long hours, high levels of concentration and excellent memory. None of which I have anymore (or at least only in intermittent phases).
I really do think there needs to be greater awareness of menopause issues in the workplace. Most people (myself until two years ago included) tend to think the main menopause problem is hot flushes, but there's so much more to it than that. And yes, some (maybe most?) women get through it all without any major difficulties. But, as Michelemabelle, says for some of us it's a really debilitating condition which impacts on both the type of work we can do and on the amount of time we can spend on work in any given day or week.
So a big group hug to us all who are trying to get through this damn thing!
![hug :hug:](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/hug.gif)
It's great to have this forum where we can support each other and at least know that we're not alone in our experiences ...
S x