I hear stories from women…
Who can’t bring themselves to even contact their GP about their menopausal symptoms because they don’t feel it’s urgent enough.
Who feel the GP is too busy and they don’t want to bother them.
Who have got as far as being prescribed their HRT and it is sitting on their bedside table and they haven’t even opened the box.
Who don’t feel they feel bad enough to ask for support.
And the list goes on…
I want to share this story with you to provide some insight from an individual’s perspective who was just not sure whether she was perimenopausal or not and how her conversation with me over a nice long walk evolved…
“I’m nearly 51 and I don’t know, but I’m wondering if I could be perimenopausal.”
I ask what is making her think that way and she goes on to tell me that on a recent holiday abroad the weather was hot, but she was SO HOT and much hotter than the other members of her family. First tick.
We went on to discuss the holiday in more detail and she confided that she had the most horrendous mood swing that ended the day trip very early and she went back to her accommodation and cried for 4 hours whilst comforting herself with alcohol. Tick.
The next day she felt absolutely fine. Tick.
She advised of her lack of tolerance and also lack of confidence, which she had been dealing with for many years. Tick.
I reminded her of the hair thinning issue she had previously mentioned to me and she then added information about the additional hairs she was growing on her chin that she did not want! Tick.
We talked about her periods and she exclaimed that a GP would never think she was menopausal because they were still regular. However, they had changed and were much lighter than before. Tick.
Joint pain, anxiety, dizziness, brittle nails, digestive problems, nausea were added to the list. Not necessarily right now, but she had also experienced some of them in the recent past. Tick.
She then confided in me that she didn’t think she needed to live with her partner or family anymore. She lacked any emotion for them and had been struggling with intimacy with her partner. Tick.
Our conversation led me to count 14 possible symptoms and whether they were menopause related or not, it was worth looking into.
We chatted this whole scenario through and when she understood that many of the symptoms she had told me about could relate to menopause we agreed that it might be best to consult a GP with a view to discussing HRT before making any drastic family decision.
She owed it to herself and her family to see if the way she had been feeling for a long time was menopause related and whether it was or it wasn’t; it would then enable her to make the right life choices going forward.
Again, she didn’t want to trouble a GP and it was difficult for her to get an appointment in work time, so I suggested an econsult explaining her symptoms.
I received a message the very next day at 11.21am saying “Filled out econsult at Dr’s. Don’t know why I’m so nervous!”
I received a further message at 14.46pm saying “Appt 10.30am tomorrow – eek!”
The next day a message is received… “Got it”.
As individuals we are often very good at supporting others, but not as good at supporting ourselves. Actually acknowledging and dealing with a life change can feel like a very big step.
I am just pleased that she has done this for herself and whatever the outcome or the future is for her and her family; I hope it’s a happier one than it feels right now.
