I quit my job at 42 because I thought I had dementia – I was thrilled it was actually menopause, now I’m on a mission
AFTER suffering palpitations and struggling to remember her co-workers' names, one woman expected the worst.
Convinced she was about to be diagnosed with dementia, Lauren Chien was shocked to learn that her symptoms were actually those of menopause.
Lauren Chiren, 54, went on to find Women of a Certain Stage, an organization that seeks to "revolutionize the workplace for talent, equality, and success."
The entrepreneur spoke to The U.S. Sun about her initial diagnosis and how it changed her life for the better.
At the age of 42, Lauren had been working as a senior leader in financial services.
After being headhunted for the position, she found herself living a busy corporate life.
Read More On Health
"Everything has to run like clockwork so you're juggling multiple balls and I just found that to be a breeze, I didn't find a problem," she explained.
"I got to work really early, I'd go for a run and get to my desk by 7:30 am for my breakfast, and then I'd have back-to-back meetings all day until I went home to my son at night.
"Nothing was ever too much, I just really thrived at what I was doing."
Despite being "the type of person who could juggle a lot," Lauren eventually found herself struggling on a daily basis.
Most read in Health And Fitness
"I found myself suddenly unable to speak up in certain meetings," she explained.
"My throat would be so tight with anxiety I could barely squeak a word out."
The only female member on a team of 18, she described having to drink hot water to relax her throat muscles.
"One meeting in particular, I found myself holding onto the arms of the chair, watching the clock ticking down because my heart was beating out of my chest," she said
"I had no clue what was going on."
Lauren later discovered that she had been experiencing heart palpitations, and they weren't the only sign that something was wrong.
"I found I was really struggling to remember team members' names, people that I'd head-hunted, people that I'd hired to come and work for me," she said.
Ultimately, rather than be seen as weak and vulnerable, I left my job.
Lauren Chiren
"I would look at them and I would know that I knew them, I would know what work they were working on but I couldn't remember their names."
She recalled feeling worried and upset over her confusion as she struggled to continue with her work.
"I just found that my self-esteem, my self-confidence was being eroded away day in, day out," Lauren explained.
"Over the course of about 18 months, I got to the point where I actually thought I had early onset dementia."
Lauren explained that she felt panicked at the thought of voicing her concerns.
"Given it was quite a male-dominated environment and I was in my early 40s with a young child, I didn't feel like I could really be seen to be asking for help and support," she said.
"Ultimately, rather than be seen as weak and vulnerable, I left my job.
"I left thinking that I would have to use whatever time I had left to find a home for me to be looked after and to find someone else to bring up my son."
However, a visit to the doctor's office revealed the actual cause of Lauren's panic and confusion wasn't dementia after all.
I was the happiest menopausal woman on the planet.
Lauren Chiren
"He very quickly said to me, 'You have been through either premature or early menopause,' and [he] put me on hormone replacement therapy," she said.
"I felt like I got my life back in that one conversation with him, when he told me what what happened to me, I was touched with joy.
"I was the happiest menopausal woman on the planet and I thought, 'Right, I'm on a mission.'"
Lauren set out to learn more about menopause and set up a meet-up for women in similar situations to support each other.
Side effects of menopause
- Hot flashes
- Vaginal dryness
- Insomnia
- Mood changes
- Anxiety
- Memory problems
- Difficulty concentrating
- Headaches
- Weight gain
- Breast soreness
- Hair loss
- Joint pain
- Fatigue
- Dry Skin
For a full list of symptoms, visit Mayo Clinic.
"We contacted a local charity, and they gave us premises and hot drinks and snacks, and then every month, we would run what I call a Menopause Social.
"It's just getting people together to talk about this thing called menopause because one of the worst things is feeling really isolated and alone and not knowing how to ask for help and support."
Through the Social, she was contacted by women asking her to come and speak at her workplace, and Women at a Certain Stage was born.
In addition to speaking at various companies and at panel discussions, Lauren has worked alongside the British Standards Institute and the International Standards Organization.
Working on an initiative called the Menstruation, Menstrual Health, and Medical Standards, she has helped to define the support a workplace should be offering to its female employees.
Despite these advances, Lauren acknowledged that some people are still hesitant to speak openly about the topic.
"I think there's a connection between menopausal and old," she explained.
"I think old is still seen as negative in some circles.
"I think that in the Western world, we've been brought up to believe that women have to look a certain way to be appealing and attractive, and men grow older more naturally.
If you told me 10 or 20 years ago that I would be standing on stage in front of thousands of people and say the words menopause or vaginal dryness, I'd have laughed my socks off.
Lauren Chiren
"I would love if we could change the rhetoric, change the narrative of menopause, and see it as an incredible opportunity to reinvent ourselves."
Lauren continues to educate herself on the subject, joking that if there is a course available she is already signed up.
"If you told me 10 or 20 years ago that I would be standing on stage in front of thousands of people and say the words menopause or vaginal dryness, I'd have laughed my socks off," she said.
"The reality is that the message I've got to share is bigger than me, and if I can benefit one person by doing any of those things, then I'm going to go and do it."
Read More on The US Sun
"That level of confidence was something that, although I had a very senior position at work, I'd never experienced till I went through all of that.
"So being on the other side of menopause is brilliant."
