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[CLKD]

what's to lose debbyx by not taking AD's ?  I didn't want to because I need/ed to know whether it was chemical, genetic ..... but no medics were interested in getting to the bottom of my depression.  Which grounded me.  Add to that panic attacks, sometimes I don't know how I survived  . Is there a Nurse Practitioner with who to discuss HRT?  Why do U feel that your GP 'wasn't interested?

It took me 7-8 months B4 I realised that my brain was feeling better.

[Sue1]

I have been on citalopram for y health anxiety for a few years. I hated the idea but hoped it would help. I don’t actually know if it does or not. They may well help you a bit. perhaps have a talk to the gp( if you can get an appointment) and discuss it. It is so important to get a gp who you trust and can relate to - easier said than done sometimes.When I suffered through the menopause I had friends going through the same. Now they all appear to be ‘out the other side’ and that non.y serves to feel more isolated. I’m going back to my go next Friday and hopefully talk some stuff through.  Debby - I know what you mean about the relief of getting into bed at night. I’ve gone past the point of thinking it might might be better in the morning but it is just a relief to know that I’m not going to feel faint. The itching doesn’t stop though. This site is a lifeline

[CLKD]

Taking a list to discuss might help at the appt.?

[Sue1]

Yes I’ve made one.Hot flushes,itching,exhaustion, fear,anxiety. Feel embarrassed about having such a list

[Jacwill66]

Hi Sue

You are not alone I am post meno about 7 years aged 59 . I never took HRT .The last month is horrible pelvic discomfort urinary discomfort and past week pins and needles feet hands and face and all over last night . It’s very frightening .  I am seeking an urology review and then neurology but my practice nurse seems to think menopause related . I am trying St johns wart tea and red clover and eating soya flax seed and peaches to up my oestrogen naturally .

My b12 and ferritin are slightly high but they are not worried .  My ldl cholesterol higher but that doesn’t worry me at all .  No statins here.I feel your anxiety but it seems we are not alone

Hope that helps like this forum is helping me .  We play the hand we are dealt and do our best . Maybe it’s our ovaries saying goodbye for good

[Sue1]

Hi
Your story is so similar to mine. I too have a lot of tingling in my hands and feet and even on my lips. I also get little electric shock type feelings sometimes. I am beginning to feel really desperate

[sheila99]

Hi Sue

No I am not on HRT and never have been , my GP doesn’t seem interested
Just offered anti depressants,  I don’t want to take them either but I can not go on like this any more. 
I have struggled through again today and am worn out. I am self employed and work from home but finding it difficult to even work.  Today I felt like I was going to faint all day then I get anxious then I panic then I cry I just go round in circles,  the only time I feel okay is at night in bed and I find I go to bed earlier and earlier just to feel safe.  I feel scared in the house on my own because I always feel something bad will happen to me some nights I can’t even have a bath or wash my hair , as soon as my husband comes home the anxiety goes slightly he is no help and not supportive at all but I know he is in the house  if something Ford happen to me. Sorry to go on but your posts just feel like it is me.  I know it’s not nice for all of us but it does make me feel just a little bit better seeing it in black and white from someone else.

Glad you got a fan I have one too and it does help.

My worst symptoms were anxiety and insomnia so I know how debilitating it can be. You don't have to suffer like this just because you have an unsympathetic gp. Ask if the practise has a nurse or GP who specialises in it. Take the NICE guidelines that say that hrt not ads are the appropriate treatment for meno symptoms. Learn as much about hrt as you can, take a list of symptoms and don't be fobbed off. My anxiety has gone completely on hrt. If yours arrived with peri it's very likely yours will too. I was also offered ads instead of hrt, many others have been too. I refused them and insisted on hrt give they reluctantly gave me (bad temper was another symptom  ). You only have one life and you shouldn't have to spend it feeling like this when treatment is available. If necessary change your GP.

[Mary G]

I agree with Sheila, you don't have to suffer debilitating menopause symptoms, there is effective HRT treatment available.

I've been a member of MM for 10 years now and I've seen a lot of changes in that time.  A few years ago there was a major breakthrough when those wretched, flawed HRT studies were finally debunked, the NICE guidelines changed and HRT was declared safe and there was no longer any time limit for taking it.

Now things are going backwards again and GPs are refusing to prescribe HRT or deliberately making things difficult and getting sniffly about doses.  They seem to be putting hurdles in the way with unnecessary reviews too.

I was just talking to my partner about it and he thinks the same as me and that is the NHS no longer want to support women on HRT and they want women to seek help privately.  It's probably about cost and prioritising different demographics.  Women who are very straightforward cases can just about get HRT if they are lucky and their GP is pro HRT but others are just left to suffer.

[CLKD]

Morning Mary G - also many patients have problems sourcing appts., at least my surgery has advised about the on-line triage form which has worked well a couple of times this year. 

It has been known too that the NHS won't pay the 'going rate' for many drugs across all specialities, whereas mainland Europe makes them available .  Hence apparently 'shortages'.

No one living legally in the UK should have to pay for NHS treatment .........

[Mary G]

CLKD, I take your point that nobody should need to pay for medical treatment in the UK but sometimes they either have to or in some cases want to. There's no point in sitting around suffering because you don't think you should have to pay for treatment.  Equally, directing women on here to NHS menopause clinics is pretty much a hiding to nothing because they have to wait for over a year in many cases.  How much time can someone with debilitating symptoms realistically wait?

I know it's a political hot potato in the UK but I think the time is near for an honest conversation about what the NHS can fund and how. 

You are right about the drugs shortages being linked to costs but some of the medication the NHS refuses to buy isn't very expensive to purchase over the counter ie Cyclogest.  Don't you have a different version of the EMA in the UK now?  It so, that could make a difference re access to medication and purchasing power.

[CLKD]

Agree: the NHS was a good idea initially but no one could 4C the rate of technology that appeared so that more conditions can be treated, often earlier.  When I left the NHS in 1983 hip replacements were common, elbows, shoulders, wrists were dreamed of.  Now it seems that they are 'usual' and as with many specialities costs will rise the more patients quite rightly demand treatment.

It was muted that speciality hospitals should be built, i.e. for joint replacements. This fell by the wayside because patients didn't want to travel away from families  . 

A lot of our facilities should be cross Party, i.e. education, medicine, highways ........ a lot of time is lost with the government of the day arguing across the floor rather than getting 'on with it'!

It seems that there are waiting lists for Clinics due to demand because too many GPs don't understand how hormones can affect women.  Etc., etc., etc..

[Sue1]

Debby - I know what you mean about not feeling so alone when others are sharing symptoms.It helps.I had over 20 hot flushes yesterday.They make me feel so anxious.I’m sure the hot weather is making them worse

[CLKD]

Does the anxiety pre-cede the flushes Sue1? 

[Jules]

Debby - I know what you mean about not feeling so alone when others are sharing symptoms.It helps.I had over 20 hot flushes yesterday.They make me feel so anxious.I’m sure the hot weather is making them worse

I think it's the humid weather. I'm constantly melting then it triggers a hot flush. I'm wet through all the time and find it embarrassing when I'm out. I feel like a big wet lettuce.

[CLKD]

A big wet lettuce ........ love it!  Well,  not the feeling wet all the time, obviously