Introducing me …

Hi, I’m Jill.

I am a GP working in NHS Grampian and NHS Highland. I am also a 46 year old Mum just trying to navigate her way through perimenopause as best as she can. I live in Aberdeenshire with my family. I love hill walking and long distance trails in Scotland. I have been attempting to grow organic vegetables in my garden over the last couple of years (let’s not talk about how the snails ate my biggest and best courgette leaf that I had been so proud of last summer!). So that’s me in a nutshell, but what led to me starting Ebb & Flow? Let’s rewind a bit…

In November 2020, I tested positive for Covid. I recall feeling absolutely petrified that I would pass the virus on to my daughter, and feeling equally petrified that I would take a turn for the worse. During my isolation I did a lot of reflecting on my life (as many of us did back then). I realised I had been pushing my way through life for many years at full speed and I had felt invincible. I was a ‘yes’ person, a ‘people pleaser’, always willing to go the extra mile and put others’ needs before my own. Covid taught me I was not invincible.

I recovered well but had developed terrible left sided tinnitus in the second week of isolation. It nearly drove me crazy! I desperately wanted to find ways to improve my health both physically and mentally. That is when I started using lifestyle medicine pillars on myself. I was off work for 3 months in total but I still believe the mindfulness, meditation and being in nature at every chance I could get, is what pulled me through. The tinnitus has never gone but it doesn’t bother me anymore.

During my time off work, I started noticing some changes in my menstrual cycle. I put it down to stress and illness. A good friend sent me a link to a medical article about Covid and menopause. Now I’m not saying that Covid was definitely a direct link to my cycle changes, but for me this article did bring my attention to perimenopause. I started doing more reading around this and I realised that I had most likely been in perimenopause for at least a couple of years.

At the time I was working in a small Aberdeenshire practice. As a female GP, I naturally took many calls from women in their 40s and 50s looking for advice around menopause. At this time, there had been a lot of media coverage regarding menopause and HRT. Women were coming forward in numbers that I had never seen before during my own years of practice and it was wonderful. I began doing more menopause courses in my spare time and I planned to work towards becoming a Menopause Specialist. I became confident in managing my patients with a combination of lifestyle advice and HRT (when suitable to use).

Unfortunately in June 22, I became unwell again. I was initially diagnosed with a severe migraine, but when symptoms did not improve I was investigated further. I was diagnosed with a carotid artery dissection (a small tear in the wall of one of my arteries in my neck). This had caused a small clot to form which had travelled to my brain causing a stroke. I still felt like me, I still looked like me, I had none of the typical stroke symptoms like facial droop, there was no weakness in my body, and my speech was not slurred in any way. All I had was a horrific headache and I lost my understanding of speech (both how to use some words and how to understand some words). In the proceeding days my understanding of speech and my ability to hold conversations gradually improved and I was able to return to work after a month or so. Fortunately I didn’t need any rehabilitation therapies, but I did have a couple of appointments with a lovely local stroke nurse. During our first review she advised me “you’ll never be able to have HRT”.

As a GP I knew that advice wasn’t strictly true, however I didn’t feel that I needed HRT at that time anyway. I decided it would be best for me and my situation to research which non hormonal treatments and lifestyle modifications could be used to support perimenopause and menopause. I had already completed some short courses on lifestyle medicine and had followed some media doctors such as Dr Rangan Chatterjee (www.drchatterjee.com) for some time, so it felt like a natural progression to shift my focus on to learning this information for myself. I knew I could also share this lifestyle information with my patients, particularly those in the menopause transition who either cannot take HRT or do not wish to take it.

I went on to study Menopause Lifestyle Coaching for Health Professionals with Dr Wendy Sweet (My Menopause Transformation) in 2023. I have now also completed her Menopause Joint Health course, and I am currently doing her Menopause Lifestyle Practitioner training. I have additionally completed Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Dr Ayan Purja’s ‘Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine’ course.

As Doctors we learn so much from our patients and their individual experiences, but we also learn and grow from our own personal life experiences. This helps us not only to become better humans, but also to become better Doctors. I knew starting Ebb and Flow felt like the next natural step forwards for me on my career path. As with everything in life, when we embark on something new, it can feel exciting yet quite scary, but we take a step forwards (sometimes back) a day at a time and we learn as we go. That’s life right?

If you feel I could help you on your path please do reach out to me at contact@ebbandflow.scot so we can discuss your situation and needs further.

With best wishes 🌸

Jill