Here, you can find any of the interviews on this site.
For Judy, the menopause started at 40 with a missed period and coincided with the onset of the autoimmune disorder Myasthenia Gravis. As well as irregular periods over the past 6 years, she has experienced hot flushes which have disrupted her sleep.
Judy is a senior lecturer. She is married with two teenage children. She started the menopause at age 40. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
Following heavy bleeding, Charlotte was referred to a gynaecologist and prescribed the drug Zoladex to induce the menopause. This led to severe hot flushes. Bleeding returned after treatment ended, however, and Charlotte is now considering a hysterectomy.
Charlotte is a university professor. She is married with two adult daughters. She started the menopause at age 47. Ethnic background/nationality: Welsh/Caribbean.
After a year of irregular periods, Eileen reached the menopause at the age of 56. Asthma, an underactive thyroid and a divorce in midlife have influenced her menopause experience. Apart from mild hot flushes in the past year she has had few symptoms.
Eileen is a finance assistant. She is divorced with three adult sons. She started the menopause at age 55 and had her last period at 56. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
Mary describes menopause as 'the most fundamental loss ending her hopes of becoming a mother. Her decision to take HRT to improve poor memory was 'like a miracle'. Withdrawal on doctor's advice after 5 years, however, saw a return of symptoms.
Mary is a self-employed charity consultant. She is married with no children. She started the menopause at age 46 and had her last period at 53. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
Frank retired as a Practice Manager in his 70th year. He likes to keep very active and has had a keen interest in playing bowls for many years. At the time of his interview, Frank felt he was sleeping well, but there have been occasions in his life when he has had some problems sleeping. He is very easy going and tries not to let things worry him too much, but does know that if he has some worries it may affect his sleep.
Married, two children, retired Practice Manager.
Stanley has been retired for nearly 30 years. Since his retirement he has had a major illness and an accident, both which disturbed his sleep, but he is now feeling a lot better and believes his sleep is improving slowly. He keeps himself very active, doing his own shopping, cooking and cleaning most of the time and believes it is important to keep busy during the day.
Widowed, three children, retired Dairy Manager.
Audrey feels her sleep has deteriorated a lot in the last ten years. She rarely gets more than a few hours a night, and a really good night would be when Audrey sleeps for 4-5 hours. She would really like to sleep longer.
Married, two children, Retired Office Administrator
William lives with his partner and has been retired for about 14 years. He likes to keep active by swimming four days a week and going to a gym class one day a week. He also attends art classes and is a member of a local literature club. William has noticed a change in his sleep over the last couple of years in that he finds he is having very vivid and sometimes difficult dreams. He notices he also has to get up now in the night because of cramp or to go to the toilet, which he never used to do.
William lives with his partner. He has two children and is a retired Chartered Architect.
Otto has been widowed for four years and has 2 children and one grandchild. Otto is a retired design engineer and was in the RAF during the second world war. Otto likes to keep active by walking a lot and also has an exercise bicycle. His main problems with sleep are that he finds he has to get up in the night to go to the toilet, and then finds he can't get back to sleep, usually because he finds thoughts and worries go round and round his head.
Widowed, 2 children, retired Design Engineer
Jacqui lives with her partner and works part-time as a care worker. She slept well as a child, but noticed a dramatic change in her sleep when she became a stewardess, and when she got married. She believes the different shifts she worked and jet lag caused a change in her sleeping pattern. Eventually she went to the doctor for some mild sleeping tablets, which she took occasionally over the years. Currently Jacqui is sleeping much better and has not taken any sleeping tablets for a few years.
Jacqui has two children and works as a part-time relief care worker. She lives with her partner.
