Menopause: A patient’s perspective
New Years Eve 2021. Sitting alone again, my plans for the holidays were once again quashed by the new strain of the coronavirus. The last couple of years has been tough. Like many people, I have spent an inordinate amount of time on my own and it’s been lonely. I consciously made an effort not to dwell on the fact that I was alone and decided instead to focus on making a list of the ‘good’ things that I had either achieved or experienced in 2021.
Perhaps the single most important decision I made last year was to summon up the courage to see if I could get help with my menopause. I am 58-years old and officially went into menopause at around aged 51-years old. Looking back however, I now understand that some of the ‘health problems’ I thought I had developed in my mid to late 40’s were in fact symptoms of perimenopause. I hardly ever go to the doctor because thankfully I have always been in good health. But during the perimenopause I felt something was wrong; I was exhausted most of the time, I couldn’t sleep, and my joints ached all the time. I was eventually diagnosed with hypothyroidism which was a bit of relief because I thought once the medication kicked in, I would start to feel better. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, in fact, my symptoms seemed to get worse.
Once I realised I was menopausal I once again allowed myself to feel hopeful. I was open-minded about HRT, but I was very surprised when I asked my GP if she would prescribe it for me and she refused! She explained the risks of breast cancer associated with taking HRT. Instead, she recommended a combination of vitamin and mineral supplements that I could buy in any local pharmacy. I went away and spent a couple of hundred pounds over the next year on various organic supplements. As my symptoms got worse, I decided to see another GP – same message. I think in total I’ve seen at least 6 different female GP’s who gave me the exact same advice.
I eventually decided to see a gynaecologist privately. To his credit, he listened and took my concerns seriously and he did prescribe transdermal HRT. But the prescription wasn’t quite right I developed some side effects mainly fluid retention which was very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to keep on seeing the gynaecologist and my GP refused to prescribe an alternative.
Between the ages of 55 – 58 years old, I had no treatment for my menopause. I gained a lot of weight; I didn’t feel good about myself and my attempts to get help left me feeling humiliated. I started to think that I was possibly one of those ageing narcissists unable to accept losing their looks and getting old! So, I kept silent I never saw another doctor again and tried to accept this ‘new me’.
The pandemic gave me time to do some research about menopause. Turns out it is widely misunderstood even in medical circles!! Many GP’s have practically zero training about menopause and know even less about HRT! How could this be possible? I opened up to a friend about how awful I had been feeling and she suggested I go and see her GP who had really helped her with her menopause.
All I can say is thank goodness for Dr. Owen. After the initial niceties Dr Owen sat forward in her chair and started asking me a lot of questions about my symptoms, she even took notes…… I felt like she was taking me seriously. I got quite emotional during the consultation because for all this time I had thought I was exaggerating how awful I felt and not making an effort to help myself.
I was prescribed a combination of HRT in the form of transdermal patches, oral progesterone and mercifully estrogen pessaries. Within the first two weeks of starting this new regime, I started to feel a little bit better. My sleep was the first thing to improve I started getting around 5-hours of uninterrupted sleep which for me was a miracle. I never slept for more than a couple of hours at a time, and I never felt rested in the morning. I also started to notice that horrible bone and joint pains literally stopped! I had had to take pain killer several times per week because I was often in so much pain.
In week three Dr. Owen called me personally to check in to see how I was doing. I was stunned I didn’t expect this and that just reinforced the sense that she was both interested in my progress and that she cared.
I could go on for pages about my experience of the progress that I have made since first meeting Dr. Owen. I can honestly say that the most important event of 2021 was having the courage to try again to get help with my menopause and thank goodness for Dr. Owen!
Author: Recent Patient of Dr Owen at Sloane Menopause Clinic