I had my first hot flash at 13 – it was the menopause
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I remember everything about the day I was told I was menopausal. The doctor’s office was hot and stuffy and had that heavily clinical smell only a GP surgery can have. My hands were clammy, and the words ‘please don’t say it’ were playing on repeat in my head.
![[Annabelle Gauntlett: Doctors said I had an eating disorder, but it was menopause at 13]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233740902-92ec-e1734608662851.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
And then the moment finally came. ‘You have premature ovarian insufficiency (POI).’ Said the doctor and with that, my mum (who’d been in the chair next to me) broke down. Her head fell into her hands as she cried, full of despair. She was fully aware of what this meant. As for me and my reaction? I hadn’t a clue what just happened.
![[Annabelle Gauntlett: Doctors said I had an eating disorder, but it was menopause at 13]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233740893-0f26-e1734608766135.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
I was just 15. I’d barely even started puberty but now I was being told I’d have to grapple with the fact that I was going through something that most women don’t experience until their forties. My life, my future, had changed irrevocably in an instant.
![[Annabelle Gauntlett: Doctors said I had an eating disorder, but it was menopause at 13]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233740906-76be-e1734608884372.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The symptoms first began two years earlier with hot flashes and my periods suddenly stopping. Now, as a 13-year-old, at first I was somewhat happy that my period magically didn’t come one month, and then the next and so on because they were excruciating. I would be in agony with awful abdominal pain every month.
![[Annabelle Gauntlett: Doctors said I had an eating disorder, but it was menopause at 13]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233740890-584c.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But after a few months, I began to get concerned as I just didn’t feel well. I confided in Mum and we went to see a doctor who, without running a single test, diagnosed me with anorexia and told us that my periods had stopped due to my lack of nutrition.
