Anastacia thought she had a brain tumour. The reality was something millions of women will go through every year

When Anastacia’s health mysteriously deteriorated, she began to fear the absolute worst. A brain tumour and early dementia crossed her mind.

The reality of what she was going through should have been so simple to identify, given millions of women will go through it every year.

Long brushed off as little more than hot flushes and the end of your period, menopause can cause symptoms so debilitating that for some they trigger fears of a serious illness.

Pop icon Anastacia, 58, is one of those women.

The singer-songwriter, most famous for her hit I’m Outta Love, recently revealed she had no idea those seemingly unrelated symptoms could be connected, during an episode of Hello! magazine’s Second Act podcast.

“I thought I had early dementia. I thought I had a brain tumour. I thought I had broken my shoulder... I had all the things. I had a flutter in my heart,” she told host Ateh Jewel.

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She said she began experiencing changes in her mid-40s, but it was not until about 50 that she recognised the hot flushes she associated with menopause.

“I wasn’t aware these were all symptoms besides a hot flash,” she said, explaining she thought she was dying.

Women’s health advocate and author of I’m Your Peri Godmother Shelly Horton had a frighteningly similar experience when she entered perimenopause at 45.

“My experience of perimenopause was very similar to Anastacia’s,” she told nine.com.au. “When I started having heart palpitations, I genuinely thought I was either having a heart attack or a panic attack. It was terrifying.”

She later began bleeding heavily despite having an IUD, and was warned by a doctor that it could be uterine or cervical cancer.

The tests came back clear.

Horton said the problem is that symptoms can seem completely unrelated, making it difficult for women – and sometimes their doctors – to connect the dots.

“Where do I start? Heart palpitations, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety, depression, rage, joint pain, heavy bleeding, vaginal dryness, painful sex, and urinary symptoms,” she said, listing some of the symptoms women will experience during the hormonal transition.

“We’ve been sold this incredibly narrow version of menopause where you get a bit hot and your periods stop.

“The reality can involve your brain, sleep, mood, heart, joints, vagina and pretty much every part of your life joining the hormonal circus.”

For Horton, severe depression was among the most confronting symptoms.

“I had never experienced depression before. I was still going on television, writing and running my business, so from the outside I looked completely functional. Inside, I felt like I was falling apart.”

She warned that dismissing menopause as something women should simply push through leaves far too many suffering in silence.

“Women do not need more stoicism. They need information, informed doctors and proper support.”

Horton also warned against assuming new symptoms are automatically hormonal.

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“We also shouldn’t assume every symptom is perimenopause. New or worrying symptoms still need to be properly checked by a doctor.”

Looking back, she wishes she had understood perimenopause before experiencing it herself.

“Knowledge won’t necessarily stop the symptoms, but it can stop that terrifying feeling of thinking, ‘What the hell is happening to me?’”

If you or someone you know is going through a difficult time, please know that support is available. Lifeline (Australia): Call 13 11 14 (Available 24/7) or text 0477 13 11 14.