Have appt with GP to discuss HRT, any tips?

[Ilikeyoursleeves]

I’m coming out of denial. I am now 50 and think it’s time I see the GP. I don’t have any typical hot flushes, night sweats etc but I have brain fog and my memory is so bad. Hair seems to becoming out more, nails are brittle, joints more sore, irregular periods, low iron levels.

I generally keep good health, have a healthy BMI and walk lots but after finding out I’m mildly anaemic I thought I’d get this checked out plus ask about HRT.

What should I be asking?

Just that you want to try HRT. Transdermal ie gel,patches and sprays are the best way to have estrogen and body identical progesterone (utrogestan) are considered the options with the least risk factors (although risk factors with the other options are minimal). Let them know all your symptoms and be instant if you need to be. I hear a lot of women struggle to get HRT from the gp. Let us know how you get on

There are over 40 recognised symptoms of perimenopause - hot flushes and night sweats are just 2 of them. Sounds like you have plenty of others!

If you want HRT, then make that clear. They may want to do blood tests for general stuff like thyroid, vit D, B12 etc but hormone blood tests are a waste of time so don't be fobbed off with them. The NICE guidelines are to diagnose perimenopause based on symptoms not blood tests if you're 45 or over. They should be discussing HRT with you as well as nutrition, sleep, exercise and stress

Sounds like you're taking good care of your health in general which is massively important. I highly recommend HRT but it's not a magic bullet. Good luck - be prepared to stand your ground but hopefully you won't have a battle on your hands 👍

My GP was very supportive and it was done over the telephone - which was great as I could refer to my notes to make sure I didn't miss anything - but if yours if face to face take notes with you (it shows the brain fog!)

I had done the Balance app questionnaire, read up on menopause/HRT benefits vs risks so I was prepared but in the end I just said "It has been 2 years since my last period, I am experiencing <list of symptoms from notes> that are all menopause symptoms, and they are now impacting my quality of life, and impacting my work <explain why from notes - for me it was mostly broken sleep due to flushes and brain fog - forgetting words, unable to concentrate>. I have read up on HRT and think I would like to try patches and micronised progesterone <why I preferred this option from notes>. I also have symptoms of vaginal atrophy, <list symptoms from notes> and would like to try vaginal estrogen in either a cream or pessary whatever you think is best"

She asked me a couple of questions (my weight/BMI, what type of job I had, mostly family history of cancer) and issued a prescription for the 3 items.

I had to have a gatekeeping appointment with a normal GP and then got permission to make an appointment with the women's health specialist GP, who then demonstrated all the options and went through the pros and cons and wanted me to then make another appointment in a few months once I'd made my mind up - which would have been 3 more GP appointments than I'd had in the previous 10 years. I did point that out and got a prescription there and then.

In my case over 12 years ago, my GP despite being the menopause GP at our practice wasn’t very forthcoming, I saw her 3 times and each time I went away just being told to think about HRT and I suffered because what I really wanted was for her to tell me just to try it. I really didn’t push hard enough, thinking menopause wouldn’t last long, which wasn’t the case. By the time I finally said I wanted to try, there was always an issue with my blood pressure, so I didn’t end up taking HRT. Who knows if I had of taken it when I first saw GP, my menopause journey could have been so much better. In fact if I was to go back in time I would have paid privately to see a menopause specialist.

@Blanketpolicy , excellent advice about writing notes and taking them in with you 👍