NZ GPs knowledge lacking in this area

I went on HRT last year after putting up with hot flushes, night sweats, etc for 8 years, all because I thought HRT was not safe to take due to family history of strokes. How wrong I was.  After educating myself, through a UK Facebook group on Menopause realised how important it is for women to replace their hormones when they start to lose them.  

Body-identical HRT is so important for bone, brain, heart health and can reduce the risk of getting dementia among other things.

Why would any woman want to put up with uncomfortable sweating, anxiety, low mood - to the point where you feel like throwing your job in, when it can all be fixed with a little patch twice a week, and one pill each night!  There are even GPs in New Zealand telling their patients it is not possible to prescribe Utrogestan??!!

Bring on the conversation, support women.  

Thank you.

Why the contribution is important

My idea is for GPs to be better educated, keep up-to-date with the latest recommendations on HRT for peri-menopausal and menopausal women.

Important because there are too many women giving up their jobs, or even giving up on life altogether when it doesn't need to be that way.

by sarny on March 07, 2023 at 02:04PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 5.0
Based on: 15 votes

Comments

  • Posted by susan March 13, 2023 at 06:06

    Gps don't even discuss with you if your going through menopause..I find you need to google symptoms find what you think is wrong with yourself.then tell your gp, whether they listen or not is a different story.

  • Posted by SummerRose March 13, 2023 at 12:35

    Of all the occasions I presented to my GP with symptoms between the ages of 40 and 50 not once did she or a locum ever consider peri menopause. When I mentioned it as a possibility it was never taken seriously or pursued to the extent of getting treatment to relieve my symptoms which have progressed and are now awful to say the least. It was barely discussed. She now is unable to prescribe treatment because I have migraines, she lacks the knowledge base and my only option is to pay for a private consultation with a specialist. Problem is that it is incredibly difficult to get an appointment with the specialist, it’s costly and I have to travel out of town. I feel totally let down by women health, besides the fact that whatever I have experienced and what I am currently experiencing is being minimised by others who have no understanding of menopause. I work in healthcare and there are absolutely no supports for women within the workplace.

  • Posted by Kiera82 March 14, 2023 at 01:08

    Yep, menopause and hormonal imbalances and discussions thereof in this country are hopeless,

    I had my hormones messed up as a baby to toddler due to extreme prem birth at 25 weeks gestation, was given a heap of drugs which then put me off balance with zero testosterone in my system, then that came back with a vengeance when those meds were stopped and ended up with night sweats, hot flashes, apnoea and then depression, all by the time I was 14...took a bit to click that it was a hormone imbalance and that I needed estrogen, took til I was 37.5 to get onto it, after starting estrogen and bio identical micronised progesterone (utrogestan) that my want for booze pot and tobacco disappeared overnight, further research and I find progesterone may curb nicotine cravings and other cravings too...
Log in or register to add comments and rate ideas