Shelby hang on in there - it's a real crapshoot with GP's - the first one I had put me on a HRT med which was awful for me and I stuck it out for a month and then switched practices and now have a fantastic GP who changed my HRT and I feel so great at the moment - 10 days in on my new meds and I feel so so good.
I've read some real horror stories on this board with GP's so you aren't on your own - and it's totally normal to feel crap when faced with a situation like this - so know that you're not on your own.
If you can't afford to go private, see how the GP consult goes and then take it from there.
And if you're able to focus sufficiently in the meantime, look into making some dietary changes to see whether they might help. I say this because I've been requesting books on the menopause since all this blew up with me and the library staff have been working overtime as a result(!) - I think I've got 10 requests in at the moment!
But a lot of the books I have read so far all mention the value of making dietary changes, exercising and relaxation exercises. If you feel like shit it can be hard to make changes - and for most of April I felt bloody awful on the HRT I was on. But I did make some dietary changes and I really feel that they have helped me a bit. So, if you're up to it, it's worth reading around and seeing whether there's anything you can do in the interim period while you're waiting to see the GP.
Things that I'm doing diet wise:
1. I've given up all caffiene and tannine - so I only drink herbal tea - camomile, peppermint, ginger and nettle.
2. I take 2 tsp of flax seed oil every day.
3. I take a multivitamin every day.
4. I take an acidophilus pill every day (I started doing this because my bowels were messed up by the old HRT meds and I had constant diarrhea and I thought it might help them - changing my HRT meds has actually helped but I'm still taking this pill anyway!).
5. I eat more soy foods - so soy yogurt and tofu.
6. I eat more often - so snacks between meals - and I eat more protein too.
7. I've completely cut out sugar (aside from eating fruit which has natural fructose in it).
8. I've upped my fruit and vegetable intake.
9. I eat complex carbohydrates - porridge for breakfast, wholemeal bread for sarnies and brown rice or brown pasta with my main meals.
10. I eat oily fish twice a week (tinned mackerel and tinned salmon).
11. The proteins I eat are fish, chicken, lentils, beans, cheese and nuts.
I found this book helpful:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Must-My-Hormones-Bio-identical-Nutrition/dp/0718154304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271110287&sr=8-1Exercise wise I've only just started to get my energy fully back. I go for daily walks a lot at the moment which helps. But I've also done yoga and took an aquafit class this week. I also have a long standing meditation practice.
However if you're feeling shitty then exercise can be challenging. When I felt at my absolute worst I used to do a lot of relaxation exercises - I had a CD and did a body scan exercise which really helped.
Good luck and hang on in there,
Hugs xxx