Hi all.
After having problems with several doctors messing with my HRT prescriptions after moving house 3 years ago, I eventually found a lovely one recommended by the local chemist. He had no issues prescribing everything I was previously on and was very supportive.
I’d only been seeing him just over a year when he suddenly went off sick and has now had to retire.
I have now just had a review with a new doctor who said he’s never come across anyone on the regime I’m on and that he’s very concerned about the high dose of hormones. He asked me who put me on this regime and I explained it was a very experienced menopause doctor who I saw every 6 months.
I use Evorel patches at 150 dose, utrogestan 12 days monthly, Vagifem twice weekly and 10th sachet Testogel daily. I was on Evorel 100 up till last year but symptoms were coming back, low mood, bad dreams etc.
He said he’s been practicing 15 years and never come across any woman using testosterone and is far from happy about it and is going to consult a specialist before reauthorising any more HRT. I told him I’ve already had the Testogel approved by a specialist just after moving here as another doctor at this practice had the same concerns and wouldn’t prescribe it. I also had to have the Vagifem reauthorised about a year ago after another idiot stopped it without even speaking to me. He is still going to consult the specialist though and said I’ll get a letter from them.
He also questioned the Vagifem and asked what I’m using it for! I explained this along with the NICE/BMS guidelines but he said he had those up on the computer and it said they should only be used for 3 months maximum. I know that’s a load of crap as they say it must be used for life otherwise the symptoms come back.
He mentioned that recent new breast cancer study and asked me how long I’ve been on HRT and said that it should only be used for 2 years due to the risks. I told him I know all about it and it’s mostly based on that useless WHI thing from years ago. I’ve been on HRT 6 years.
This got me really worried as I thought he was going to stop it all completely so I asked him if that’s what he was going to do but he said he wouldn’t do that and reminded me I’ve still got 3 months of prescription issues left to go from my last review 9 months ago.
I’m hoping he’s only refusing to reauthorise the Testogel as I’ve got some in reserve. I got the impression he might lower the patch dose but he didn’t mention that. If he stops the Vagifem I believe you can get them (and the patches) from online pharmacies. My biggest problem would be the Utrogestan as I can’t find that online anywhere.
He just kept banging on about the virus and said “It’s far more important than HRT and is a world health emergency, haven’t you been watching the news?? I told him I most certainly have!
This conversation was all going on over the phone due to this virus thing and he told me I need to weigh myself and get my blood pressure reading done as they’re not doing it at the surgery, and that I’ll have to find a blood pressure gadget to do it. I told him I've no idea about them and he suggested I ask family, friends or neighbours if they’ve got one I can use! I told him I’ll see if the local chemist has one.
I can’t believe the amount of garbage I’ve had from the doctors since I moved here, it’s just never ending.
If the specialist turns out to be no good I’ve got no idea what to do as I’m only on benefits and going private might be too costly. I’ve looked online and can’t see any menopause specialists anywhere near here.
I’ll post an update as soon as I get the letter from the specialist.
Thanks for any help you can give in the meantime.