“Menopause is not a problem to be hidden”

Joanne Lloyd, one of our public contributors behind our recent Let’s talk about the menopause event, blogs about how the day went for her.

I was really pleased to be asked to take part in the Let’s talk about the menopause community event with NIHR ARC West. I’d come straight from Bath after giving a presentation the day before, so I arrived feeling quite fired up and keen to keep the momentum going. I wasn’t nervous as such, but I did feel that familiar sense of anticipation, wanting to do a good job and do the subject justice.

I was presenting alongside another public contributor who joined us online, and I felt a real sense of solidarity in that shared experience. Knowing we were telling our stories together, in different ways but with a shared purpose, made the experience even more meaningful.

I got involved because menopause is something I care deeply about, both personally and through my wider work as a public contributor. One of the hardest parts of my own experience of menopause was not knowing what was happening to me. That lack of information meant I struggled for longer than I needed to, questioning myself and trying to push through rather than understanding that what I was experiencing was part of a natural – but often poorly explained – transition. From conversations with other women, I know this experience is far from unique.

What made the day particularly powerful was having clinicians in the room alongside public contributors. You could feel their passion, not just professionally, but personally too, and an openness in acknowledging that many clinicians will go through menopause themselves. That shared humanity mattered. It created space for learning in both directions, and I certainly came away having learned more myself.

The atmosphere throughout the day was positive, open and supportive. There were around 50 people in the room, which turned out to be the perfect number for meaningful discussion. Alongside lived experience, we heard clinical perspectives that didn’t shy away from the more difficult aspects of menopause, while also highlighting positive approaches and practical ways symptoms can be recognised, supported, and worked around. One clinician in particular brought a hopeful, balanced perspective that resonated strongly.

I was invited to talk about my own experience of menopause and respond to questions about what I’d found helpful or unhelpful, what I wished I’d known earlier, and what had worked for me. What struck me most was how much people related to what was being shared. You could see moments of recognition across the room, people connecting the dots, realising that what they or someone close to them had experienced suddenly made sense.

Being in the room wasn’t just about empathy. It was about recognition and realisation, understanding what menopause can look like, how it shows up, and what can actually be done about it. That shift matters, because it moves the conversation from sympathy to action: adjusting expectations, finding practical ways to support one another, and working around challenges in realistic, compassionate ways.

The creative elements of the day, including the zine-making activity, added another layer. They gave people space to reflect and express themselves differently, reinforcing that this wasn’t just about information, but about connection and shared understanding.

What stayed with me most was the impact on confidence. Feedback showed that people felt more able to seek support, speak to their GP, and start conversations with family members. That matters, because menopause is not something women should have to navigate alone or in silence.

These conversations also need to extend beyond women themselves. Menopause affects partners, sons and daughters, colleagues, and families. It’s essential that the wider public, including clinicians and men who will not experience menopause, are part of these discussions. Understanding leads to recognition, recognition leads to support, and support changes how people experience this stage of life.

I left the day feeling uplifted and hopeful. Events like this show how powerful it can be when lived experience, clinical knowledge, and compassion come together. Menopause is not a problem to be hidden. It is a shared life stage that all women will face in different ways. These conversations need to keep happening, across communities, healthcare, families, and society as a whole.