Menopause advice needed

[davidleo]

Has anyone else found menopause support incredibly difficult to access lately?

A close family member of mine has been really struggling with what seem to be fairly classic menopause/perimenopause symptoms (sleep problems, anxiety, hot flushes, brain fog etc) but getting proper support through the GP has been surprisingly difficult and slow.

It feels like menopause awareness is everywhere now in the media, but in reality a lot of women still seem to be left trying to work everything out for themselves.

I was just wondering:

• how easy people found it to get diagnosed/helped?
• whether people went NHS or private?
• and whether HRT genuinely helped once started?

Would really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences because it feels quite overwhelming trying to navigate it all.

Really easy. NHS. Definitely helping.

It does seem to vary hugely depending on your individual GP, though. I was lucky, and possibly helped by actually presenting with a different condition rather than going in purely about the perimenpausal symptoms (which I was on the brink of doing if the anaemia hadn't got there first).

I'd suggest your family member tries a different GP in the practice - ask if they have one with a special interest in menopause or women's health. And go armed with the NICE guidance.

I’m struggling 😭 went in today to see the GP after waiting weeks and he told me I shouldn’t have booked a ‘standard’ appointment (meaning I should have booked a double appointment). He said he would send me some links to websites and to book another appointment after I had read them…
… I will book another appointment but with an older female GP. Lesson learnt.

He did ask me if I was suicidal and I said no, so maybe I didn’t fulfil the criteria