Specialist for menopause with nhs?

[milenalee]

Hi, I've been taking bio identical hormones first prescribed for me in Switzerland. I think I need follow up as I have nausea, bad skin, indigestion, and now irregular periods. I see recommendations for private people but does anyone know a good gyno on nhs? I live in saffron walden, 1 hour from London, 20 minutes from Cambridge. I see there is a private clinic in Cambridge that I may have to use.

I was able to continue the hormones here through NHS, utrogestan and estradiol gel.

[PollyPerky]

Unless you are with UK GP then I don't see how you can use an NHS menopause clinic. And they are few and far between anyway. Are you now in the UK permanently? Maybe we can offer some ideas on it all if you tell us a bit more? How long using it, what pattern of bleeding, age etc?

If you are on a cyclic regime then you'd expect a withdrawal bleed at a regular time each month. if you are still peri, then you might get spotting or your own cycle breaking through. if you are post meno and had no periods for 12 months (natural periods) and are bleeding at odd times , this needs investigating with a scan etc.

[PollyPerky]

If you ARE with a GP here then you'd need a referral from them to see a gynae in the NHS. Sorry if I misunderstood your original post. I wasn't sure if you were here temporarily or for good. The best thing to do is have a look at who works at local private hospitals ( Cambridge for you I suppose) and if they also do NHS work. But an appt for a non-urgent meno query is likely to have a long wait- maybe months. Your GP is probably not keen to refer unless you are having major problems that they feel they can't manage, or you are having bleeding that is classed as 'urgent' then you'll get a 2-week referral.

[milenalee]

Thanks. We are here permanently and I have a GP. I tried for a referral before, will try again. The HRT I am on was supposed to keep my periods regular but for the last four months only every other month. So I think it needs adjusting. On top of that I feel nauseous all the time, like morning sickness. And acne etc. also searching for an endocrinologist as I've had hashimotos for 30 years and symptoms show things aren't balanced but blood tests are ok. That I know I must find privately. This list gave me some leads, though not very nearby. I have to find one who pays more attention to symptoms than tests. There is a menopause clinic in Cambridge I will try privately and maybe I can find someone via that route if my dr will refer me.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Mr (Dr? Professor ?) Studd in Harley street worked miracles with a friend of mine. Private but money week spent and then was able to continue with her GP.

[PollyPerky]

All I would say about the menopause clinic you are thinking of is make sure it's staffed by good drs - consultants ideally. There are some clinics that are not really what they say they are and you won't get any better treatment than with a GP. If you have Hashimotos, why would you need a private dr for that? That's not right- the NHS will cater for you!

Re your HRT- you don't have to bleed every month on HRT. I don't know what dose you are on, but it is quite possible that you aren't building up enough lining to come away each month, only every other month. This is normal for some women- it doesn't mean you need to change anything.

What dose of Utrogestan do you use and how much gel?

Prof Studd is well known but his regime is 3 pumps of oestrogel and 7 days Utrogestan a month. This seems standard for all his patients so if you're doing that anyway no need to see anyone.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Actually that wasn't at all what he prescribed my friend

[PollyPerky]

Oh well, there are variations. If you read Menopause Matters forum there are a lot of women there who use him and that's what they say is his standard regime. he's only one of meno experts in Harley St etc- I'd not choose him (and didn't!)

[lljkk]

Is Hashimoto's a progressive disease? I think I'd look into addressing that first before trying hard to adjust the HRT. At least wrt the nausea, skin & indigestion.