Better Menopause Campaign

The campaign calls on the government to make HRT readily available, as well as providing more menopause training for GPs, and ensuring that anti-depressants aren’t prescribed where HRT is more clinically appropriate.

Our users have told us:

“My GP refused me HRT and would not refer me.”

"I feel like I'm going insane, but do not feel that it's even worth another GP visit to try to sort it out."

"My (female) GP looked at me blankly when I mentioned perimenopause. She doesn't appear to have heard of it. She tried to fob everything off as anxiety."

Our Guest Post, with menopause expert Dr Louise Newson helped answer the question: Should I be worried about breast cancer and HRT?

Our survey of 1,096 women in the UK between 20 May and 7 June 2021, found:

• Nearly four in ten women seeking treatment for perimenopause symptoms say their GP told them they’d just have to learn to live with it.

• Over a quarter of those seeking treatment for menopause were told the same thing

• 6% of those who sought help from their GP for perimenopause symptoms, and 26% of those who sought help for menopause symptoms, say they visited their GP three times or more before being prescribed appropriate medication or help

Our survey of 1,557 female Mumsnet and Gransnet users, between the 8th and 24th October 2019, found:

• 8% of those going through the perimenopause and 35% of those going through the menopause say they are on HRT, despite it being a NICE recommended treatment for symptoms associated with the menopause and perimenopause.

• 16% of those who sought help for menopause symptoms say their GPs wrongly prescribed anti-depressants, and 24% say they complained to their GP for a year or more before being prescribed appropriate medication or help.

• 59% of women surveyed think the press is guilty of scaremongering about HRT risks, and 40% say that press stories about HRT risks make them anxious and less likely to consider taking HRT. Only 13% believe the press gets its coverage of HRT scares ‘about right’.

Mumsnet and Gransnet Founder Justine Roberts said: “Great strides have been made recently when it comes to the visibility of the menopause, with employers being urged to recognise its impact on many women’s lives, and women becoming increasingly clued-up about associated symptoms. The next step is for perimenopausal symptoms to be more widely acknowledged. GPs are a crucial link in this chain, and our survey findings suggest that GPs urgently need to receive adequate training to recognise and manage symptoms."