I'm mid 50s. Had my last period at least 3 years ago. Ploughed my way through the horror that is peri-menopause without HRT. Kept thinking I'd go to the GP and then the symptoms would change again and the lockdowns didn't help and somehow I never got around to it. Also had zero faith that whichever random GP I'd speak to would be that helpful.
Menopause itself was a walk in the park after peri. Was enjoying not having periods, no mood swings, no hot flushes, the brain fog had lifted but I slowly started to feel like all my internal pelvic area was shriveling. It felt like the inside of me was shrinking, tightening and tugging on all the various innards bits. It was feeling really uncomfortable and was giving me an irritable bladder and I was waking up 2-3 times a night to pee. I tried the estrogen pessaries and they helped a bit but not enough. So, I went to see a specialist menopause GP privately and got systemic HRT.
I've been on it for coming up 3 weeks now and it feels as though a miracle has occurred inside my body. I have more energy, all the bladder irritation has disappeared, the horrible tight, dry, tugging feeling inside my pelvic area has disappeared. I swear that my skin looks less dry and wrinkly, my ears and eyes have stopped itching and I have refound some libido too!!!!!