Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: Amandajane46 on April 10, 2015, 09:42:29 PM
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Went to my GP today due to headaches n fatigue and lower pain which he's reply was stick your tongue out your stressed I said no I'm not he then said I'm lying cause stress cause these symptoms in which I say they come with my cycle he then says I have pms I say I'm menopausal and maybe I need to try a different patches then eovrel 50 n I need a repeat prescription of my caitapram 20 mg think I spelt them wrong then he said oh see your depressed that's why you have them in which I replied no cause I wrongly dianogosed he's reply was seeing as your not listening to me Im thinking no I'm the patient your not listening to me I then said I'll make an appointment with a gynaecologist someone who knows what they are on about I left in tears with nothing why should we suffer in silence because are Dr s are not understanding or just don't get it 😡😡
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:hug:
Like hitting your head against the proverbial brick wall! However, a second opinion is a good idea.
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It's frustrating isn't it ?
I don't know the answer, but I guess they wouldn't have the same attitude if it were their wife/mother suffering like we are
Xx
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It's so frustrating and upsetting. The only way to deal with it is to shake it off and seek other options - I used it to make me mad enough to find somebody competent but I had so many days crying over insensitive, incompetent doctors ..... Grrr makes me mad just to think about it
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I too feel total lack of confidence in my GP and this seems to be a common problem for women in menopause. This leaves women feeling very alone with their symptoms, particularly if they have no-one else to turn to or have family that are not supportive or understanding. If GP's were not, in some cases it seems, almost astoundingly badly prepared and treated women with better understanding then this would go a long way towards helping the many women who really struggle with this massive change in their bodies and minds. I dont doubt that others are lucky and see the opposite side of the coin so to speak. I am thankful for this site where we can air our experiences and feelings. How women went on in the past I dread to think but when you turn to a GP for help it can be very frightening when you feel rebuffed.
Meg
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I agree. Both female GPs I saw insisted I was suffering with standard depression/anxiety. Even though I explained that I could go several days, or a couple of weeks feeing perfectly fine and normal again. Even though I explained that my low mood/anxiety seemed linked to my cycle. Even though I explained I had always suffered with PMS and it seemed to be getting much worse and lasting longer despite my periods getting lighter and my cycle shorter.
You would have THOUGHT that this might, just might, make them slightly suspicious that my symptoms could possibly be caused by my hormones, wouldn't you? But no. They dismissed this out of hand. Told me I 'was far too young' to even be thinking about the menopause (I am in my mid 40s for heaven's sake, not 25). They both just wanted to stick me on ADs for the next however long.
It was only when I stuck to my guns and saw a third GP that I got lucky. He was male and quite elderly but had an interest in gynaecology and had kept up to date with the latest journal articles and research into peri menpause. He agreed that what I was experiencing couldn't be standard depression/anxiety because I was often symptom free for weeks at a time.
He referred me to a menopause clinic, where I was immediately diagnosed with hormonal depression/anxiety. My consultant wasn't even interested in the results of my blood tests (normal). She actually LISTENED to me. Understood how much I was suffering and explained that she saw women like me every day. She was also very scathing about the ignorance of most GPs about hormones/menopause.
I live in the same village as both the useless female GPs and I find it quite hard to be civil to them. They would have cheerfully consigned me to spend the next 10-15 years on anti depressants because they didn't know enough about my problem and weren't interested in discovering anything more.
GPs are like hairdressers. They all get the same qualifications but some have a real flair and skill, and some are only comfortable doing a basic shampoo and set.
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Amanda: seeing a Consultant may well be the way to go! Also keeping a mood/food diary will reassure you that this is hormonal! as will reading and sharing here.
It shouldn't be a battle :bang: :bang: :bang: :tulips:
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CLKD is very right. t was only after keeping a Mood Diary that I realised there was a cyclical element to my moods/anxiety. And it was reassuring to have recorded in writing that my various 'bad' weeks did eventually disappear to be replaced by 'good' weeks. When you're in the fug of peri menopause and mood swings it's so easy to convince yourself that you aren't remembering correctly. To have written proof was really reassuring.
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:thankyou: When anxiety hits I need to put my numbers on: 1-5, 5 being high: otherwise I do forget ……...
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Hi
I like that comparison to hairdressers! Ha ha ;)
Yes, I don't want to remember all rubbish I was told back when I started... Wrrr.
But, hey! I've just heard about a new serial called 'Sensitive Skin' with Kim Cattrall Sky Arts shows every Wednesday (I think):
http://www.high50.com/menopause/kim-cattrall-on-new-tv-show-sensitive-skin-why-im-breaking-the-taboo-about-menopause
That's about us too!! Yuppie! ... sadly, I don't have Sky .. but shouldn't GPs be made to watch it?
:-*
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We have a thread here about that too - somewhere ::) ……… GPs really do need to get themselves together with patients who 'know' :P