To think GP's don't give a shit about menopause

[GentrifiedLDN]

I never realised how hard menopause would hit. For those who haven't been hit this time of their life yet, it fucking sucks ladies - No one and i mean NO ONE tells you how fucking awful this is and how no one gives a shit

I have visited the GP four times now to try and get help, and all they want to do is medicate each individual symptom without addressing the hormone imbalance.

GP seem more concerned about the potential (imo small) risks of HRT than the fact there is a suicidal woman sat in front of them and will fuck you off out the door with a pamphlet about local talking services that take three years to get an appointment at

Anxiety is absolutely awful, it is so bad I have even considered ending it all, as I can NOT live like this much longer

It took my sister four years to get given HRT and feel better.

I am going to have to go private. I can't take this anymore.

OP you don't need to wait to be offered HRT, do your own research about the risks and benefits and then simply request that your GP prescribes it. They really have no right to refuse unless you have some major co-morbidities. I asked for it and the GP was going to give me tablets, which I refused- I told her I'd been looking into it and would prefer Oestrogel and Utrogestan. Which I now have and it's great. Good luck.

My GP is bordering on negligent. They don't give a sh*t about your experience and get the nurse practitioner to prescribe and then never review your treatment.

I sadly not surprised - DM experience with surgical menopause was complete disinterest from GP she had to fight to start it then when wanted to come of due to headline shrug up to you.

I had years per DC of heavy painful periods - moved around a lot at time due to work and saw so many different GP all of whom had zero interests fobbed off and just tried to stick on pill - even when we were TTC - had similar with kid illness over the years marked difference if it me or DH who takes them.

It is luck of the draw though - so different GP or practise could help or printing of NICE guidelines and asking why they aren't following them could also work.

I’m sorry you have had such a hard time OP.

My experience was pretty much the opposite. I had some minor menopausal symptoms and my GP was waxing lyrical about HRT, couldn’t shut up about it and I almost felt pressured into agreeing to go on it.

I had some fairly unpleasant bleeding and had to come off it. Wouldn’t go back on.

Just shared my experience to demonstrate there’s a wide ranging response!!

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/new-study-confirms-link-between-plant-based-diet-rich-soy-and-reduced-menopause

Diet is everything! What you put in, helps massively.

I've had mixed experiences with GPs, more recently this has been good. It's such a shame you had to go private for basic HRT treatment. GPs (& non-medical prescribers) can easily access online NICE menopause guidance & online guidance about HRT use in primary care published by the Chelsea & Westminster (C&W) menopause clinic. Posting the latter link here for others who might be in your initial situation with a long wait for a gynae outpatient appointment. This C&W guidance also includes information for those with breast cancer, or risk of, as this is not always a contradiction to HRT use https://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/professionals/gp-hrt-advice-guidance

@Marmunia10667 Didn't know about the links with soy, thanks!

I am a 45 year old GP who has been entirely correctly prescribed antidepressants and not HRT - sometimes it is depression even in women of perimenopausal age and it’s worth remembering that.

Some GPs know less about menopause than others. Some GPs get it wrong when they shouldn’t (actually probably all of us sometimes get it wrong, the breadth of knowledge you need to be a GP is staggering and none of us is perfect).
Every GP I’ve ever met is genuinely sad and sorry when we make a mistake and wants to improve. I know this doesn’t help patients but it’s true.

People should be able to discuss their bad experiences with health care, I think that’s totally reasonable. But when I read things like @ZebraD comment saying that we only care about money it really upsets me and it isn’t true - if it was there’s no way I’d do this job.

To OP - I hope you get appropriate treatment very soon. Do feel free to tell your GP what you think that is and why, sometimes writing it down can be helpful to ensure everything gets across.

You know they missed my mums cancer on many occasions and now it's metastatic and she's dying.

She could barely get an appointment perhaps because of women constantly at the GPs throat and getting appointments about going through a normal change in their bodies.

Sorry if that's harsh but there isn't unlimited funds for everything.

I understand that you're upset about your mother, but there's really no excuse for being an ignorant CF.

Well, I'm a boomer. I've had to take HRT since I was 30 because of a total hysterectomy at that age.

I'm fine, still on HRT over 30 years later - but why the snarky comment?

We all do what we have to do.🙄

Every GP you've ever met is not a representative sample of all GPs. People make inappropriate negative generalizations about GPs because they've had appalling experiences, which are generally never resolved or dealt with properly. Ethically, you should be overlooking the generalization because you should understand where it's coming from. The appropriate response is to find out why the person feels that way.

NHS is a very mixed bag tbh. My GP surgery have been very supportive. Although the nurse doing my 6 monthly reviews keeps banging on about my weight (it's all hormonal belly weight and it's a bastard to keep off.) But I got given HRT on my 3rd appointment. Have been on it about 3 years. No intention of coming off it yet.

I don't know if you've listened to the Louise Newson podcasts @GentrifiedLDN but this particular recent one is scary and reassuring in equal measure. Lynseys mental health deteriorated so much and so rapidly that she tried to kill herself, her husband, who is a GP, kept saying the AD's and therapies aren't working, nothing was working, eventually he convinced (it was a huge struggle even for him) the doctors in the hospital treating her after her attempted suicide, that it could be hormonal, they finally gave her HRT and she started to improve very quickly. It's really worth a listen.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/my-menopause-doctor-dr-louise-newson-newson-health/id1459614845?i=1000626035399

It may be sad to read my comment about wanting the money but when you hear of NHS workers complain about their job, you don’t hear them complaining about the way that patients are treated. As soon as there is a pay rise, strikes stop! It’s ethically and morally wrong to be in a vocational job and do that in my opinion.
I am quite sure that having been a GP for 45 years you have seen some disturbing changes. I remember when I was much younger having a family GP who knew you. Not just a face or a phone. They actually knew you. That is what is needed.
GP’s are intelligent enough to understand that the menopause takes place and if they aren’t specialised in it then they should be able to direct easily enough.

My GP was great and I admit I may be in a minority here with that.

She gave me two options, antidepressants or hrt but then added that as I am riddled with endo that may flare up.

Was reluctant with either option but she said she couldn't send me away with nothing as she was worried about me. Top symptoms were insomnia, brain fog and anxiety - I was a shadow of my former self and just wanted to die. No hot flushes or periods as was on mini pill for the endo.

I said no to SSRI type anti D's as I just didn't want them so reluctantly opted for another type as anxiety/insomnia was my top symptom - I am a new woman!!!

So don't dismiss antidepressants at all as they may help. Everyone is different.

I am quite sure that having been a GP for 45 years you have seen some disturbing changes.

She said she was 45, not that she’d been a GP for 45 years. Why don’t people take the trouble to read what’s written? Sadly having a GP who knows you no longer happens because people abuse the system. So many appointments are taken up by people who don’t need to see a doctor at all.

@MatildaTheCat.. How on we're did you kmow you needed testosterone etc?

Re "anxiety" what is it? Panicking feeling? Worry about silly things?

@Frosty1000

If you don't mind me asking, how do you kmow you have endo and can endo flare up when your in mid cycle

I just meant the women over 50 I know (mostly my parents gen so 60s/70s) are boomers in the classic sense of having done very well out of the house price bubble, free and accessible higher education, etcetc and are therefore pretty rich and comfortable - so that may account for why they're happier rather than being past menopause! I wasn't having a dig at you personally. But it's certainly easier to be happy when you're the luckiest generation of them all economically.

Just meant the women over 50 I know are of that generation, and like many of that generation are comparatively well off and comfortable. Easier to be happy when you're rich! So it may not have to do with being post menopausal.

@GentrifiedLDN so initially it was antidepressants that helped, I’ve used Prozac and then venlafaxine. I ended up going to see a psychiatrist. Before that I think I did try hrt but the progesterone made things worse. However post menopause all of a sudden the antidepressants stopped working, Dr told me that they won’t work with low estrogen, apparently we have oestrogen receptors in our brain. So I had no choice but to try again with hrt, I used the oestrogen gel with a different progesterone and this seems to help.

im 2 years post menopause now and I do feel a bit more stable emotionally than when I was in perimenopause.

OP, I so hope you get some joy. I was advised to go in armed with facts based on NICE recommendation to prescribe based on symptoms. And to ask for whichever GP in the practice specialised in womens healthcare, if they have one.
Using the phrase ‘severely impacted quality of life’ or similar seems to tick a lot of boxes. Ditto lack of sleep. Also they seemed to ask quite a few questions about the effects on your relationship/partner.
I was aware HRT can help protect the heart and bones and was able to say there is family history of heart problems/osteoporosis. Haven’t RTFT but wishing you well.

It’s a nightmare trying to get a face to face appointment where I live but once I had got one my female Gp was fantastic. I told her how I was feeling, nightsweats, anxiety, heart palpitations, huge lack of energy etc and she immediately put me on HRt which has been really helpful, once u actually managed to see a doctor I had a very positive experience!

Gen X were born between 1965 and 1981 so the oldest Gen Xers are 58