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[CLKD]

Ziggy - change your GP?  or tell the new one that this treatment has kept you sane and well for 10+ years and why would he/she want to stop it?  Is he/she reading outdated information, maybe suggest that he contacts Dr Currie ;-)

[Ziggy]

Hi Ziggy the new guidelines are that you can stay on hrt for as long as you need it. There is no need to stop taking it x

Hi Dotty, do you have a reference or something saying that so I can wave it at the GP?

[Ziggy]

CKLD, I've argued till I'm blue in the face. She told me it would increase my risk of DVT, I told her I was on patches so the oestrogen doesn't get metabolised in the liver so it wouldn't increase my risk of DVT. She told me it would increase my risk of breast cancer, I told her that my risk from HRT was less than if I was overweight or drank much alcohol. I told her that I've had a life for the last 10 years whereas I was  depressed, tearful and exhausted before. I've told her that I figure skate and sometimes fall and I need my bones to be protected, she says take calcium. She says she has a duty of care to me as her patient. I've told her I'm an intelligent woman with a background in science and clinical research, I know the risk-benefit of staying on HRT. So far she isn't budging. I don't know if any of the other doctors in the practice would prescribe it for me. I need some scientific evidence that says it's ok to stay on it. I'm hoping I can persuade her to let me stay on it at the lower dose I'm on now. I can cope with the odd night sweat or hot flush but I can't face going back to full on menopause symptoms again.

[Foxylady]

These professionals are a nightmare for us patients, it just adds to the overwhelming feeling we can get with meno symptoms and anxiety. Is there another GP in the practice who is more clued up or more likely to listen to your perspective on things? My GP (now) admits menopause is not his area of expertise however he always listens to me & runs my thoughts past a local meno specialist by email & phone's me back within a few hours with a plan. Albeit for me it took over 3yrs for a diagnosis, numerous investigations, trials of meds, specialists etc so I totally get how frustrating it all is for you. My advice would be stick to your guns, the alternative to be bullied into stopping is unthinkable for you based on how you were previously. I can't give you any references off the top of my head but there is likely to be info on the forum or website in relation to this. If you try some different terms in the search box you might get some other ladies experiences with this & how they persuaded the GP to listen. As for duty of care, it is you that is taking all the risk (if there is/were any risk) and duty of care extends to empathy & keeping oneself up to date with current thinking to provide the best care for patients!!! x

[Jenna]

Try this Ziggy:

https://thebms.org.uk/publications/consensus-statements/hormone-replacement-therapy/

[Dotty]

Ziggy this is from Dr Louise Newson's website   

https://www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/menopause/myths-about-hrt


You have to stop HRT after 5 years

FALSE

Many doctors try and encourage women to stop taking HRT after five years. However, there is actually no good scientific reason for this. Each woman needs to be assessed individually for the time they need to take HRT for. The length of time you take HRT for is an individual choice and depends on your individual risks and benefits. If you are under 51 years of age then you need to take HRT until you are at least 51 years, regardless of the age you are when you start taking it. There is no specific age at which you need to stop taking HRT. I have some patients in their 80s who still take HRT.

The link that Jenna has given you is also a good one.  Thanks Jenna x

[Dotty]

https://thebms.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WHC-UnderstandingRisksofBreastCancer-MARCH2017.pdf

This link to a diagram puts the risks of hrt into perspective. x

[Jari]

Just looked at dr Louise Newson's very nice website. It seems she is not NHS, but a private specialist. The first appointment is £250 and then she likes to see you again for follow up appointments but they are only £195. Her prescription charge is £30 and at the lovely clinic she also sells her books and supplements. X

[Nannyneet]

Hi Dotty, I've heard of dr Louise newson. I've seen her book advertised. Do you know how much she charges per appointment or is she NHS? X

The nice thing about Louise Newsons clinic is you pay for your initial consultation and follow up but she believes that women shouldn't have to pay for private help for HRT,so after the initial consultation and follow up she will then contact your nhs gp and let them know what regime you need to be on so you don't have to go back to see her again unless you want to

[Nannyneet]

Just looked at dr Louise Newson's very nice website. It seems she is not NHS, but a private specialist. The first appointment is £250 and then she likes to see you again for follow up appointments but they are only £195. Her prescription charge is £30 and at the lovely clinic she also sells her books and supplements. X

The prices you are quoting are correct, but Louise Newson believes that women shouldn't have to pay for advice for menopause and should be able to get help from their GPs, after the initial consultation and follow up she will contact your gp and give them the details of your regime so you don't have to go back and see her,of course a lot of GPs are not that helpful and many prefer to dish out anti depressants instead but she said in a recent interview that in an ideal world there would be no need for her clinic to exist and if she could get a job as an NHS menopause consultant she would,but she can't because there are no funds

If you want to hear her views on treating women you should listen to her podcast

[Nannyneet]

CKLD, I've argued till I'm blue in the face. She told me it would increase my risk of DVT, I told her I was on patches so the oestrogen doesn't get metabolised in the liver so it wouldn't increase my risk of DVT. She told me it would increase my risk of breast cancer, I told her that my risk from HRT was less than if I was overweight or drank much alcohol. I told her that I've had a life for the last 10 years whereas I was  depressed, tearful and exhausted before. I've told her that I figure skate and sometimes fall and I need my bones to be protected, she says take calcium. She says she has a duty of care to me as her patient. I've told her I'm an intelligent woman with a background in science and clinical research, I know the risk-benefit of staying on HRT. So far she isn't budging. I don't know if any of the other doctors in the practice would prescribe it for me. I need some scientific evidence that says it's ok to stay on it. I'm hoping I can persuade her to let me stay on it at the lower dose I'm on now. I can cope with the odd night sweat or hot flush but I can't face going back to full on menopause symptoms again.

Print off the NICE guidelines and show her them,also visit Louise Newsons website, there is loads of info on there about HRT,your doctor is out of date with her knowledge,if she won't prescribe tell her you want to be refferecd to a menopause clinic

My gp wouldn't give me HRT so I went back with current guidelines and she agreed to give it to me

[Jari]

I am curious to know if the NHS gp's prescribe the oestrogel and ustrogestan? The private menopause specialist that I paid to see prescribed me this. I told this to my gp and, firstly she completely refused to prescribe any hrt, due to family history, but she also said she couldn't prescribe that anyway. She said she prescribes patches. I'm wondering if that an area thing or if the gel etc is only privately? If that's the case, then even if the private specialists say they are happy to let you get from your gp, if they know that's not possible, then it might sound nice, but that doesn't help much. ?! I know my gp does not prescribe it, but maybe others do? X

[Dotty]

Jari... yes Oestrogel and Utrogestan are available on nhs. You don't have to see a private specialist to get them.

[Jari]

That's good to know for the ladies that want it Dotty!
It seems that all the private specialists, seem to, generally prescribe the gel and ustrogestan. For the ladies with the general non complex symptoms, they can go to their gp and just ask to start on lowest dose etc and avoid the expensive specialist appointments. Most gp's will have had specialists writing to them by now I'm guessing, so they'll know about the doses. 👍

[Sammiejane]

Hi

I wanted to ask any ladies that take estrogen only HRT whether patches or the gel is best ?

I found the gel was better for sleep and VA symptoms for me but my hair has got incredibly thin the 6 months on this , however have now swapped to a estradot patch 50 after being on 2 pumps of gel and have been on the patch 5 weeks but VA dampness come back but discharge less and don't feel as bloated as I was on the gel but hair no change. As I've had hysterectomy there is no need for progesterone but I'm wondering if the imbalance of having low progesterone is what is causing my hairloss ?

Advice on the best patch would be great I've tried elleste solo but had side effects although don't think hairloss was one of them and the everol patch I couldn't get to stick.

Blood test normal and thyroid normal
Estrogen level 104
Testosterone 0.6

when I started HRT pAtch elleste solo then stopped after 6 weeks started vagifem week later and then hair shed 5 weeks later so roughly 11/12 weeks after starting hrt but not sure if it's starting or stopping HRT which has triggered hairloss but has thinned dramatically since November last year and then started estrogel dec 25th so hair was thinning before this but not sure of the gel has made it worse hence my changing to patch but yet no improvement