Derry Menopause Coach signposting women to complementary services

When Marguerite Burke last spoke to The Derry News, she had just undergone a double mastectomy and follow-up cancer treatment.

In September 2022, disarmingly faff-free and frank, she said she was not planning on dying anytime soon!

Three years on Marguerite has trained as a menopause coach and is releasing her book - Navigating Menopause Naturally: How to manage when HRT is not an option - on Friday.

Navigating Menopause Naturally: How to manage when HRT is not an option

Outlining her journey from 2022, Marguerite explained it all began because of the type of cancer with which she was diagnosed.

“I had estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer where cancer cells have receptors that bind to estrogen, using it to grow. Following my double mastectomy, I was unable to go on to hormone replacement therapy (HRT),” she said.

“As part of my treatment I was put into medical menopause. I can remember the very day - August 4, 2022 - the day I was supposed to start chemotherapy,” added Marguerite.

“Because of my age I was getting close to perimenopause, so I actually had a choice. The  hormone therapy (Tamoxifen) would basically cut out estrogen and do the same job as chemotherapy, so one of the silver linings was I didn’t have to get chemotherapy. I got everything else but I didn’t have to get chemotherapy. 

“That then led me to go, ‘Right, what do I do now?’ because I lasted four days in medical menopause. I was on the phone to the GP in tears saying, ‘I’m going mad. I can’t cope’. 

“I was getting all of the signs and symptoms of menopause and all at the same time, so it was just terrible. I had to go back to my GP to get help with anti depressants and Propranolol to help me function. Estrogen has such a big impact on your body and you don’t realise it until it is gone. 

“But me being me, I wasn’t going to accept, ‘It is what it is’. You hear this so many times when you are going through cancer, to the point where that is now a very triggering statement for me. 

“So I decided, ‘No, it’s not, it is what it is. This is menopause. This has been going on since the first woman was on this planet and there is no way us as women would sit by and just allow this to happen without trying to do something better’. I just refused to accept that and I started doing my own research regarding what women can do instead of  HRT when they can’t take it,” said Marguerite, who was at pains to emphasise she was not against HRT.

“If HRT works for you, brilliant. Don’t be changing just because somebody tells you,” she said, “but it wasn’t an option for me. 

“I decided to do my own research and I discovered that in our town we have loads of practitioners who offer complementary therapies but you wouldn’t know unless you went looking,” added Marguerite.

“I also decided I needed to be done with cancer, I need to find a way to make a new life for myself and find a way forward. 

“So I obtained the Menopause Coaching Diploma through the online learning platform Centre of Excellence and I decided to reach out to local women, naturopaths, herbalists, people who do acupuncture, acupressure, and aromatherapy. I then reached out to the Centre of Wellbeing to Margaret Chapman, who is a registered sex therapist.

“The way I view it, I am trying to create a network. Women can come to me and because I have made these connections with other practitioners, who are all in Derry, I can signpost them to these services.

“When I was reaching out to them, all of them said they too had been looking to do something around menopause and didn’t know where to begin. So, if a woman comes to me, I have all my needs assessments ready because I come from a healthcare, multidisciplinary and referral background, and I am very aware of GDPR, I can signpost them on to other services,” said

Marguerite, who is also completing her Institute of Leadership & Management Level 3 Coaching qualification.

She is also in the process of building a network, educating herself and reaching out to the community voluntary sector.

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“I have delivered an introductory menopause talk to the Foyle Women’s Information Network and I am doing another talk now on November 12 for the Focus project in the Ráth Mór Centre. I have also delivered a talk to the third year oncology students at Ulster University, Magee and have been invited back for the next term too,” said Marguerite.

“All I am trying to do is raise awareness by sharing my story because it turns out I am not the only person who can’t take HRT,” she added.

“There are a lot of other conditions out there for which HRT is not the best treatment option and also women do want to decide what’s going into their bodies. 

“I am releasing a book this week and am in the process of building a website. I can also be contacted on Facebook and Instagram. I am getting a lot of positive feedback about my work when I interact with people.

“What I want to do is raise awareness about menopause. In 2027 employers with 250 plus employees have to have a menopause policy, so this is also a good opportunity to work with employers.

“Essentially, I want to give women choice. Menopause doesn’t have to end your life. It doesn’t all have to go down hill. I love women coming together and sharing stories, that is the best thing, women realising they are not on their own, they are seen, and there are other people who feel the same way.”

Marguerite can be contacted on Facebook and by email: Marguerite@themenopausecoach.net.