Clueless at 52

[chalkyc2]

I find myself here all of a sudden having paid very little attention to all the small changes that have maybe been going on and just got swept up in busy full time working with young teens family life. I've not researched peri/menopause and now need to sort myself out!

I hit 52 last week. I've been on the mini pill for the last 10 years after a miscarriage and ablation process. So no periods apart from occasional random ones which seems to happen for me with the mini pill.

All has been ok. Bit tired. Nothing else. Then in the last month - I'm overheating. Especially at night. Not so much 'flushes' as waking up in a sweat. And so my sleep is terrible. And sex last night was painful.

Can anyone please recommend where I go to get the best advice? I'm assuming the stretched nhs is not an option and happy enough to pay or go through work bupa. I'd just like to know what to do (stop taking pill?) and whether hrt/anything is appropriate. And to focus on longer term health (suppose bones?!?).

Thanks so much and sorry for cluelessness.

Of course you can go and see your GP and I use private healthcare for absolutely everything else I possibly can. But it generally isnt needed for this unless your GP is rubbish.

Work out what type of HRT you want to take and ask to trial it for three months. You might want to switch to a Mirena as this provides both progesterone and contraception in place of your pill.

Hot sweats at night were my biggest sign, but I had them at 42!

I would see your HP in the first place. They have the best overall view of your health and menopause care is an every day part of their job. It is true that some are more expert than others and when you ring the surgery you could ask whether one of the docs , or sometimes a nurse, is a menopause specialist. After that if you want a more expert opinion there are options depending on area and, of course, your private health policy may have restrictions as to who , and for what purpose you get seen. Locally to us there is a NHS hospital clinic, an nhs community gynaecology clinic, private gynaecologists at the Nuffield and a private menopause clinic. You would need a GP letter if you are hoping for BUPA to pay. .Arm yourself with information on line in the first place.

If you have private health care use that to find a specialist. I wish I had as GP wasn’t very helpful to me, although she was the menopause GP at my surgery.

Thanks. Good to hear GP not necessarily useless. I rarely visit them and getting an appointment seems to be some sort of dark art but I will try to do so!

And in the meantime will research...

@yikes @Mindymomo @chalkyc2 Most private health insurance doesn't cover menopause as such.

I've had private health insurance for 40 years and it never covered menopause. It's usually listed as an exclusion as it's not an 'illness' and it's also an ongoing stage of life. (Insurance won't cover 'chronic' conditions.)

(You can refer yourself to most private consultants now and the fees range from £250-£350 (usually) for the first appt.)

Insurers will cover related conditions like heavy periods, gynaecology issues, bone health, and investigations into symptoms. But if they are diagnosed as menopause they won't cover for ongoing appointments (for HRT , for instance.)

I've read here that BUPA offers a meno package for £250 which includes a first appt and a follow-up over a set amount of time.

If you want general info, look at the online resources by Dr Louise Newson https://www.balance-menopause.com/menopause-library/ or the website Menopause Matters.

@JinglingSpringbells
Yes I realise that about most private cover I just wasn't certain whether some super-duper policies do cover it !

My GP has a menopause clinic. I had an initial phone chat with them a couple of weeks ago. For reference I'm 53 and similarly to you, I haven't really had any of the usual signs often or seriously enough to warrant doing much about!
The HP I spoke to seemed to agree, and agreed a sort of 'if it ain't broke don't try and fix it' attitude is best, which I'm happy to go along with to be honest as I find the HRT bamboozling.
Anyway, it was all very friendly, she said her door is always open and if in the future I need a bit of help, to get in touch. My way of thinking is that there are women having a hell of a time and I'm lucky I'm not one of them, for now

My GP was really good. I think most are pretty on-it about menopause these days. She recommended a free app called "Balance" which has a lot of information about HRT and peri/menopause so might be worth a look.

It's because it's a 'chronic' condition so eventually it becomes an 'existing condition', (which they don't cover.) They will cover associated symptoms for investigation, but won't cover ongoing appts for HRT etc. That's my experience anyway so anyone else can ask around.

I'm due to renew my pill prescription this month so I suppose it would be good to know if I even need to be taking it! I usually just buy it online - no time for faffing with GP - so if nothing else it would be interesting to see what stage I'm at.

I've always run pretty hot. But sweaty wake ups at night is annoying. DP doesn't seem to have realised the bedroom window has been open for the last week!