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[CLKD]

Well said.  All those promises which are reneged on once a party is voted in 

When I left the Service in 1983 it was going downhill ...........

[Emma74]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciateyou taking the time to respond.

Firstly, I'm a worry wort and always have been, anxiety since early childhood. I'm 49 in October and possibly peri for a good few years. It took me a year to find the courage to mention hrt to my doctor. He took my blood pressure initially, it was high for the first time ever, and immediately told me I would have a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. That thought has stayed with me since October last year.
I was then put through a potential cancer scare over Christmas 2022, my blood for a test which I can't remember the name of was 1 point higher then the standard. This gave me so much stress I spent until 6th January (scan date) having optical migraines where I lost my sight. Spent Xmas day in A&E I was absolutely fine with a brilliant consultant. I knew I didn't have cancer.
I then got to speak with the meno nurse, who has now moved to a different role. She spent 5 mins asking questions and finally gave me a prescription over the phone. Evorel 50 and utrogestan. However, when I asked more questions, not really knowing what I needed to ask at that time she referred me to youtube. My surgery have a habit of doing this.

It took me a further month to put on the first patch. I am so very grateful I didnt have any negative side effects, this was about March/April. First few months massive improvement, from being agoraphobic to going out.

Now I feel like the patches aren't working, a lot of my symptoms have returned and there is a long list. I also had an early period last month by 8 days, which could be completey normal! But I panicked and got myself into a state.

I think I shall research a local specialist and see it as money well spent. I'm not particularly interested in having more blood tests I think I need help knowing what to expect, what's normal and when to increase.

Thank you all x

[Wrensong]

Emma74 I'm so sorry you've had such bad experiences with your GP surgery recently.  Services are so stretched & staff can be under huge pressure so that it can happen in an unguarded moment during a pressurised day, that the right, reassuring manner is missing.  This can lead to all manner of unnecessary worry for us, especially at this stage of our lives when so much is changing that we're naturally easily alarmed.

As Hurdity said, we are all here to try to help & support each other, so please do ask if there is anything we can do.  I do think you might benefit at this stage from the usually greater time available for a private consultation & for the support we get from continuity of care if you make a good connection with whoever you find & decide you want to continue with their guidance.  A one-off consultation can sometimes be enough to reassure & get us on the right track & the GP letter that generates should enable your surgery to prescribe what's agreed for you.

I hope things go well for you whatever you decide should be your next step.
Wx

[Mary G]

I would definitely recommend a private menopause specialist if you can afford it.

Most GPs are pretty limited when it comes to HRT and most openly admit it.  My niece is a junior GP with an interest in sexual health so better than some in her practice but no expert and forced to prescribe the cheapest forms of HRT.  I'm no longer with the NHS but when I did seek help from various doctors at my former local surgery, they were useless and knew less about HRT than me!  I quickly realised I might as well ask the cat for advice so I sought help privately after that. 

This was over 10 years ago and I couldn't really afford it at the time but getting proper help was far more important.  Spending loads of time beating yourself up over the NHS = good, private health care = bad argument is a pointless exercise which will get you nowhere.  People spend their money on all sorts of things so why not health if it buys them peace of mind? 

I don't see how the NHS in its current form can afford to support the level of care needed for women with complicated and expensive menopause needs like annual uterine scans, blood tests etc.  If you just want bog standard HRT then fine, that's easy and they can support that but their menopause clinics (which ideally should be merged with birth control clinics) are over subscribed with massive waiting lists.  Unfortunately they don't routinely scan women either.

Edit: sorry to subject you to this terrible rag but this is what the NHS is up against right now.  It's in crisis:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12357295/NHS-crucial-cancer-diagnosis-treatment-targets.html

[CLKD]

Tnx Mary G - I wouldn't put the paper under my chickens' roost , however ............ 

[Mary G]

Tnx Mary G - I wouldn't put the paper under my chickens' roost , however ............ 

Indeed CLKD, it was always dreadful but now it really is full on trash!  This article from the BBC is interesting:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66319064

[CLKD]

The more opportunities to use as many hospitals as possible should cut waiting times.  Remembering that many NHS Surgeons don't work full time, so are able to work outside their contracts in private situations.

Interesting that my NHS Trust wasn't mentioned in the Mail article 

[Penguin]

I'm a little confused re the BBC article though, as I thought you could use Choose and Book to pick where you wanted to receive care regardless of the wait. Or is that just for procedures, rather than  initial appointment.

[CLKD]

I think it's for either, depending on waiting lists and which Health Authority is able to offer appts. for either NHS or private.  A lot depends on whether a GP is willing to refer at all, due to impact on surgery monies.

[CLKD]

In the late 1970s it was suggested that specialist hospitals should be set up across England, i.e. for heart conditions; orthopaedics; cancer treatments ..... but knowing how patients like to be close to home, mainly so that they get regular visitors, the idea was in the main, dropped.  All expertise under 1 roof along with a lesser need for top quality, expensive equipments spread around.  Which would mean building new hospitals, staff accommodation as well as having engineers etc. on site to service the equipment. 

[Penguin]

Yes that makes sense. I remember being at a GP appointment ooh about 15 years ago now and was told I needed an urgent scan. The GP was able to look online and check the waiting lists at each hospital to see which were shorter. That was probably only within the Trust though, rather than England wide.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

Thanks for the links Mary G.

Back in the day I worked in a Press Office and The Daily Mail was known as the pits even then and The Daily Telegraph wasn't far behind lol.

Take care ladies.

K.

[CLKD]

The idea was to have a computer system linked to all the H. Authorities - however, each LA bought from different companies  so that idea was never going to work. Instead of the government putting out a Tender on behalf of the NHS so that were ever we were in the UK, our medical records could be accessed instantly.

[Teresa]

I’ve had to pay privately to see a specialist, after my GP told me that he didn’t know what to do or prescribe for me, after I had some issues with the HRT that I was on. He actually asked me if it was possible if I could go private and get help ‘from someone who knows what they’re talking about’.

I have since had to go to two different private people though. The first was a private gynaecologist at my local BUPA hospital ( I was self funding, as not with Bupa) I was assured that she was an expert on menopause, as one of her specialisms. After visiting her twice, it was obvious that she was a very experienced gynaecologist and I made the most of that, by asking her to put in a mirena coil for me, but her knowledge of HRT was limited. She worked from a script and if you went ‘off piste’ from that, as I did, she was lost.

I’ve since found a menopause specialist who is based in Sussex, who I’ve had video links with on line. She has been excellent so far and together we are trying to find something that works for me. Once I have that sorted, I plan to go back to my GP who can take it from there. This has all worked out quite expensive so far, but the NHS was failing me, so I had to do something, for my sanity. If you can push to see someone’who knows what they’re talking about’ it’s definitely worth it .

[Emma74]

Update. I spoke with the GP today, thought I may as well keep the appointment before going private. I'm feeling much better this week and think I just had a few bad weeks when I posted this question.

I explained that this is my first check up after being on hrt for nearly 5 months. Overall ok, some symptoms coming back and taking utrogestan vaginally. She has insisted on changing the progesterone to Lutigest which is for vaginal use.. I've had no problems with utrogestan and I'm a bit pee'd off she has changed it. It was them that told me to do my own research in the first place!