Newson Health and the menopause industry

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8e5y4e83lo

Keeping an eye on this. Newson makes an awful lot of money out of HRT.

I'm very sorry that HRT is not an option for you. There certainly are women it can benefit, even though as I said, it is generally oversold and unnecessary for the majority.

Yeah I didn't want to feel 21 again either. Feeling not-suicidal was a start. Sounds just like my GP who said I should take folic acid and try the Headspace app. 🙄

Seriously. Women are having to fight tooth and nail in many situations to get HRT patches. I was fobbed off twice by two (female, middle aged) GPs who when faced with a woman in her late 40s who had had a hysterectomy and who was in tears in the surgery just reached for the prescription pad and dished out anti depressants. Then a third (younger, male) GP who did some blood tests, pronounced me "normal" and said I should take folic acid. Then FINALLY after struggling on for another few months spoke to a fourth (middle aged, male) GP who agreed that I could have estrogen patches.

This is not an unusual experience. Many of my friends have experienced similar battles with the NHS to get a basic prescription of patches/gel and progesterone if you need it. The reason these clinics exist is that the NHS is failing women so badly.

Sincerely glad it has helped you and I hope you were able to get the help you needed on the NHS.

The uptake of HRT in southern European countries like Greece, Italy or Spain is very, very low compared to the UK and Scandinavia. There are lots of cultural reasons at play here.

This is really poor and I agree it encourages private clinics who may have a very different agenda. It is not something i recognise from my clinical practice or amongst my menoapusal friends though. I wonder why there is such a big variation in practice given that NICE guidelines are pretty comprehensive.

I am in Italy - home of the attitude "if women go through it, it should not be medicated!" 😂 I had one induced birth with no pain relief (and that includes gas and air) and one c-section with only a handful of paracetamol. They really don't like medication for anything around reproduction. There seem to be far more gender specialists advocating hormone treatment for dysphoria than gynaecologists for menopausal women....

My GP was brilliant - listened to me, asked me about diet and exercise, agreed I was doing the right things and prescribed HRT straight away. I’m really sorry for women who don’t feel listened too or well treated

My new menopause nurse at my local surgery says she soends a lot of time undoing the harm Newson has done- huge doses of oestrogen, and testosterone given to all which has made some women she sees have irreversible male pattern baldness.

This

Let's say it again

Just to add she was the most amazing woman - hrt no issue plus she recommended and prescribed vagifem and I'm having a blood test to detect testosterone levels next week. All on the NHS!

I find her a bit cult-ish. I once questioned the whole anti-depressants versus HRT thing on a forum and ended up being completely piled-on by her acolytes. For some HRT isn't the answer - for me it was Prozac that got me out of the scariest pit of depression. HRT didn't really do jack-shit.

@WitheringHighs It's interesting that you wish for more funding for PCOS - and I agree. I don't think many women have it explained to them that it can indirectly be the cause of limiting life. I pay double premium for critical illness cover after I bought a house, and assumed that this was because both my parents and two grandparents died of cancer prior to retirement at relatively early ages. Nope. Turns out it's because the issues that PCOS can cause (hypertension, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease etc) are more likely to kill me than cancer, even with my awful family history. It's only in the last two years (and I'm 52) that it's been explained to me that heath-wise I'm in trouble and need to up my game.

This is spot on. I have a very busy stressful job which is well paid and has high expectations of me in terms of performance. I am a higher rate tax payer and a net contributer to the public purse with minimal other demands (my kids are privately educated for example). I couldn't sleep for a couple of years due to peri symptoms. I tried everything natural first and it didn't work. HRT has enabled me to continue working effectively. I'm not exaggerating to say I would have been sacked had it continued for longer.
I agree not for everyone but given the history in my family is cardiac and osteoporosis problems and not cancer, it's absolutely the right answer for me.

I very recently had an appointment with Newson and I picked a gynae consultant who has specialist training in areas pertinent to my history. It was rushed and not a warm experience. The willingness to prescribe the full works, and to leave you on your own for 3 months until review, felt careless, esp as bloods are not taken before prescribing (thankfully I had already had relevant bloods taken privately) I've taken some advice on board but I won't be attending the follow up and I couldn't recommend them based on my personal experience. For me, the menopause has felt like a pick your poison moment and too many schools of thought make research a minefield.

Have now remembered that when I asked my GP surgery if they would take on my prescribing it was very 'we'll have to check, we have a lot of women who go privately and are prescribed stuff we aren't prepared to pick up'

I'm not surprised to hear this at all.

I had a consultation with them during the pandemic, because my anxiety was sky-high, I was struggling to focus on work and not sleeping, all of which I knew were symptoms of peri-menopause. I didn't want to bother my GP at that time, and wasn't sure if I'd even get a slot there, and I figured that paying an astronomical sum for a private consultation would at least allow me plenty of time for an in-depth conversation about symptoms and my background and whether HRT might be a solution.

I spent two minutes describing my symptoms to a nodding doctor on zoom, who then declared I was a perfect candidate for HRT and spent the rest of the 15 minute consultation talking me through the complicated routine of using it. I paid £315 for gel and tablets, but when they arrived I kept putting off starting them because I was afraid of messing with my body when ALL my symptoms were mental/emotional. Two years later I gave them away to another poster on the menopause board, after I'd spoken to my GP who said that, with my history of anxiety, it was highly unlikely to have a hormonal cause and - even if it did - the regime I'd been prescribed by Newson was absolutely not what she would recommend.

For me, it was an expensive mistake ever seeking their 'help', but I'm glad I listened to my gut and didn't take medication I didn't need, making it an expensive AND dangerous mistake. Four years on my perimenopause is progressing with no noticeable symptoms other than periods getting further apart (74 days and counting just now...) and down to a couple of days in duration. Newson's advice was the exact opposite of the personal and in-depth service I had expected from an 'expert' private clinic.

I stopped my HRT two weeks ago due to heavy bleeding and clotting. 2mg of estradiol 1mg of notetherone? I went right through the pad knickers and pyjama bottoms i was wearing through the old t shirt i was sitting on and onto the sofa. I had all the synptoms come back Period pain Piles Sludgy poo. Sore from bleeding (periods always made me sore down there right from eleven years old) Ultrasound tommorrow as a precaution. i hadnt had a period for two years + and have been on mini pill for three years. I didnt have a problem sex wise until i experienced the bleeding on HRT Periods have always made me sore down there right from the age of eleven when they started. I gave HRT a go because i was worried about things like vaginal atrophy so i was thinking of the future. (im 51 and currently have no problem in the sex and orgasms department) I think i was trying to fix something that currently isnt broken. I do use the Yes products occasionally. The Yes vaginal moisturiser helped with the soreness after the bleeding stopped. Personally my experience has put me off HRT. Vaginal atrophy or soreness from bleeding..............the result is the same Too sore for sex!

Agree re the culty aspect. I commented blandly on a thread on the menopause board once about alternatives to HRT and the response was startling.

I understand that HRT is helpful for some and that's great, but the strength of response to mild comments expressing doubt that it was the best option for all, or that there may be some contra indications to taking it forever, was what first aroused my suspicions tbh.

I'm sure there are issues with how the NHS supports women through the menopause- that doesn't mean that private clinics are necessarily in.the right, unfortunately.

It’s interesting to see the push back against LN and her clinics. My GP colleagues and I think she’s a menace and has created an atmosphere of overmedicalisation for many menopausal women.

Yes there are large numbers of women who need and will benefit from HRT; there are also large numbers of women who would benefit from lifestyle changes first, and who need their expectations managed in terms of what HRT can and should do.

I believe she’s overegged the HRT pudding and grossly minimised or ignored the risks of excessively high dose prescribing.

If you can sail through your menopause without HRT then good for you. If you can manage your symptoms with a bit of positive thinking, yoga and getting out for a daily walk then nobody is saying there is anything wrong with that. What is wrong is that women who are making appointments to see their GP about menopausal symptoms are being fobbed off and told that HRT is not appropriate for whatever spurious reason. Women are only paying to see private menopause doctors as a last resort - do you really, really think that women are jumping on a bandwagon involving paying hundreds a quarter for consultations and private prescriptions just because they have been swept along with social media or because a celeb has said it worked for her?

GPs like @WitheringHighs who take a view of prescribing unless there is a strong reason not to are in the minority, in my experience. My own GPs were very reluctant and it took 4 attempts - even though I am much lower risk as I'm just having the estrogen. Had I been refused on my 4th attempt I would have gone the private route too.

who need their expectations managed in terms of what HRT can and should do

What can't it do? What unreasonable expectations do women have about hrt? What lifestyle changes help hot flushes and brain fog and painful joints and osteoporosis?

And vaginal atrophy...

So that's why I'm taking folic acid!! (I'd forgotten why I was taking that!)

I'll be honest I have the opposite problem I have GPs and my gynacologist always trying to get me on HRT and every time I have to remind them I can't take the bloody stuff due to contraindications.

Maybe we need to switch locations!

My expectations, rightly or wrongly, aren't about managing menopausal symptoms (though I have a number of them) but about protecting my long term health. I have the mirena coil to manage my endo and hyperplasia and I have oestrogen (just one pump atm) to protect against heart disease, osteoporosis and dementia. I was also issued testosterone, for low libido and sharper thinking, by Newson, but havent taken it and I won't. I am post meno age 47 and so I'm being encouraged to think about HRT in a systemic way not to manage symptoms per se.

I see many many women who have atypical symptoms and think, or have been led to believe, that HRT is the answer to all their prayers.

A lot of the time what they need is more support from their spouse/employer/kids, or some time carved out for them alone to focus on themselves instead of everyone else. Time to improve their diet, time to exercise, time to enjoy hobbies or friends.

@Hillsmakeyoustrong Sorry if silly question but how does the oestrogen help prevent the conditions you mention? Are all women at risk from these because of the menopause and low oestrogen? I'm 43 and only just starting what I think could be peri symptoms, ashamed to say I know nothing about HRT and very little about the menopause at this stage