Who to see about HRT

[Amara123]

I have a few choices about who to consult where I live and I guess I'd like to hear your opinions in general.
I can go to my male GP, a local gynaecologist who has a special interest in menopause or a bougie menopause clinic (with good reviews).

I guess I'm absolutely frazzled and have probably been struggling with perimenopause symptoms for a few years. I don't want to be wasting time and my little remaining sanity on going down an ineffective route, I also want to make sure I'm properly looked after medically.

What are your experiences of the above in general? What would you do?

on what you’ve written I’d go with the Gp as he sounds like he has your best interest at heart. Then if you aren’t convinced he’s all clued up. You can always explore the other avenue.

That's a good point! I keep reading menopause threads which don't fill me with massive confidence in my GP, not him specifically but it seems to need a lot of tweaking and expertise

My GP was amazing and had to actually convince me to take HRT. I see a lot of women having to beg for it but she was great

Sorry, but what is a bougie menopause clinic? A brand of private clinics? 🤔

A 4th option would be to see if any family planning clinics in your area, also run menopause clinics. You'd need to ring and check. Some have clinics in their main clinic/hospital, or sessions in local GP practices. All NHS. You'd normally see either a gynaecologist or nurse practitioner who has experience in family planning/sexual health/menopause. I always found they had far more up to date knowledge of current meds/treatments and options.

Find Family planning services - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

I chose a consultant gynaecologist, not initially for menopause, (although I was 50+ at my first appt.)

I searched online.

Your GP is worth a try.

But if they aren't what you need, I'd start with your local private hospitals and look at who works there. If you can travel to anywhere with more choice, do that.

The British Menopause Society also has a list of Specialists on their Home page.

I'd reiterate that you need to do your own research into the training of whoever you see, because many of the newer private menopause clinics are being set up by GPs who have done a minimum of training in menopause. Some will be good but not all.

I'd start with the GP route. Interestingly my NHS meno clinic, when I asked why they didn't do regular blood tests as many private clinics do, said "yes I know private clinics do that and I can tell you that its entirely unnecessary and a good way to charge you more. If we needed to do monitoring blood tests in this NHS clinic, we'd do them. We don't. "

Now that may be controversial and I'd only 1 (female specialist) doctors opinion, but putting it here FYI.

I've had a mixture of private and NHS care for a variety of things over the years and you do have to be very careful as to who you choose in private as they (especially surgeons) can be far quicker to do bigger /more invasive treatments, rather than err on the side of wait-and-see / caution that NHS doctors generally pragmatically do.

Not all of private practitioners are 'trigger happy' but be sure that if you go the private route to really grill them hard on courses of treatment, and their justification.

Oh and HRT has transformed my life so I'm a big fan 😊

My GP is also a private meno specialist, so I am super lucky. I offered to go private, which would have cost £200 plus regular private prescriptions, but she was adamant I went via NHS, as free, and the same routine/advice. I just had to wait for weeks for an appointment as she only works one day a week, and is very popular, obviously!

I agree with some of what @itsmeafterall says.

I've never had a blood test while on HRT (15 years) and my specialist (who is also a surgeon) says they are unnecessary and inaccurate.

But on the contrary, specialists are often better at 'wait and see' rather than the tick-box mentality of the NHS where 'one size fits all'. I read about women here being referred for investigations at the drop of a hat, often because GPs and non-specialists don't understand the effects of HRT and how some sorts (for example) can cause odd bleeding.

One other point is that outside of the NHS, private consultants can prescribe off-licence and this gives more flexibility over the types and doses of HRT.

@JinglingSpringbells I agree, that's probably true for gynae stuff but not my experience on surgery stuff (not gynae) where some private surgeons seem quite scalpel happy!

Really good points here. I'm not in the UK and yes the bougie clinic is a private one.

I think I'll start with my GP, I'm probably well overdue for a general checkup.
I'll see how it goes with him first, he's a good guy.

Where are you then OP and why not mention in the OP that you aren't even in the UK??? Nearly all replies are a complete waste of our times to provide detailed advice, which is now irrelevant! 🙄

If you aren't in the UK, the advice here is irrelevant.
'GPs' mean different things in different countries.

Posters assumed you were in the UK.

Ireland, so the system is very similar from a clinical point of view.

And I've found the advice useful because it's made me think about what I'm trying to do.

So not a waste of time, thanks to all who posted.