To be absolutely sick of the ‘natural menopause is good’ narrative!

[Lightsideofthemoon]

This article was all over the media yeaterday:
https://unherd.com/2024/03/has-hrt-propaganda-misled-women/

It makes me so angry! Why is it that suddenly seeking treatment for symptoms in menopause being framed like this? In no other area of health is it considered acceptable to not seek treatment if you have debilitating symptoms. It’s utter misogyny.

Its ok for men in mid life to get treatment for their erectile dysfunction but women, ‘battle on through with some yoga and vitamins and stop complaining’

It reminds me a bit of the slightly toxic NCT ‘natural births and breastfeeding’ are the best way making any women who had a medical birth and couldn’t breastfeed an utter failure.

How is this narrative acceptable for women’s Heath? Menopause is absolutely fucking awful for some women - if you sail through with no symptoms, all power to you, but HRT is a lifesaver for many women.

Also try getting treatment for endometriosis, years and years of pain people suffer to be told by often male drs that periods hurt it's normal.
I'm not at the menopause stage yet but can feel your pain op from my experience of this. Women's health is so behind that of other areas of health

This is part of why I find it so strange.
Getting help for fibroids was like pulling eye teeth even though it was severely detrimental to my life. The hot flushes are trivial compared to what I have been putting up with for years and yet all of a sudden I am being pushed towards treatment.

My menopause was horrendous, I was permanently soaked and my clothes stuck to me with sweat and I had a mental breakdown and was off work for 6 months. As soon as I took HRT I was back to normal.

Slows ageing? Biologically redundant? That you, back from the dead, Robert A. Wilson?

This is very nuanced. Overall I think the fact more women feel more empowered to ask for and get HRT is a huge positive. The fact that it’s gone from being niche with suggestions it “causes cancer” to being more widely accepted is a good thing.

I personally huge hugely benefited from it: it’s take perimenopause from a nightmare to something I barely notice. Unless you are in a high risk group the downside of greater support for HRT seem minimal.

I have to say, though, that while I do support the greater awareness about menopause and the fact it is losing its taboo, I do think it’s somewhat over medicalised. There’s some truth to the idea that menopause becomes a catch all for any symptom a woman of a certain age experiences. It’s used to justify poor behaviour and to explain everything from days off sick to irritability.

I don’t think any gathering of women these days is complete without long discussion about it. It’s frankly incredibly boring to hear people banging on about it all the time. Davina and Mariella and the rest of them have had a good go at it, a period of graceful silence on their part would now be appreciated.

It's a really interesting, balanced article based on the actual evidence regarding HRT. It certainly doesn't say anything remotely like ‘battle on through with some yoga and vitamins and stop complaining’. That is a complete misrepresentation by the OP.

I'm sure it's a coincidence that one of the authors is well-known for her gender critical views.

This. Fucking male dominated health service.

Redundant? Actually I think biology dictates that human females have a useful life after fertility. Otherwise we would just stop reproducing and pop out clogs.

It makes me so angry! Why is it that suddenly seeking treatment for symptoms in menopause being framed like this? In no other area of health is it considered acceptable to not seek treatment if you have debilitating symptoms. It’s utter misogyny.

Having now read the mild and to my mind quite balanced article, I am astonished at your anger and indignation over it. It is really not saying what you imagine it is saying.