What am I supposed to do?

[CormoranStrike]

I am 47, with a coil, and have very occasional spotting, sometimes every two weeks (the norm for my coil) or I can go a month or two.

I am so hot all the time, absolutely roasting at night, I feel a flush building up etc.

So, nothing too unfortunate, I just know it's there. Health wise, should I be doing anything? I dint know much about this old menopause lark. I mean, are you meant to pop to your GP to get levels tested for HRT or something?

Or do I ignore entirely?

[pinkfrocks]

Start having a read up on it all- Menopause Matters is a good site or there are some good books out there- one is Your Change Your Choice.

It's up to you what to do! If you want effective treatment and have no reasons why you can't use HRT then that's the way to go. With a mirena all you would need is oestrogen so this could be a patch or gel.

At the same time, even using HRT, you need to really focus on having a healthy lifestyle. some women find that cutting out caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods help reduce the heat, and making sure you are a healthy weight, exercising daily, and eating a really healthy diet can help.

The new guidelines by NICE which came out 1 June say that GPs should not test women aged 45+ for the menopause - because it's 'normal' - but should treat the symptoms if this is what a woman wants. So no, you don't need blood tests or anything unless you have other symptoms that could be other illnesses mixed up with the old menopause!