When her symptoms began in her late 40s, Williams, from the Wychavon area, said doctors she saw initially thought she had depression.
“I had multiple attempts on my life, two significant ones, one where I was in a wheelchair for three months for polytrauma, and this was in Covid, so there were no visitors. I had no contact with anyone,” she explained.
“I had to leave my job. This was at perimenopause time. My message to women is that, menopause is not the danger zone, it’s the run up, it’s the 45 to 54.”
For Williams, who said she was “unrecognisable” before her diagnosis, it was HRT which eventually helped her, but she said it may not be for everyone.
The drug, which isn’t suitable for some women, tops up and stabilises oestrogen levels, sometimes in combination with a synthetic or bioidentical version of progesterone.
Williams is set to speak about her hard fought menopause diagnosis at Meno Fest at Worcester Rugby Club on 7 October, external, as part of Menopause Awareness Month.
The free event is being held with the aim of helping people to gain greater understanding of how perimenopause and menopause can affect every aspect of life from physical and mental health to relationships, work and family life.
Williams told the BBC of how isolated she became during the “run-up” to menopause.
“I lost my job. I didn’t see my friends, my family for three years and I was a recluse. I was self neglecting. And my son, who was in his teens, I probably saw him three times,” she explained.
“He had leave his school and his friends and he had to go and live with his dad because he couldn’t see me. I couldn’t care for him.”
It was also important that men recognised what was happening to women during perimenopause, she added.
“I think men need to come into the conversation as well, and I’m not just talking husbands and partners, I’m talking sons,” she said.
“It was devastating and there’s relationships that have been broken that will never be put back together. I’m very sad about that.”
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