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[Ursula]

Hello,

I have been a lurker on these boards for a very long time and have plucked up the courage to join properly.

Menopausal symptoms for me started 5 years ago, when I was 35. For 5 years I have been told by various GP's that I am too young to be starting the menopause, even though I was displaying very clear typical symptoms:

Hot flashes, night sweats, peeing when sneezing/laughing/jogging, uninterested in sex, painful sex, very very dry skin, my scalp peeling, hair loss, terrible mood swings, flooding (periods) at the start and then scanty discharge, brain fog, really bad palpitations that were under investigation and i was eventually given the all clear... 

Over the years the symptoms gradually got worse.  I was fobbed off with diazepam and anti-depressants, propranolol and I took these because I became so paranoid I thought maybe I was being dramatic.

I'm now 40 years old and I haven't had a period for a year. I was getting to the point where I literally wasn't living anymore. I was in a really really bad way. I felt like giving up if I'm honest.
I decided to see a specialist two months ago and I have to say it was the best expenditure I've ever made. I wish I'd done it years ago.  She looked at my blood test results etc and shockingly she told me that my levels were so low that as an example I was at the same level as a 55 year old post menopausal woman.

I have now requested to see all my blood works over the past 5 years, as very clearly my GP has been incompetent. I am taking this further.

As i have a history of migraines I started on a low dose of Evorel 25 and I have to say literally within 4 hours I could feel my body re-energising ( a very weird sensation). I am now starting on Evorel 50 and Utrogestan 100 over 10 days and gradually will up the doses until I'm comfortable.

I am still not 100%. My mood swings and hot flashes can be bad (but more tolerable)  but I think as my body has been without hormones for so long it will take a while to get up to the right level.

I guess the moral of my story is to listen to your body and don't take no for an answer!!!  The menopause has no rhyme or reason.

Ursula

[Limpy]

Hi Ursula - Welcome to MM 

It's good that your Specialist has sorted you out with HRT.    As you say it may take time to kick in fully, I think 3 to 6 months is what's often suggested.

It's horrid that it's taken so long for you to get help. 

[Dancinggirl]

Hi and welcome Ursula
GPs need some training
Thank you for sharing your experience - many women experience the same and are suffering.  I would definitely pursue investigations into your treatment - I believe it is negligence to deny women HRT if they experience a premature meno as the long term consequences of oesrgogen deficiency for the heart, bones, bladder etc. are serious.  Keep us postd.  DG
BTW - you have been given the best and safest type of HRT which unfortunately very few NHS doctors will prescribe from the outset!!!! They usually offer the cheapest option.

[Ursula]

Thank you for the welcomes.

I forgot to mention (brain fog!) that Osteoporosis runs in both sides of my family. So I agree Dancinggirl, I am dealing with negligence... I'm not letting this lie.

I luckily have found a new and sympathetic male GP who is doing everything he can to help me as well. The first thing he's done is get me an appointment for a bone density scan in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that I am ok! I am really worried about this.

So glad I listened to my Dad and take regular B, D vits and calcium, magnesium, zinc.

I am glad to hear I have been prescribed good HRT. My specialist has literally been my saviour! I cried with joy when she told me I was going through menopause. The relief to know that someone knows what they are doing and is on my side is so immense. By the way- She wrote a brutal letter to my previous GP's.

[CLKD]

Did you see a copy of the letter?

  apart from you writing to the Surgery telling them how disappointed you are with their lack of knowledge about menopause which led to lack of support and advice during your symptoms, I wouldn't bother 'pursuing' anything.  GPs will close ranks and are covered by Insurance   -  are you financially able to take on the establishment?  Health wise, could you cope ?

Have a browse round, menus top of screen and there is a search button. Ask away, we talk about everything  - even menopause sometimes.  Have you found 'there's a strange woman' in your house yet …….. have a look  our 'funny' room. 

I had regular bone scans of the feet for years but the best place is a pelvic scan where bone is densest.  Brisk walking 2-3 times weekly as well as eating well and keeping hydrated will help - skipping anyone  …… I had a bone scan when I was diagnosed with cancer, to check that my bones were OK - they were, I worried about it before hand: if only someone had told me it was an all-over X-ray  ……

Keep posting, let us know how you get on >wave< 

[dogdoc]

Hey Ursula.
They tell me I'm too young as well ( 42 now but started late 30's). Docs are sooooo not up to date with the hormones. It's bloody disgusting if you ask me . 

[MARAUDER]

Hi Ursala, What specialist did you go and see as I need to get help asap. Like yourself I started my first flushes and night sweats when I was in my late 30's. To begin with they where not too bad but over the years they are getting worse. I have tried that many different pills, potions and prescribed medication that I am on the verge of giving up. I am now 48 and  over the last couple of years I have experienced really bad anxiety attacks, mood swings, brain freeze along with constant hot flushes and night sweats that are even worse than before. I am fed up of trying one thing after another with the hope that it just might work. I am writing this now as I am finding it difficult to function. My brain isn't working properly any more. I can't concentrate, I can't speak properly and I feel angry all the time this doesn't help with the fact that I am constantly tossing and turning in my sleep due to the night sweats. I have also put on a lot of weight in a short space of time. Any help you can give me will be gratefully received. Regards Janiced

[GypsyRoseLee]

I was fobbed off by two female GPs, over a period of 8 months, telling me I was 'too young' to even be thinking about menopausal symptoms!

I was 43 for heaven's sake!

Plus, I had a long history of PMS and also suffered with PND, so I was clearly very sensitive to any hormonal changes.

Plus, very early menopause runs strongly in my family (one cousin was only 29, another was only 41, my aunt was only 38).

Plus, I told them my periods had gone from being medium/heavy to being very light and closer together (another clear indication that hormones are playing up).

I went to see them many times because I was suddenly suffering with random insomnia coupled with periods of extreme anxiety and intermittent very low mood. But I told them and told them and told them that these symptoms were only intermittent, and that I could go a week or more feeling perfectly fine again.

I mooted the idea of my problems being hormonal, but they dismissed that out of hand. They both insisted I was just suffering with clinical depression and they gave me ADs and Beta Blockers.

Well, I took the ADs and BBs for 8 months but my 'symptoms' still kept breaking through several times a month  In the end I just stopped taking them.

I finally saw a sympathetic male GP, who was far more knowledgeable about hormones/menopause. He was immediately suspicious that my symptoms 'came and went' and identified that they seemed to be cyclical. He referred me to a specialist who immediately diagnosed me as peri menopausal with premature ovarian failure. She ignored my blood results and diagnosed me purely on medical history and current symptoms.

After going through my medical history she told me I 'was a poster child for peri menopausal hormonal depression/anxiety'.

I have been on HRT for nearly 2 months now, and still feel quite up and down but at least SOMETHING is being done.

If those two female GPs hadn't diagnosed me incorrectly, I could have started HRT nearly 18 months ago, been stabilised on it, and wouldn't have LOST the last year of my life to awful anxiety and low mood.

Because of this anxiety/low mood lots of social events have been ruined for me, and I can NEVER get them back. I missed a friend's wedding. I hated every moment of my daughter's birthday last year. A romantic weekend away for our anniversary was ruined. Lots of stuff.

 

[Greenfields]

Hi Ursula

I'm on Evorel 50 and utrogestan 100mg too - been on it for about 6 weeks now and its made a huge difference.

Before that another Dr stuck me on Nuvelle Continuous with no followup and I was so so ill for over a month.

I'm really lucky with the good Dr I've got now but can't believe what a crap shoot it is with Dr's.

I'm so glad you've got the help you need and that the HRT is helping. 

[GypsyRoseLee]

Ursula

I really think you should follow this up. Because God knows what rubbish advice that same GP is giving to 100s of other poor women at the same practice.

I have been very, very vocal in condemning the useless treatment and diagnosis given me by the two female GPs at my local practice. Consequently quite a few of my friends and family have changed to the very good male doctor there who finally diagnosed me correctly.

A friend of my husband is a GP. He has admitted that he often resorts to Google to inform himself better about the menopause, and that when a patient is returning to him for a follow up appointment he will quickly refer to Google before she comes in.

So, you see GPs don't necessarily know anymore about menopause than your averagely intelligent woman with access to the Internet. They might understand the science a bit better and the terminology, but that's all.