A breast cancer patient has described how treatment for the disease plunged her into a "horrendous" menopause which left her struggling to stand and suffering dozens of hot flushes a day. Rachel Bowman said more needs to be done to help women undergoing cancer therapies to deal with the consequences of going into sudden and severe menopause, sometimes prematurely. According to the organisation, Menopause and Cancer , 40% of women under 40 and 90% of those over 40 go into permanent menopause as a result of cancer treatment, with "many" finding the symptoms even harder to cope with than the side effects of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery.

READ MORE: Explainer: What is the menopause, when does it start, what are the symptoms? COMMENT 'Many women find menopause more challenging than cancer treatments' Linda Barker: Menopause gave me alopecia and 'hideous' forgetfulness Dani Garavelli: I admire Davina McCall, but I didn't want to be a crusader Ms Bowman, originally from Falkland in Fife, is sharing her own experience to coincide with World Menopause Day on October 18. The retail director was 46 when she was diagnosed in 2022 with Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma after discovering a lump in her breast. Prior to the diagnosis she had been taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to alleviate symptoms of perimenopause including anxiety, burning mouth syndrome, and unusually heavy periods.

She said: "I loved it - it just eradicated any of the symptoms I'd had, which was amazi.