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- A 30-year-old woman has described her agony after going through menopause at 27 and having a hysterectomy.
- Jess Ní Mhaoláin, 30, a civil servant from Cork, Ireland, struggled in her early 20's with endometriosis before learning she was experiencing early menopause.
- While all her friends had kids, Jess had to come to terms with her life-changing condition, but she now educates others via her social media.
A woman has shared her agonising experience of going through menopause and a hysterectomy at just 27 years old.
Jess Ní Mhaoláin, 30, a civil servant from Cork, Ireland, struggled in her early 20's with endometriosis before learning she was experiencing early menopause. Further complications also meant she had no choice but to undergo a hysterectomy.
Becoming one of the youngest to go through the condition and the procedure, Jess quickly learnt she'd never have children.
While all her friends had kids, Jess had to come to terms with her life-changing condition, but she now educates others via her social media, explaining what happens during menopause and how it doesn't just affect women in their 50s.
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Jess explains: "I had a lot of health issues going on, and it happened in the middle of when all of my friends were having kids and getting married. I was sitting there thinking, how will I explain to a future partner I can't have kids?"
The 30-year-old says she still does not have a concrete reason why she started menopause so young, adding that she was told it was a mix of endometriosis and "premature ovarian failure".
"I went to a specialist in London following a friend's recommendation as I'd already had three surgeries on my womb and was left bed bound. I was on a lot of painkillers, and I knew I was out of treatment options in Ireland.
"I remember the consultant in London told me I had one follicle, and a woman my age should have 15. I'd need to have six for IVF."
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Jess says it felt like her world had crumbled around her when she received the diagnosis.
"I'd been in hospital in Ireland for three weeks in the lead-up and was told everything was fine, and then in London, it was completely different. I still don't have words for it all.
"I was given three options, but the only real option that would give me the best quality of life was to have a hysterectomy. I didn't think that would be an option. I thought this consultant could just cut out the endometriosis.
It was a difficult decision, but Jess says she knew the "hysterectomy was the only thing that could give me any sort of quality of life."
"I now have post-menopause, but I still have all the symptoms such as hot flashes, brain fog, fatigue, and mood swings. I noticed I was really angry and agitated, the type where I would just fly off the handle with anything before crying two minutes later. I also had anxiety, aches and pains in my knees and elbows, as well as numerous kidney infections.
"I take HRT to balance my symptoms -- if I don't take it, my body feels like it's a lot older than what I am, and it's a horrible feeling when you're only 30. My body has gone through what most women go through in their 50s, and it's very hard."
Jess says she felt isolated because most women around her dealing with the symptoms of menopause were in their 40s and 50s.
"My friends would be talking, but I just didn't have anything in common with them. I'd say, 'Oh, I nearly missed taking my HRT today', but it would be like being in a completely parallel universe.
"I bounced back physically quite quickly, but mentally it took around a year to process it all and for me to accept that at 27, I wasn't going to have any children and wouldn't be giving my parents any grandchildren. My parents didn't mind, of course, they wanted me to be healthy, but I feel guilty."
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Having come to terms with the changes to her body, Jess is now pain-free and moving on positively.
Moving to Dublin to start a new chapter in her life, she adds: "I had to reassess everything in my life, and I made some changes.
"I was left with my own thoughts and started to question everything I did, but it gave me a lot of time to think and do things I hadn't done in years, such as simply going for a walk which I couldn't do before."
While she still has her bad days, Jess says she tries to focus on the positives.
"I could only fit in maternity clothes before as my stomach was so swollen from the endometriosis. Sometimes I wonder why this happened to me, but if you focus on the bad, you won't get out of bed. I'm now mentally stronger.
"Covid and being in lockdown forced me to get my head around it all, but if I didn't bounce back after my surgery, it would have been a waste."
