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Agneta Sjödin: "I couldn't be going through menopause, I was too young"
Written by:
Sofi Persson
After experiencing a very difficult menopause herself, one of our most popular presenters, Agneta Sjödin, wants to help raise awareness of how transformative this period of life can be for many women.
Agneta Sjödin was 49 when a series of physical and psychological changes began to affect her body, without her initially understanding why. Severe hot flushes, mood swings, weight gain, and skin changes were just some of them.
“I was completely unprepared for any of this to be related to the menopause,” she explains with a smile. “With my slightly whimsical view of the world, I thought it might be about energy shifts or something similar. When a friend suggested it was probably the change, I was almost offended! I associated the menopause with old ladies, and I was too young to be going through it.”
“I didn’t recognise myself”
Agneta has always tried to eat healthily and live an active lifestyle, focusing on running and strength training. But when her menopausal symptoms were at their worst, her entire life was affected, and everything felt like a struggle.
“I would sweat a lot at night, which meant I slept poorly, and my mood was incredibly affected. When I exercised, I’d have these intense sweating attacks, which made working out feel awful. I’d never had skin problems before, but suddenly I had a lot of acne. My body was changing too, and in the end, it was as if I didn’t recognise myself in all this newness – it wasn’t me anymore, just some tired old woman.”
But once Agneta accepted that it was indeed the menopause that had arrived, she quickly got help, thanks to her gynaecologist who was well-versed in menopausal issues. She started hormone therapy.
“The hot flushes disappeared almost immediately, and it took a few months for the other symptoms to subside before I started to feel like myself again. Before I saw my gynaecologist, I had no idea that hormones could be so effective, and I’m incredibly grateful that I received the right treatment so quickly.”
Initially, she took a combination pill (oestrogen and progestogen), but today she uses oestrogen gel and spray along with a hormonal coil, which releases the progestogen locally in the uterus.
“I’ve had very severe PMS in the past, and I found that the tablets containing progestogen weren’t ideal for me. I feel much better with the combination of the coil and the gel/spray instead.”
“We all have a responsibility to talk about the menopause”
It’s perhaps not surprising that Agneta didn’t know much about the different treatments available for menopausal symptoms. At that time – which was only about three years ago – the menopause wasn’t widely discussed, let alone what could be done about the various issues, something she now regrets.
“I often think about all those years with my severe PMS and how I wish people had talked about such problems more openly when it was at its worst for me. That’s why I feel that, having gone through a difficult menopause myself, I have a responsibility to talk about it now. By being open and sharing my story about the menopause and how it affected me, I hope I can help other women understand what’s happening in their bodies and know that they are not alone with their symptoms. I hope all women dare to – and have the opportunity to – seek help for their symptoms, because no one should have to feel the way I did at my worst,” she concludes.
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