Phoning the doctors in 10 mins. Just need to talk it through first.

[GreyCarpet]

I'm phoning the doctors this morning.

The system at my surgery is that you phone at 8. A doctor calls back between 9 and 11 to speak to you and they book you in for afternoon surgery if they feel you need to see someone. It's a crap system but the way it goes. I can't have my phone anywhere near me at work so I've had to take a day off work - which I won't be paid for - so it's important I get seen if I can. I haven't actually seen a doctor since this system was brought in. It's all been dealt with over the phone - including being prescribed the mini pill after a phone conversation without any health checks a few years ago and a cocktail of pain medication for a back issue.

So.

I don't really know what the matter is. I suspect perimenopause - heavy periods that leave me ill and drained, total lack of motivation, apathy, total loss of confidence, my libido has plummeted, I feel anxious and self conscious all the time. Constantly tired, sleep loads but also have insomnia and sleep is generally poor quality. Work is becoming unmanageable. I cry for no reason. I'm just not enjoying life in any sense at the moment and i can feel myself checking out.

I just don't know what to say to the receptionist when I call - because the system states they triage the calls. And don't know want to say to the doctor if I get a call back. I hate talking on the phone and prefer to talk face to face anyway.

I just hate this system 😕

Any suggestions?

Mental health crisis

Day mental health crisis to receptionist. Then say this to GP

I don't really know what the matter is. I suspect perimenopause - heavy periods that leave me ill and drained, total lack of motivation, apathy, total loss of confidence, my libido has plummeted, I feel anxious and self conscious all the time. Constantly tired, sleep loads but also have insomnia and sleep is generally poor quality. Work is becoming unmanageable. I cry for no reason. I'm just not enjoying life in any sense at the moment and i can feel myself checking out.

You just need to let the receptionist know that it is "possible menopause". They shouldn't ask for more details than that, they just want to give the GP a heads up before they make the call.

Then for the actual appointment, you just say what you've written out above.

Hope it goes ok

Say you're struggling with your mental health.

Ask the doctor for blood tests because it could be some kind of deficiency.

Mental health

You won't get an on the day urgent for possible menopause. You need to say anxious and tearful, insomnia and feeling like you can't cope. Which is all true.

This may be true of your practice, but not mine. No point in lying or embellishing.

I am not a GP, so I hope you manage to get seen today by someone qualified to help. But, the mini pill gave me all the symptoms you describe. I put the anxiety etc. down to the stress of lockdown. 48 hours after my last pill, and I was a totally different person. If your symptoms coincide with the pill prescription, it might be worth asking to try a different type?

Praying you get the help you need today x

@YellowHpok did you read her post? Everything I said was taken from the OP. It's not lying or embellishing, it's how best to phrase things to get an appointment today.

Ask them to do some blood tests. I thought I was perimenopausal after a year of feeling awful and being on antidepressants and it turned out to be extremely low vitamin d. I felt back to normal after about a week of strong vit d tablets.

Sounds same a my practice, there are no urgent appointments, the only one you can book is phone call back on the day. I have very similar symptoms and I said menopause/hrt.
hrt has helped. It's a process, but go for it.

Good suggestions already but write a full list of your symptoms out before you speak to your doctor, if you hate talking on the phone it can really help. And openly say 'can i run through my symptoms as im worried about forgetting to tell you something that might be important' because then you have the opening to talk through everything and not get stopped halfway through the list and told 'its x' - you need to be clear about how frequent and how severe the symptoms are.

Have you tried alternative medicine? I know it may sound weird but my mum saw a Chinese herbalist who also did acupuncture and it helped her so much with menopause.

I had the same the Dr sent me for blood tests said they were normal and ditched me to deal with it myself 🙄

Thanks. But I'm not even on it anymore. They prescribed 3 months without seeing me but wouldn't give another prescription without seeing me in person.

Not been able to get an appointment since. I've just not had a call back when I tried so have given up!

And then lockdown hit. So it's been a while!

I've called and been told to call back after 11...

I've been taking vit d for a couple of years after a few people I know were diagnosed with a deficiency.

Im 48 so i think peri is likely. Its the toral loss of confience/anxiety im finding hardest. Even phoning the GP feels unmanageable!

KILM

That's a good suggestion thanks.

If you actually want to try treatment for menopause to see if it improves your symptoms (ie before you look at mental health support) then tell the GP you want to try HRT and tell them the symptoms you have that match this (libido, anxiety, tiredness, brain fog).
It should be really straightforward to get a prescription started. If you have access to a machine (or can get to a pharmacy) then have your blood pressure reading with you when you call.

The doctor should ask about the following:

Anxiety
Stress
Concentration
Diet
Eating habits
Physical symptoms

And sleeping pattern. That's a good indicator.

Yes add disturbed sleep to my list

Energy levels
Mood
Enjoyment of life

In your case, I'd say, that you're anxious, not sleeping, not eating well, have poor concentration (assuming you have), low energy etc.

They should do bloods but they may start you on an antidepressant too.

The appointment system is ridiculous isn't it. I'm retired and I find it annoying having to wait for a phone call from the dr at an unspecified time. We live rurally and have poor mobile phone coverage so I can't get on with my usual outdoor activities. I often think how difficult it would be if I was working and in a meeting etc

It's absolutely outrageous that you have to take a day off work unpaid op in the hope that you can speak to a dr.

I hope you get the help and advice you need today.

Is it a case that you really need the appointment today, or that you can't phone at other times and make an appointment ahead. Either way, hope Dr can help.

They used to make advance appointments- around 6 weeks in advance - but the last time I spoke to them, they'd stopped doing that and this is now the only system they offer.

Unfortunately, all the local surgeries came together about 5 years ago so I can't even change practice because they're now under a single umbrella and all operate in the same way!

One of my friends was a partner in one of the surgeries and she took nearly retirement because of the changes being made.