Young, hot and bothered: going through menopause in my 30s | podcast

In 2017, Harriet Gibsone was a music journalist for the Guardian – working hard, going out lots, and just married. She was ready for her 30s, but not quite ready for a family.

Then, at 31, she started to experience symptoms she couldn’t make sense of: forgetfulness, mysterious mood swings and bouts of weeping, and being woken in the night by sudden hot flushes. The sudden bursts of aggression made her feel like Piers Morgan. Her world was crumbling – but nobody could tell her exactly what was wrong.

She tells Anushka Asthana the powerful and occasionally hilarious story of her search for a diagnosis, the battle to control her raging hormones, and a newfound quest to have a baby.

Anushka also speaks to Dr Lynne Robinson, a gynaecologist at Birmingham women’s hospital and council member of the British Menopause Society, about why menopause is belittled as an insignificant problem – and what can be done to improve diagnosis for younger women.

You can read Harriet Gibsone’s article for the Guardian’s Weekend magazine here.

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