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[dogdoc]

I was speaking with my husband this morning. I asked 'how do you get a movement started?'. I would say almost impossible unless there's a doctor ( preferably a specialist" in the movement itself.
I seriously debated asking my doctor if she'd like me to come give a talk to their docs ( probably about 10 docs in all)  about perimenopause...can you imagine? A vet giving a 'talk' to doctors. It would never happen. Thought about writing letters to the editor. Thought of many things...no answer.

But I bet if you surveyed 100 general practioners about what the symptoms of menopause were they would say: hot flashes, no periods. Hmmm...maybe vaginal dryness.
If you said, tingling, and dry eyes, and receding gumlines, and hair loss, and panic attacks they would tell you you were depressed, or anxious, they would recommend an SSRI. The end.

If I win a million dollars I'm going back to med school...to open a women's clinic.

[CLKD]

Now that would be diversification  - why wait ?  you are needed  ……….. 

[CLKD]

   you really are keen ………. or is that a meno-moment  ……….

Do Vet's still have drug company 'dos' ……… nibbles, wine, discussion about the latest ideas? I know when I was an orthopaedic secretary we had to arrange several over the years 

[Katejo]

Part of the problem is a lack of continuity when you go to the GP. If I go now, i just get the person on duty. It is a different one every time without exception. it seems impossible to request to see a particular person. I would love to have a woman GP who is of similar age to myself or a bit older. It is very hard to book an appointment in advance. I am on  the books for a particular GP (male) but haven't actually seen him for at least 18 months, probably more.

[CLKD]

I think 1 is registered with a Practice these days but I can see 'my' GP if I want to.

[Dorothy]

I would love to have a woman GP who is of similar age to myself or a bit older. It is very hard to book an appointment in advance. I am on  the books for a particular GP (male) but haven't actually seen him for at least 18 months, probably more.

Doesn't always help - the GP specialising in women's health at my local surgery is a woman my age and is the most unhelpful one of the lot.  I also had appalling treatment from a female gynaecologist who wanted to know why I was 'bothering' her when I wasn't trying to conceive (I had been bleeding continuously for a year, but apparently, it was only worth checking up on if I wanted to start a family...)  The gynaecologist who finally operated was male and couldn't have been kinder or more helpful, even answering the questions I was too upset to ask, so must have been very in tune with what bothers women in these situations.  I think the problem is that some female medics think 'I have period/menopause problems and I'm not making a fuss, so why is she?' and don't stop to think that your situation might be worse.  The men don't 'know' what it is like, so are sometimes more open to listening to us telling them what it is like.

[honeybun]

My best GP for menopause must be early 30s. She is lovely, sympathetic and kind although I have to say I don't bother them much for that.
I think I was quite lucky. I decided I could not put up with flushes and sweats and insomnia. I wasn't on the forum at that point but had heard of HRT patches. I just went and asked. The GP outlined the risks but also the benefits and I came out with my prescription. I have changed a couple of times trying to find an HRT that would help my anxiety but eventually just returned to my original patches. Again she was willing to listen and help.

I don't have a choice of practises as there is only one in my small town...there are about seven GPs though.


Honeybun
X

[BrightLight]

Great idea! However there would be no money in it,certainly none from NHS, as these " things" aren't seen as life threatening so where there is no financial support or gains to be had it ain't gonna happen more's the pity ! 

And here lies, what I think is the fundamental truth. Unless a GP has a personal interest in the menopause, it's management and research, they have no incentive, time or knowledge to devote to this area. They are paid to diagnose and spot certain diseases. GP's also often have poor communication skills, so it's a double whammy in so far as getting a confident, caring and knowledgable response to female health issues around menopause.

When I was in my late teens and 20's I am sure there were well woman clinics - nurse run etc, that would help.

[dogdoc]

Agreed all round. Dorothy I think you are 100% correct when you say a lot of OB's are mostly interested in conception and nothing else. Even their language uses this. When my FSH came back normal ( although my estrogen is that of a post menopausal women at certain times) she said low FSH shows I have 'good follicular reserve'...this is fertility speak...she's interested in how many eggs I have left. I couldn't care if my eggs are three headed and green!!! Stop my PVC;s...give me a good night's sleep!! ARGHH.

I still like my GP but in this respect her response when I asked ( more than a year ago when the headaches first started) if she thought the headaches and brain fog might be perimenopausal. Her response to me was  that "she didn't believe in perimenopause. She feels it's just a dumping ground for middle aged women to put all their problems, because they don't like getting older, and that she herself was technically 'perimenopausal' and she's fine....so. Um. Yah. There ya go!

CkLD...I wish I had drug company 'do's'. I'm an emergency vet...the drug companies don't even know we exist because we're open, nights, holidays and weekends. LOL. They're strictly 9-4 types.

Tara

[CLKD]

Proves that 1 has to have experienced a situation in order to empathise ……….

But if we didn't have symptoms we wouldn't be going to the GPs  .  We need a MOVEMENT on World Womans' Day!

[hanbanan]

Hello all. Just had to jump in. I'm posting here in a personal capacity, but am actually a trainee GP undertaking further training in post-reproductive health. I am also in surgical menopause at the age of 36 (I had surgery at 35), so see things from both sides. Being plunged into premature menopause really opened my eyes to the woeful state of menopausal health care in the general medical field. Yes, there are excellent dedicated doctors like Dr Currie out there, but most medics are not very well-versed when it comes to good menopausal health care and it's generally pot luck whether you get an interested/well-informed GP. I'm not wishing to sound too defensive, but it's barely touched upon in medical school and you can also qualify in GP without ever having had a placement in O&G. A number of books are also out of date on the subject, and this includes the BNF which is our prescribing bible (the references in the HRT section, for example, point to "evidence" which has since been overturned...).

Anyway...the reason I've popped into this thread is to say that hopefully change is afoot. If you haven't already seen, Cochrane UK is running a menopause blog series this week (first post here http://www.evidentlycochrane.net/menopause-matters-experience-evidence/ and there are guest blogs also now up). This has been timed to coincide with an NHS Change Day campaign called #changethechange - aiming to connect professionals interested in improving menopausal health care and to direct people (public and professionals) to the facts/best evidence in this area. The campaign actually launches formally tomorrow and NHS Change Day is on Weds. #changethechange will appear under this section http://changeday.nhs.uk/campaigns/ More info here: http://menopauseuk.org/changethechange/

I hope this info, and the fact that a "movement" of sorts is going on, will give you some hope. Fingers crossed!!

[CLKD]

 

How can a GP Trainee not 'go' through all the Specialities  - when I worked in a training hospital they went through every Dept. going [except domestic services]  ………..

Menopause is so 'way down the line' for Trainees it doesn't surprise me that it isn't covered.  Perhaps you could start a separate thread?

[hanbanan]

Sadly it is way down the line, but then so are many other things. It's a problem when we are supposed to know about *everything* - we can never have in-depth knowledge of all areas and so, sadly, will always be seen to be failing certain groups of patients. However, menopause obviously affects around 50% of the population at one time or another and so awareness certainly needs to be raised, including regarding its impact on long-term conditions such as diabetes etc (loads more research needed here). It would hugely benefit both patients and doctors, but we still have a long way to go. I don't think I'll start another thread on this forum re this as I'm not posting here as a doctor (well, I am, but you know what I mean!) but it's definitely something I will be talking about with colleagues involved in the #changethechange campaign.

Interesting that you saw trainees going through all departments. I have never known that to be the case. It's pretty impossible to cover everything in the hospital as there just aren't the posts available (especially in areas like dermatology and ENT)...but you would hope to cover O&G, paeds, psychiatry etc and it's certainly not the case for everyone. Sigh.

[peegeetip]

Hi Hanbanan

perhaps we should all print your post and pin it on the notice board of our surgeries.

I think a lot of us have been affected, tested on, worried and all unnecessarily so, due to this lack of for a better word "understanding" of both Peri and Meno and how it can affect our bodies and minds.

I hope that we can also step away from the "doc knows best attitude".
A lot of other ladies have vented frustration at being told this or that with little view to what they feel or want.

I think brightlight mentioned communication is often a problem with our doc.
That in part is often a product of a selection process getting people who are almost unnaturally academic then asking them to be brilliant on a subjective and empathetic process that is supposed to be a two way feedback based communication.
Often a challenge imho and from what I've seen.

Perhaps selection for Doc should be a little more "real" world type of people
Real world people sometimes "don't know" but for a doc they have been placed on this almost superhuman "they will know it" pedestal!!
As you say "how can they" know everything but often the doc's should not give the impression that they do.

I hope one day to see them sort out this mess and ensure we all get the proper and caring treatment we all deserve for our condition.

 

[CLKD]

GP Trainees certainly went through all the Specialities in the 1970s/80s ……… 6 months in each including GP Surgeries.  The NHS had to make vacancies available or what was the point?  The Trainees were with us for 3 years ……..