"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?

I see it all the time. The Davina episode definitely was.

I only saw part of the second Davina programme, and I thought the first was a bit light in terms of detail.
However I absolutely don't get the message of decay & decline anywhere else & don't feel it either.

And there is a big focus on hrt and medical support - yet there is a clear strong correlation between exercise, diet and weight and menopausal symptoms that is glossed over - many women don't like to admit their choices have made menopause a problem.

There is so much wrong with your misogynistic post.

But on this - you're wrong. I had a good diet, exercised intensively daily, was slim. None of my symptoms could have been alleviated by doing anything more in those areas.

Sleep would have helped. The sleep I didn't get due to perimenopause. It's not perfect but 9 months on I am in raptures at mostly getting decent quality sleep which had evaded me for years.

Your other points are just nonsensical. We don't have to apologise for having babies or being menopausal. I didn't raise any of my issues in the workplace but I am definitely entitled to take HT to make sure I can stay well. It's not medicalising anything.

I was just about to say that!

Nobody's off suggesting we over-medicalise impotence are they!

Very annoying article. Menopause is a medical problem because it’s doctors who should be accountable for recognising women’s symptoms and supporting women to make informed decisions on HRT.

I started HRT after Davina’s second documentary and felt informed, confident and reassured after watching Davina, Louise Newton and Liz Earle on YouTube.

HRT is wonderful. So sorry I spent years fearing the menopause. Trying to make a sensible decision on it when you’re peri menopausal and anxious and dealing with this ‘suck it up it’s your legacy’ attitude is dreadful.

Sorry that I spent the pandemic going through menopause. Could have been so much better without lack of sleep, the emotional rollercoaster and all the physical stuff which is preventable.

There's a story about a mental asylum in New York I think where a lady was kept for years because of 'phantom pains' she was imagining. They were sending her literally insane.

Except when she died, they carried out a post mortem and her reproductive organs were absolutely lacerated with scarring. She'd been asking for help for years for being in unimaginable pain and instead she was institutionalised.

Male doctors have been ignoring what they don't understand since the profession was first established.

"Nobody's off suggesting we over-medicalise impotence are they!"- too right.

Some women sail through menopause - that's great, I'm happy for them.

Other women will suffer, have anxiety, debilitating symptoms and be ground down by it. Being told 'it's normal' get on with it, or suggesting doctors tell those women that is unhelpful, creates another barrier and casualises something that can really cause issues.

I'm not convinced that other societies don't have these issues - I suspect the culture is not to talk about it.

"And there is a big focus on hrt and medical support - yet there is a clear strong correlation between exercise, diet and weight and menopausal symptoms that is glossed over - many women don't like to admit their choices have made menopause a problem."

Loss of oestrogen causes the problems for most women. HRT helps with that.

It's great stuff for those that need it.

Exactly this.

we must also remember that women are being anti depressants in the peri/meno years. Some GPs are getting this wrong. This is one key reason for all this debate.

Blimey you are touchy

Why?

Not sure why you’d respond like that. Seems odd - do you have a vested interest off mn?

I still don’t feel I have clear straightforward information, I still am not clear why other people are so certain

It’s a big decision and I don’t feel as sure as others do I am asking them, step aside if it rankles you that much.

Incidentally I have tried to book a GP appointment to talk further but not that easy to get

I'm glad for those who had an easy menopause. I had two piss-easy pregnancies, but wouldn't get sniffy over anyone seeking treatment for health problems arising from this other natural process.

My menopause was immediate and surgical so I and my consultant gynaecologist were in no doubt as to the cause of my sudden onset insomnia, brain fog and excessive sweating. A spot of low-dose oestrogen and I'm fine.

If even just a quarter (that's a figure literally plucked from the air) of women have menopause- related problems that still a fuck tonne of people that would benefit from effective treatment, and who wouldn't want to raise awareness of the help available?

@MarshaBradyo www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520366/ the link with osteoporosis is pretty clear.

If people feel they have information they need that’s good, I’m very glad the issue is getting attention - we’ve moved on from having to be embarrassed etc which is great

I haven’t made any remarks about other posters choices

I still wonder why other people are sure re dementia not just symptoms

These threads are set upon by oddly aggressive remarks like the one below, they mistakenly think women have any agenda other than trying to find clear information and make a decision

It’s not unusual as a lot of this hasn’t been subject to long term trials - but again if I’ve missed it here or in other countries then happy to hear definitively, but again this is an easy win for the NHS wrt cost saving if so

It's how the awareness is being raised that is the problem for me

Me too. Managed the horrible symptoms for years but the panic attacks and insomnia and aching joints just got too much. HRT changed my life. I am useful for nothing when constantly tired. If you don't need anything then that's brilliant but lots of women do. Those women should not be made to feel they are less than women who have fewer issues.

Great post @Hbh17 and I tend to agree. I think we often only hear of those women who suffer severe symptoms and not those who experience mild short lasting symptoms or none at all.

Ok thanks it seems under 60 at risk it can help - if they are at risk

‘Therefore, in postmenopausal women at risk of fracture and younger than 60 years, or within 10 years of menopause, HRT can be considered as one of the first-line therapies for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis-related fractures. Conversely, the initiation of standard HRT after the age of 60 years for the exclusive reason for fracture prevention is not recommended since the potential risk of long-term complications, namely breast cancer, can outweigh the benefits’

It is also quite complex and says more trials are required. It’s a pity we don’t have clear information on what to do if symptoms may not be enough to take HRT. If I had stronger symptoms I would just use it, but without them find it harder to decide

If only we'd had more women around to do some trials on. Oh hang on...

Women who go through the menopause even late, are still at risk of osteoporosis because they might live 30-40 years without bone strengthening hormones. Even if they feel great at having the menopause. Which had me at 42 crawling up the stairs at the end of the day and into osteoporosis by 49.

This top paragraph I can agree with. I'm quite clearly peri, the information out there is largely quite scary and I'm thinking I'm going to need HRT, estogren creams, the whole shebang. The fact I have to keep reminding myself of is that I might not suffer at all, it might be a lovely easy process for me, I think normalisng it, highlighting that many women find it a positive process too, but that medication is readily available to help manage symptoms is the best way forward.

I'll be honest, my vaginal atrophy, vertigo, joint pain and palpitations, felt like decay and decline to me! If I can rectify that, then why shouldn't I?

The thing with HRT is that there isn't one definite form/dose which is perfect for everyone. There's a lot of trial and error and tinkering to get doses right for the individual. You only know it's working when you get better and you often don't realise all the symptoms that are affecting you until you get on the HRT for the ones you do recognise and then all the others stop!
If you genuinely had no symptoms (and I think people need increased awareness of what all the symptoms are), then you wouldn't ask for HRT. But it's worth knowing that it can guard against things like dementia.

I thought the evidence about dementia was quite mixed - some studies that it helped, others that it increased risk. I wouldn't mind if there was just a lack of consistent evidence that it helped, but some that it might. But the fact that some showed increased risk worries me.

I feel like we’re in the dark with this, it’s so unclear

Even studies say may a lot or more is needed, other issues don’t take reams of reading around, advice is at consumer level simplicity, which it should be for this

on top of that mn is probably a site people use to push messaging

All making me feel one of the peri symptoms at least 😂

@Jazzapples1 menopause CAN be a medical problem but that’s not necessarily the case for all women. I don’t think it’s sensible to have this culture of women thinking they will need HRT, some will and some won’t. We also need to consider the side effects of HRT as with any other drug. It’s not the answer for all women.

There is almost certainly a case for more research- research that takes into account all confounding factors

Tbh she hasn't. Hrt protects against osteoporosis for as long as it is taken but most do not take it forever.

However there isn't any evidence that it protects against dementia, only theories.

As always the conclusion imo is more research is needed yet there aren't any large scale studies underway which begs the question why? If hrt was such a lifesaver re osteoporosis and dementia which costs the nhs billions why don't we have more definitive evidence.

I'm pro choice. HRT or not fine by me but people have got to know the facts and at the moment they are sketchy.

Re symptoms and not recognising them

In all truth I feel better now - more me - than I have done for 35/ 40 years

I am so glad to be out of the control of those hormones and i would have to suffer a real medical disaster to get me to consider HRT

I only say this to highlight how different we all are