Nicola Bulley suffered a crisis after she stopped taking menopause drugs, her family have revealed.

Ms Bulley went missing while walking her dog on Jan 27 in the village of St Michael's on Wyre.

At a press conference on Wednesday detectives investigating her disappearance announced she had struggled with a "significant" alcohol problem.

Senior officers said that Ms Bulley was "vulnerable" and classed by police as a "high-risk" missing person immediately after her partner Paul Ansell reported her disappearance.

Lancashire Police also revealed it had attended a report of concern for welfare at the home of Ms Bulley, 45, and her partner just over two weeks before she disappeared.

In a statement responding to the comments made by police, the family said Ms Bulley suffered from "brain fog" and experienced intense headaches after taking HRT to help with menopause symptoms.

They said that when she stopped taking the drugs, she suffered a crisis.

The family pleaded with Ms Bulley to come home and said "Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much.

"Your girls want a cuddle. We all need you home. You can reach out to us, or you can contact MissingPeople.org.uk.  Don’t be scared, we all love you so very much," they said.

They also pleaded with the public to end the "speculation and rumours" that had surrounded her disappearance.

Ms Bulley vanished after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.

She was last seen at 9.10am taking her usual route with her springer spaniel Willow, alongside the River Wyre.

Her phone, still connected to a work call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found just over 20 minutes later on a bench overlooking the riverbank, with her dog running loose.

HRT is taken by millions of women worldwide as a way of managing symptoms of the perimenopause and menopause but it does not work well for everybody.

According to the NHS website, menopause and perimenopause symptoms can have a big impact on daily life, including relationships, social life, family life and work.

Symptoms of perimenopause usually start months or years before periods stop and can include changes to mental health such as low mood, anxiety, mood swings, low self-esteem, problems with memory and issues with concentration (brain fog).

Common physical symptoms of both the menopause and perimenopause include hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, heart palpitations and headaches, or migraines that are worse than usual.

HRT involves taking oestrogen to elevate the body's levels of the hormone. It is often combined with progesterone.