A Carlisle-based entertainer who has documented her struggle through the menopause has reflected on her five year journey, and how she has turned her life around.

Judy Cook, a singer and performer in Carlisle, has over the past five years been on something of a personal odyssey which has seen her go through hell and back, having written two books on the subject of her emotional growth in the process.

Now, she is due to tell her story five years on from when it started in a podcast with Adam Roberts called Chatzzz.

“August 31, 2023, marks my five year journey, and how relieved I am to have turned my life around,” she said.

She hopes that what she took from the experience will help someone else move on from similar troubles.

Her first book, an autobiography written during the pandemic in 2020, was called ‘My Doors of Destiny’, where she told her story as a lively singer and performer and how she initially responded to the menopause.

Her second book – ‘The Gift of Human Kindness’, is about how kindness is the key to success.

“It’s my healer, it gave me the reason to write short stories of kindness, poetry that I found I wasn’t too bad at.

“Businesspeople gave me their voice and quotes about what kindness means to them,” she said, while thanking Sally Gillespie for illustrating the book.

“In 2018 I lost my personality, my hair, my voice, and career that I worked so hard to get,” she added.

Judy said that she doesn’t wish t dwell on the past, but instead conclude on a journey she shared with the public, acknowledging a milestone and a new beginning for herself.

She continued: “I have come so far because of my perseverance and determination, it takes a lot to do that, your patience is at an all time low.

“I can understand why people give up, but please, never give up, you must be positive when your outlook is dull, it takes all the strength you possess.

“Survival, my friends, is what we cling onto.”

The podcast episode will be released on August 29 on the Chatzzz YouTube channel, where Judy will tell her full story, and how she hopes it will help others.