Hearing about cases like yours joziel make me so cross! The NHS is wonderful and we are so lucky to have it, but is suffering through years of underfunding and especially for menopause!
We so urgently need a dedicated menopause service staffed by proper specialists and with pharmaceutical products readily available. NO-ONE should feel they have no option but to pay for a private specialist when all the products are available at very low cost on NHS and my view is always to try every avenue before going down this route if you can.
Here on this forum we can try to help you in any way so that you don't have to spend this sort of money.
I am acutely aware when I read comments like yours below Emma about it being a lot of money, that these sorts of funds are simply not available to many women to spend on what should be an essential rather than optional or luxury service, and it would be very sad if women reading this felt such despair that only if they spend money like this can their menopause treatment be successful.
I'd like to know your thoughts before having to find at least £250 to see a M specialist.
I think I just need reassurance and thats a lot of money.
Emma - I would want to hear more about your situation - where you are in menopause, why you are considering paying for private treatment? What symptoms and treatment are being covered (or not) by NHS at the moment?
In my case - I paid for private treatment once. This was in May 2015 when I paid £195 to see a gynae ( sadly now retired) about testosterone because my GP would not countenance this, and this was before the NICE Guidelines made provision for it to be prescribed off licence on NHS and therefore for me - free. Since then my gynae specialist NHS GP ( not the one who refused) at my local practice prescribed it an it has been on repeat for years with no questions asked. I do realise I am very lucky where I live....but I would change practice to a different one if mine had no idea about menopause. All my current HRT has always been prescribed and provided by NHS - which is patches ( or gel), progesterone, vaginal oestrogens.
Sometimes as in my case, and if for some reason you can't get what you want on NHS ( though you really should be able to) it only takes one visit to a private specialist, then for them to write to your GP with the prescription who can then take it over on NHS. This would be one reason to pay just once, provided your GP practice would agree to prescribe what a specialist prescribed (not Androfemme = testosterone cream) as this is not licensed).
There are also lower cost options if you just want advice eg Dr Currie the founder and manager of Menopause Matters will answer questions as a cost I think of £30 (might have gone up?), and you could print out her response and take to your GP?
I would also advise like joziel - to become a menopause specialist yourself - there is nothing wrong with this - with our finding out how are bodies work and the different treatments available at this stage in our lives. This means if you find a sympathetic doctor in your practice (and this is key) you can enter into a knowledgeable dialogue about what to try, which is as it should be. There is no place for ignorant docs imposing their outdated views on women who may not know better.
Hope this helps ansd wishing you well with finding the right treatment.
Hurdity x