I was diagnosed with MS at 50 and I immediately crashed straight into the menopause. Raging hot flushes, no chance of sleep. I had a hysterectomy a few years earlier so I didn’t have periods. The menopause and MS were both new territories to me so I couldn’t tell what was causing which symptom at first. I had my hormone levels checked and my gynaecologist only had to watch me turn bright red and start sweating to see how bad the hot flushes were. I started on Hormone patches and two weeks later all the flushes and sleeplessness was gone. I am 61 and still happy to continue with the patches. I am writing this to flag up how quickly menopause can hit especially after a shock MS diagnosis and to advise ladies to get on hormone patches as soon as they can to stabilise at least one part of their health!