Weekly episodes where I sound & look very drunk. GP suggests menopause, is it something more?

I am writing this post on behalf of my mum and it's going to be a lengthy one.

She is 52, no pre-existing health conditions established, although she did have bell's palsy about 10 years ago, but her face and features returned back to her normal after several months.

HbA1c was tested several months ago and was fine

Electrolytes (sodium/potassium) are fine

Blood pressure normal

Hormone levels are normal

Blood sugar before and after eating are fine

ECG was fine

Thyroid was fine, tested twice.

She doesn't smoke or drink (but uses the nicorette inhalator). Has a very physical job, sometimes with long days.

Around a 18 months ago, I noticed that her facial expressions very slightly changed, and so did her speech. This would come in small waves at a frequency of maybe once a week or every other week, in the evening. As I am very observant I seemed to be the only one that noticed it, and it wasn't noticed by my sibling. Over the next six months it got slightly more pronounced and more frequent. These were not an all day occurrences, but, would start maybe around 6pm at night until she went to sleep. Then the next day she'd wake up normal.

However, 13 months ago, she started to go a little 'off' in the evening like she usually would. However, her speech became very, very slurred, her speech became a very slow, she couldn't stand up or walk properly and we had to guide her to bed as it was like she couldn't properly coordinated her limbs. She forgot to feed the cats like she normally does. Her friend came round, and her friend said if she wasn't told, she'd have thought she was very drunk. This really panicked me, because it came on over the course of 30 mins.

She didn't go to A&E straight away, but I asked her to speak to her GP in the morning, they advised her to go to A&E. She was seen in A&E about 16 hours later after the event. They took a blood test and did a CT scan of her head, and they said everything came back fine. I was concerned she'd had a TIA. The only thing she had was a UTI. They sent her on her way with antibiotics and said if it happens again go to her GP. However, whilst these 'episodes' haven't been as bad as the one that made her go to A&E, they are becoming more frequent, where several times a week, she was start to slur her speech, the eyelid that had bells palsy starts to drop a little, her speech becomes a little slower/she becomes slower to respond. It's not that she slurs some words, it's that all over her words become slurred, she speaks much more slowly, and almost takes her a small while to process things. It's almost like she's tipsy several times a week, but she doesn't drink. It seems that stress/tiredness triggers these episodes, although sometimes they can almost be sporadic (to me at least). The GP said it was likely menopause or perimenopause related, but I've trawled the internet and forums to try and get an answer.

I know menopause and stress can cause a whole variety of symptoms, but I haven't seen anything like my mums. She is not on HRT at the moment, as the doctor is reluctant to put her on HRT, due to familiar history of breast and ovarian cancer. He gave her 10mg of citalopram to stabilise her mood, and told her to keep taking her B-vitamins and magnesium. Due to the frequency and lack of answers, I've turned to forums to try and gain some answers. I've asked her to go and see a neurologist privately because I am quite concerned, but in the meantime, I am trying to search some answers, to see if maybe it is actually menopause related.

Has anyone had anything similar?

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