Wonderful contributions ladies fantastic posts.
What are they learning at medical college?
Thing is Penelope I wrote on another post, they don't learn about menopause at medical college at all. It is not a compulsory module they have to "choose" to take it! It doesn't come up in their 7 year degree! How mad is that! x
A lot of GP's are men so maybe that has a lot to do with it and also there are all those sentences repeated over and over like mental conditioning...."it's part of the natural ageing process" and "it won't kill you" and "its part of getting older" and the stuff with pregnancy is the same "it's not an illness". Well pregnancy .."it's not an illness" until something starts going wrong and/or pre-eclampsia nearly kills you or your baby. When everything is ok, "its natural" but like anything when it goes wrong, it most certainly isn't!!
There has been a huge knock on effect in my life...When I was a teenager, I suffered terrible anxiety and became quite unsociable...when my babies were born I didn't have the same experiences that I saw other mums have and I am sure I don't have the same relationship with my sons that others have. I organised my work to accommodate my "unwellness" and basically keep a roof over our heads. The affect on my work life means that it has affected my pension (lack of one) and therefore is going to affect my old age.
I feel very much like you Penelope when people talk about the wonderful life they had, I'm quite jealous and I shouldn't feel like that and yes...you put its so well Avalone "I've had a crap life. Kinda like a bad dream".
It hits home more now I am better than I was...I thought I would always be like I was and spent years searching for the answers, now the answers are there...you just think WTF!! (sorry but hey? what else to say!) Yep and it's all hormones, not some unusual strange or rare disease needing years of research...just hormones.
I too wish this site had existed and it should be renamed "hormones r us"! so everyone can have a section and post for pre-menstrual problems and PND and meno and anything else hormone related! xx
Maybe we need the site promoted on billboards and bus shelters??? xx