You want HRT? Not so fast! You want the pill? Here you go!

Yes, "whats in it for men".

OP I asked for HRT for years (and was offered ADs) before I spoke (about something unrelated) to a locum who couldn't understand why I hadn't been helped and referred me.

Afaik the only way you can get a scrip for testosterone on the NHS is to say your libido is suffering.

When they ask about bleeding during/after sex and I say I don't have penetrative sex, they're also flustered by that.

I had the complete opposite. I was forever being told to "give it a try" when ever I declined it.

GPs are not automatically trained in menopause. It's an elective extra, optional which amazes me.

The NICE pathway dictates they have to ask if you want antidepressant's according to my lovely GP who sighed when she asked if I want them because she was obliged to.

But I have had no issues getting it prescribed and actually I went back and asked after 9months how do you know it's an effective dose. My GP did a blood test and said my testosterone was on the floor so got referred to the clinic for that too.

Yea you have to be a bit pushy, you definitely shouldn't have to.

Just to counter this the HCP couldn’t have been faster to prescribe HRT

Over the phone, hardly any questions

To be fair, the Mirena does do a fabulous job for many women. And I speak as one who should have listened to advice and had one at least a decade before I went ahead.

Aaaaannd then there's oestrogen positive breast cancer!!! :-/

It’s the allopathic education of doctors coupled with the misogynistic nature of medical gaslighting.

Young women with any menstrual/hormonal issues = contraceptive pill to mask all the symptoms instead of treating holistically.

Older women = menopause is a “natural” process and doesn’t need to be medicated.

This is what they learn! Remember that doctors are diagnosticians that must match a diagnosis to the right pharmaceutical product.

I agree with this and am super suspicious of the unpublished side effects of the pill.

I think 'evening out' your natural menstrual cycle has significant impact on your behaviour as a woman, right down to the men you attract!

Have not tried to get HRT (yet) but whenever I had contact with GP or specialists for gynaecological problems the Mirena coil was presented as the solution to all problems.
Never mind investigating properly, just take the coil.

I have had no trouble being prescribed HRT. But my friend was only given it after she said her lack of libido was making her husband dissatisfied with their sex life and it was undermining their marriage.

I was also offered anti depressants when I went looking for hrt. I said "why? I'm not depressed"
I was doubly cross as gp in question is a woman (albeit younger) so I expected her to know better. I got the hrt after a barrage of blood tests.

Totally agree.

I think it's a bit too easy to get the pill tbh.

Anti depressants, yes. My consultant says lots of women are prescribed them in peri if they present with mood issues when they should be prescribed HRT for hormone issues.

Ironically, due to progesterone shortages and supply issues I’ve been prescribed the pill as a backup.

Add me to the list of women who struggled to get hrt. My GPs attempted solution was anti-depressants, which are another thing they seem happy to hand out like candies, despite being far from complication free themselves.

I’ve wondered about this too given that the pill is far more ‘dangerous’ than HRT and you can just get the pill from the pharmacy now. And then I wonder, well what’s in it for men in these 2 scenarios?

With the former they can have sex freely with otherwise fertile women without the risk of having to pay for offspring whilst also enjoying maximum sensation. And with HRT, what’s in it for men?

Because women's holistic health is of no interest to society. Controlling women's fertility is.

And now the menopause certificate to get them for a year for not very much

I'll point out that I'd been offered the coil far too many times.

Agree OP. The fight I had to have to get HRT was maddening and utterly illogical.

Well no, its true.

I fully appreciate others might have more difficulty but certainly me and my friends have not.

I also do not think the pill is easily available because the government don't want women to.have babies. In fact, do a little research and tou will find that the government actually wants MORE babies (they just don't want to help pay for these babies. Typical Tories).

@EarthSight It appears to be a sods law thing. You want it and can't get it.

I don't want it because I can't have hrt due to another issue and so every doctor and consultant tries to prescribe it to me!

I think the only reason doctors are hesitant is that they know it can be hard to get hold of. None of the women I know have had any problems with being prescribed hrt.