GP is hostile to HRT

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Whenever I speak to my GP about HRT she is always very negative about it. Her voice takes on a kind of condescending tone and she does a big exasperated sigh and says things like

“you’re only delaying the inevitable”

”the earlier you start hrt the sooner you will need to stop taking it”

“the higher the dose you take now the worse it will be for you when you need to stop”

”you can only take hrt for 5 years maximum”

”hrt won’t solve all your woes, I’d like to try you on an antidepressant”

”you should do more exercise, lose weight, stop drinking, stop smoking, eat more fresh fruit and veg to feel better”

”I can’t proscribe you both HRT patches and vaginal HRT because that would be too much estrogen for your body to cope with”

”you don’t need it, the menopause is a natural part of aging and we need to accept that”

I am not depressed, I haven’t had an alcoholic drink since I was a teenager, I don’t smoke and never have, I have always exercised, am not overweight and eat a healthy home cooked diet with at least 10 servings of fresh fruit and veg a day. None of that prevents my hot flushes, night sweats and the subsequent lack of sleep. I am in my mid 40s.

For the record she is about 50 herself and I assume she is also at least in perimenopause.

Why is she so hostile to HRT? I’ve read the nice guidance on hrt and the guidance from the British menopause society which goes against what she says. She seems to hate proscribing it and it was only because I went in having done a lot of research that I didn’t let her fob me off. I imagine lots of women if they haven’t looked at the nice guidelines and she is their first port of call will walk away empty handed.

I do now have an hrt patch and feel much better but as I said she won’t prescribe vaginal hrt for me because that would be “too much estrogen in my body” so I’m having to buy that privately which I can barely afford but I need it. If I ever need testosterone I doubt it would be prescribed by her either.

So frustrating, you’d think if anyone would be sympathetic about the menopause it would be a female GP in her 50s?

I’m 42 and cannot get HRT from the GP either. Latest fob off was an ultrasound for irregular periods which came back completely normal. I wonder how many more hoops I can go through before I reach the magic age of 45!

You are unlucky. I've been on it for about 3 years now, and most of my friends are in some form or another. We are up North with varying practices and GP's.
I'd change my GP in your situation. Good luck.

Hi OP - I went to my GP with a bunch of perimenopausal symptoms and was in my late 40s. She was going to prescribe HRT, but then realised I'd had a DVT and PE 2 years previously and said she would refer me to a specialist because she was worried about the risk of it happening again (my haematologist couldn't find any underlying condition that causes the clotting so we chalked it up to 'being unlucky' and I'm on a low dose of anticoagulants indefinitely).

Knowing a referral to a specialist in the NHS would take a long time, I got in touch with the Newson Health Clinic, established by Dr Louise Newson or as me and some of my friends call her Captain Menopause. I had an online appointment scheduled within a week with a GP on their team who specialised in womens health and menopause and by the end of that appointment I had a prescription for oestrogen patches, progesterone tablets, vaginal oestrogen cream and testosterone.

That appointment cost me about £350. Having a private prescription also would cost a lot more than 10 quid an item as it does on the NHS. So I went back to my GP surgery who had received a letter from Newson outlining my appointment, diagnosis and outcome. They agreed to write an NHS prescription for everything except the testosterone and Newson gave me a separate prescription for that which I paid for through their online pharmacy (about 40 quid I think for a few months supply).

Now, it didn't quite work out for me because of a chronic health condition and it aggravates rhe symptoms too much. Newson gave me two follow up and advice phone calls at no charge to try and manage it but I had to abandon it. Eventually - about 6 months later - I started on the oestrogen cream again and I use that now because it doesn't worsen symptoms in my other health condition.

Now I did all this and paid the money because I just wanted it sorted ASAP. I was very lucky that I could afford to do so.

I did have a situation with a GP a number of years ago, refusing to continue prescribing the contraception pill because the advice in the BNF had changed in respect of BMI. I went away and got some evidence from the RCOG and WHO (sorry about all the acronyms) and he still refused to prescribe it. So I took it up with the Patient Advice and Liasion Service (PALS - thought it was important to spell that one out) and they referred me to a GP with gynae specialism who was working in the local walk in clinic. She prescribed the pill in about 10 seconds.

So if you can afford it, OP - go to Newson. The prescription for HRT that my GP put on my record is still there if I want it (it's on my prescription app anyway) and you can get a pre-payment certificate which is about £10 a month and all your meds are then 'free'.

Or go to another GP or PALs or complain to your local Integrated Care Board.

Yes it's also very expensive over the counter

She needs reporting and sent back bloody medical school for a refresher.

Assuming you are also taking progesterone as well if you still have your uterus and not just oestrogen?

Change GP but I would be writing that to the practice manager with concerns.

What the same way a man gets a floppy knob and goes demanding viagra!

We are allowed to advocate for the treatments we need to make our life better and manage to thrive, or should we all just put up with feeling utterly shit daily?

There are recent research that dispute the risk being as high as it was when they said it did 30 years ago. Just a shame it's going to take a long time to trickle down.

What do you mean by doubling the dose @alexdgr8 ?

Do you mean using vaginal estrogen as well as systemic?

That's not doubling the dose.

Vaginal estrogen is not absorbed into the body. It stays in the vagina.

Many women use both- it's quite mainstream to do this.

There are many other options other than the Newson clinics if anyone wants private HRT.

Newson aren't cheap and TBH they charge close to what you'd pay for a consultant gynaecologist in the most expensive parts of London.

I know they are easily accessible, but a lot of the drs there are only GPs. It's worth shopping around.

There are only risks if there is breast cancer in the immediate family!
The pros far outright any risks as HRT protects bones and the heart. It also gives most women who take it their lives back.

Guys I know this thread is about 2 months old but I just want to say I got HRT without ever seeing a doctor.
Boots online doctor service prescribed me HRT after a short question session online. I had already researched to see what one I wanted to try and they said this was fine. It cost £44 for 3 months supply (Femoston 1/10) and the pharmacist said they will contact me in 2 months to review how I am going and to re-order if I want to continue.
They are great and very helpful, doesn't cost a penny apart from the HRT drugs.

No jumping through hoops to see a GP.
No need to see a gynae.

The symptoms I flagged were insomnia, low mood, joint pain and a couple of others.

If you go armed with some knowledge about the type of HRT you would like to try they are very helpful. I think they do contact your GP to let them know but that was it.