A British woman says she quit her job believing she had early onset dementia, after which she discovered her symptoms were from early menopause.
Bristol menopause trainer Lauren Chiren, 55, told the BBC that she embarked on a new career in life, a decade ago, after quitting an executive role at a financial services company.
"I left my job in my early 40s thinking I had early onset dementia, I was a new mum at the time and I didn't have much support around me," she said.
"I was working as a senior executive in financial services which meant that I led large-scale projects and programs and had teams all over the world."
Speaking to the BBC, Chiren said she was left worried she was going through early-onset dementia due to her symptoms of menopause.
"There were times in meetings where my heart felt like it was beating outside of my chest and I was so scared that if I let go off the chair I'd fall on the floor."
New research shows around 64% of Kiwi women experiencing menopause found their symptoms negatively affected their work. (Source: 1News)
After she was diagnosed with early menopause, she was "relieved" and was inspired to begin a consultancy, Women of a Certain Stage, to run courses on menstruation and menopause.
Chiren shared her story in the media after the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission issued new guidance to employers this week, suggesting that they must make "reasonable adjustments" for people going through menopause at work.
The commission suggested failing to do so could amount to disability discrimination under the country's Equality Act, The Guardian reports, if symptoms had a "long-term and substantial impact" on a person's ability to do day-to-day work activities.
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