Mum given devastating diagnosis after symptoms were blamed on menopause

28 December 2023 , 12:16

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Karen Griffiths visited her GP for three years before she was diagnosed with a brain tumour (Image: The Brain Tumour Charity / SWNS)

A mum was diagnosed with a brain tumour after her symptoms were blamed on the menopause.

Karen Griffiths began suffering from one-sided pulsatile tinnitus – when a heartbeat is heard in the ear - in 2018. Around the same time, she also began experiencing headaches in the morning, became uncoordinated and struggled with speech in addition to losing her train of thought. She visited her GP for three years but was told all her symptoms were most likely down to menopause and sent home.

But when the 'beat' in her ear got so loud it would wake her up at night she was referred to an ear, nose and throat consultant who sent her for an MRI. Karen, 60, was told she had a lump on the brain which was pressing on a major vein - the superior sagittal sinus. The benign tumour was partially removed by surgeons and Karen now has regular MRI scans to monitor her condition and make sure the tumour doesn't grow.

Karen was told all her symptoms were down to menopause and sent home (The Brain Tumour Charity / SWNS)

A symptom she first noticed was pulsatile tinnitus where her heartbeat was heard in her ear (The Brain Tumour Charity / SWNS)

The insurance coach from Eastbourne, Sussex, said: "I was suffering with symptoms for over three years and it gradually got worse. Alongside that, I was going through menopause and it is very well known that it can create headaches, brain fog and difficulty concentrating. One of the key things that got missed was that I was having headaches in the morning when I woke up."

One of the first symptoms Karen noticed was one-sided pulsatile tinnitus. In April 2021 it became so loud she returned to her GP and a locum sent her for a scan at Eastbourne District General Hospital. Karen said: "The consultation I had was more in-depth. I could tell he was really listening to what I was saying. I could see his face clouding over when I was explaining that the one-sided pulsatile tinnitus was so loud it would wake me up."

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Four days later on April 21, 2021, she was told she had a lump on the brain and would need to be referred to a neurosurgeon. She was diagnosed in the same week she discovered her mum, Jillian Stevens, 83, was dying of cancer.

Karen said: "It was a bit of a double whammy. I understood quite early on that the tumour was a benign meningioma - tumours that start in the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord - but that it was attached to a major vein which it had pushed to one side. The neurosurgeon advised me of the risks which among other things were risks to life.

“Initially I was in disbelief so I threw myself into my work as if nothing had happened. I didn't tell anyone, I didn't want my mum to know it would have been heartbreaking for her. I didn't even tell my family because my mum had five weeks to live and I didn't want to add any more hurt."

In March 2022, she had an operation to remove her tumour at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. She said: "I am still having nightly seizures which is a result of the location of the tumour, and following the surgery. I also have yearly MRI scans to see how the brain is and if the tumour is growing. It has been really difficult, the after-effects of surgery were difficult to deal with.

Graeme Murray