"Doctors warn against over-medicalising menopause"

[flashbac]

"Writing in the British Medical Journal they said there was an urgent need for a more realistic and balanced narrative which actively challenges the idea that menopause is synonymous with an inevitable decline in women’s health and wellbeing..."

www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/15/doctors-warn-against-over-medicalising-menopause-after-uk-criticism

I must admit, the raising awareness of how shit the menopause can be has created some worry about my impending menopause, so much so that I've decided against a career change in my 40s.

Are we making too much of a big deal and being overly negative? Or are these doctors just being patronising? Anyone had an easy menopause?

It’s good if people share their stories imo - If things were tough or not

Some on these threads were very aggressive towards anyone just wanting to talk about menopause with lower symptoms and what to do

I welcome the range tbh it’s meant to be a board for everyone going through menopause

I'm surprised it is hard to get testing for osteoporosis. I went to GP and asked for it, explained early menopause might have increased my risk and a recent broken bone (I knew that break was something that could happen to anyone due to the nature of the accident) had made me think I could be at risk and never having had a broken bone before made me keen to find out. He agreed, did referral, one week later hospital phoned me and said two people had cancelled their scans at last minute, as I lived so close to the hospital could I get there within 30 minutes. I was there in 15 and scan done.

Is it one of those post code lottery things?

No one has said you are making a fuss about it.

If you have a look at the first post it included this paragraph I must admit, the raising awareness of how shit the menopause can be has created some worry about my impending menopause, so much so that I've decided against a career change in my 40s.

Nothing wrong with people reassuring the OP that it isn't always that bad and that there is help if you need it.

Constant aggressive attacking of other people doesn't add anything. I think most people are discussing the various forms the menopause takes, the various things that can help but you are just pushing your own agenda and trying to stop anyone else talking about their own experience or their genuine questions about the information that is being pushed about things like protection from dementia.

For the last time

HRT is very useful and women who need it should be able to get it easily and should be aware of it

But HRT isn't needed for everyone
Many of the additional claims for it are highly dubious
Sone people have no problems at all and wouldn't it be great if more people could be like that ?
And sone people have discovered they can overcome their problems without resorting to the doctors surgery

Women have the right to know all the facts not just the bad ones

Good for you.

7 years for me but meh. Nothing to see here. It's all a myth.

So no answer to the question then. Just another snarky reply.

'I say fuck that shit and I get called abusive. You want us all to pipe down and shut up and so people can post their little 'studies' about 'pressures' that are influencing us. What a fucking joke.'

Why are you so aggressive?! This thread is full of women sharing their opinions. We are allowed to do so. It is ironic you think you're the one being told to 'pipe down'.

I'm sorry you had to show your gp your fitbit to prove you weren't sleeping, that is very odd they really should have taken your word for it.

Great that you got a dexa scan @ancientgran so easily, may be postcode lottery but it is reassuring to hear these things can go smoothy.

If you have a look at the first post it included this paragraph “I must admit, the raising awareness of how shit the menopause can be has created some worry about my impending menopause, so much so that I've decided against a career change in my 40s”

i am also noticing at work where we’ve had a big awareness drive that people are treating women of a certain age as irrational/hormonal, and they themselves are saying stuff like don’t cross me, i’m at that age…

as a female whose emotions have been minimised all my life as “hormones”, i don't want to be getting to 50 and have the same thing happen. As a traumatised teen my behaviour was dismissed as “hormones” when I needed someone to listen, post birth it was hormones rather than being fucking knackered and needing help. Then of course theres the usual shit where if a woman gets frustrated, or annoyed, it’s “that time of the month”.

Oh gosh I thought the question was rhetorical.

Yes we do not have the same doctor.

Yes it is a postcode lottery

Yes it is fantastic that you got treatment immediately.

This thread is about doctors warning against overmedicalising women.

So yes when people tell us we are snarky after having to wait so many years for even a diagnosis, and for years after the diagnosis have to spend weeks and weeks going from doctor to pharmacy and back and forth just to get the prescription for HRT, and then when it comes to payment having to pay double the prescription costs because it contains two drugs...of course I'm angry.

You aren't ever going to understand seeing as you have such a fabulous time. Good for you.

Odd.

It was a myth remember. Or a trend. Or all in my head. Or I just need to be busier.

Keep up!

But no one is saying the symptoms are a myth. You have leapt from CBT can help to it's all in your head

But denying that your brain and lifestyle has an impact on those symptoms is odd

becausetrampslikeus · Today 12:39

Sone people are so wrapped up in their own misery they can't see the bigger picture and furthermore it seems are quite happy to spread myths ( menopause is awful) that are more likely to make other people miserable too

becausetrampslikeus · Today 15:14

But no one is saying the symptoms are a myth. You have leapt from CBT can help to it's all in your head

You said it was a myth. CBT isn't going to make bones stronger. CBT won't help me pick a fucking bag of compost up. Honestly.

The myth I referred to was that menopause is aweful

That is a myth

Now I don't understand ENGLISH?

Oh my fucking god.

"One in two postmenopausal women will have osteoporosis, and most will suffer a fracture during their lifetime. Fractures (broken bones) cause pain, decreased mobility, and function. Fractures are associated with decreased quality of life and increased mortality.

Endocrine Connection

Osteoporosis, which means porous bones, is a progressive condition in which bones become structurally weak and are more likely to fracture or break. Menopause is the most common cause of osteoporosis. As hormones change to accommodate normal menopausal changes, estrogen levels start to fluctuate and then drop. Since estrogen helps prevent bones from getting weaker by slowing the natural breakdown of bone, its reduction during menopause significantly speeds up bone loss.

Estradiol is one of three estrogen hormones naturally produced in the body. The effects of estradiol are clearly seen in women experiencing menopause. During this process, women naturally have lower levels of estradiol as the ovaries no longer produce it, causing the menstrual cycles to stop. This change often causes mood swings, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, and night sweats — the symptoms commonly associated with menopause. Over time, lower estradiol levels can lead to osteoporosis."

Are you able to share how

these women overcome their problems?
Yes women deserve the right to know all the facts but they also deserve the right to be believed. How do you know that many of the claims are dubious? Are you an expert in this field?

I'm not sure this is strictly true. There's plenty of evidence pointing to an association between obesity and later menopause, although there is an accepted correlation between obesity and more severe menopausal symptoms.

Um.. I think the diet and early menopause that I recall was related to the diet quality perhaps rather than obesity ?

White pasta and bread rather than whole meal for example

Anyway not looking for fights so this isn't the place for me

A myth
A trend
Not busy enough
All in their heads
Don't understand English
and now we are all obese. [of course exercise is actually quite hard when you can't walk or lift anything but hey ho].

And you wonder why we get angry at all this.

Is there a role for menopausal hormone therapy in the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis?

“Current literature suggests robust anti-fracture efficacy of MHT in patients unselected for low BMD, regardless of concomitant use with progestogens, but with limited evidence of persisting skeletal benefits following cessation of therapy. Side effects include cardiovascular events, thromboembolic disease, stroke and breast cancer, but the benefit-risk profile differs according to the use of opposed versus unopposed oestrogens, type of oestrogen/progestogen, dose and route of delivery and, for cardiovascular events, timing of MHT use. Overall, the benefit-risk profile supports MHT treatment in women who have recently (< 10 years) become menopausal, who have menopausal symptoms and who are less than 60 years old, with a low baseline risk for adverse events. MHT should be considered as an option for the maintenance of skeletal health in women, specifically as an additional benefit in the context of treatment of menopausal symptoms, when commenced at the menopause, or shortly thereafter, in the context of a personalized benefit-risk evaluation.”
Osteoporos Int. 2020 Dec;31(12):2271-2286.
doi: 10.1007/s00198-020-05497-8. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

It's a shame that we can't have a discussion about it without all the aggro, not really fair is it.

There is absolutely no doubt that HRT alleviates symptoms for many women going through menopause.
I used it for nearly 4 years but to be honest after a good start the symptoms broke through. Apart from hot flushes I developed a lot of symptoms insomnia, muscle aches, palpitations to name a few.
I came off it after being diagnosed with breast cancer and was immediately put on anastrozole. So effectively fast tracked to post menopause.
After 10 months I feel great, still get muscle aches but manage them with antihistamines and magnesium. But everything else has gone. No palpitations , no insomnia, no vitrified, my DH is constantly asking if I’m ok since my mood is so calm. I am back to how I was 20 yrs ago.
If this is post menopause it’s actually brilliant. I do feel a bit of a cheat though because the meds I take have fast tracked me.

Perhaps if people didn't make huge whopping judegements whilst ha ha haing at the people that have actually had symptoms, it might well be easier yes.

But this thread is about the government wanting women to suffer in silence in the first place. So those that have had to fight for the medication that the government are trying to limit, have every reason to get annoyed - bearing in mind the life limiting effects that being blocked from medication has.

It's the literal point of the thread. It is in the chat area. Anyone can post. But if you gloat at people suffering then don't be surprised if they get angry at you.