Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Today, I just want to chat about a conversation I had last night with a couple of my friends. We were talking about menopause. Oftentimes, whenever I'm chatting to anyone, it ends up talking about menopause. And there was three ladies plus me. And it was interesting how each of them was going through menopause in a slightly different way. One lady was going through an early menopause due to surgery. One lady was struggling with symptoms that she was unsure if it was to do with menopause, but she didn't want to be taking any HRT or do anything else. And another lady that was on HRT but was struggling at her levels weren't quite right. But the theme with all of them was the lack of support and help from the doctor.

So the whole kind of theme of today is actually the best way to speak to the doctor and get help. And if you check in the show notes, I've actually got a freebie that I've created giving you some tips on how you can get the most out of going to see the doctor if you ever get an appointment. And there are some things that you can take with you. So a list of symptoms and some other support materials that were within that freebie.

Check that out in the show comments. But the overriding theme is if you can get a doctor's appointment, which normally takes you several weeks, if you don't go and see the right doctor in the surgery, then they often say, no, I can't help you with anything to do with menopause. And they send you to see someone else. So first thing, biggest tip is make sure that you're seeing the right person within the surgery. And it's amazing how long people struggle with symptoms before the doctors even listen. So my sister, for example, two years down the line, then the doctor finally decided that some of her symptoms might be due to menopause and then offer her some HRT, then she's just been left to it. No checkup, no kind of support in the meantime.

The other lady that went through an early menopause was very similar that she was fighting for several years before she would get any support. They gave her HRT early on because if you go through an early menopause, that's generally advised if you can take it because they're due to heart health, brain health, bone health. If you are going, you've been forced into an early menopause, then that's generally advisable to consider if you're able to.

She's been waiting years to get the dosage sorted or to get any kind of support. It is such a battle trying to get help from anywhere. Unfortunately, the GPs don't know that much about menopause or anything women's health related. And I guess we are lucky in this country that we have some kind of national health service, although obviously at the moment they are struggling and to get an appointment is almost impossible and waiting for four weeks to get a phone appointment and then to be told that it's the wrong person you're talking to can be so frustrating. But at least we do have the option, but it is a battle to get there. But I always tell people that they need to fight the battle. We shouldn't have to, we should be able to get the support that we need.

But a lot of people are put off by that, fact that the GPs are unwilling to help or you go with the symptoms. It's not just menopause related, anything kind of women's health related. They go and they have a test, they're told, it's not this such and such and thing. That's it. They just rule out any of the like nasties or anything that would be urgent, which is understandable.

That is the right thing to do; they need to rule out anything that is potentially life-threatening. But if it's not that, they're often then like, all right, well, get on with it. Or in six months' time, you can be sent to go and see somebody else or have another test. And it's just so disheartening that people are like, I just won't bother. I'll just put up with it. But it's like, you need to keep going. If you can get the help you need, great, through the NHS.

If not, you could always go privately if you can't afford that, but it's then looking at what you can do yourself to help yourself. Looking, investigating, researching—that's not always advisable. It's when I speak to patients and they've done their own doctor Google, sometimes that can be less helpful because then they start to worry.

If you believe that you may be having symptoms such as menopause, speaking to somebody or listening to my podcast about all these symptoms, if you get a picture that you may well be struggling with menopausal symptoms, then you can go to the doctor with an idea that that is the case. And then thinking about what is it you want out of the appointment, because often the GPs are not that helpful. Some of them are.

I'm sure there are some wonderful GPs out there, but I know certainly if ever I go due to my chronic fatigue and I'm just feeling even extra rubbish than I normally am and you just go and they're like, well, what do you want me to do? It's like, well, I know it's a chronic condition, but maybe there's something new that's come out or maybe we need to check some other levels to see if there's anything else going on.

Occasionally they will check and then I've got low vitamin D, which then makes me feel kind of even worse than normal. But it is, I just get to the point where I've just given up going. So I can understand it when people are just thinking it's not worth the effort. But if you are struggling, you shouldn't be putting up with it, whether that's menopause, whether that's incontinence or endometriosis, or any health condition. We need to get the help and...

It's almost being relentless and asking for the help. I know that's so difficult and they don't always offer it, but there are specialists that you can be sent to. You probably have to wait a year to go and see somebody, but if the GP is unable to help, particularly menopause-wise, there are particular doctors, like there might be a GP within the surgery that has more specialism, has done more training that is willing to kind of offer you further help, whether that is to give you HRT, whether that's to give you health and lifestyle advice, which should be given as well, because that's all in the NICE guidelines. Or if they can't help you, then to send you to a consultant that specialises in menopause. But when you've got to be waiting two years, it is so frustrating.

It's then looking at what you can do to help yourself and seeing if there's lifestyle changes that you can be making. Obviously, I've gone through all of these things in previous episodes, so go back and listen to them, finding that one thing that you can start to change. But it's also making sure that you go to the GP and you're telling them the right information. So go with your list of symptoms.

Like I say, the freebie that I will put in the show notes will give you—there's a questionnaire that you can fill in that will ask all the necessary kind of symptoms and details, and then you can present it to them. Also, listing out the ones that are worse, potentially, anything that you're really struggling with, what you're hoping to achieve. What they often will do is to rule out any other conditions, which is fine. Absolutely what they should be doing, to rule out if there's any trouble with thyroid, diabetes, if there's low iron, or anything else that might be causing some of your symptoms. But if they all come back as being negative and fine, it's making sure then you're following that up because the GPs tend to say, "Your blood tests are all fine. Carry on."

Be like, well, okay, but I'm still feeling rubbish. I still need to make some changes. I need some help. So it's trying to persevere, which I know is so frustrating, and it's not always easy. But rule out anything that they want to, which is fine, but then the GPs need to think, well, okay, so all of these things are coming back negative. Is there anything else that we can test for?

If not, okay, is it menopause? Is it endometriosis? Is it anything else that needs to be referred on to see somebody else? The trouble is, the waiting lists at the minute are stupid for anything. Unless it's kind of cancer, when you're being put on a two-week wait, you're generally waiting six months to a year for most kind of non-urgent appointments, which is...

It's not good enough, but that's how it is at the minute. We've got an NHS, I mean, that's government and everything else. So I don't really go into politics. I don't know enough about it, but I'm sure that they are responsible for all of this. We need more doctors and everything else. But when we are going to the doctors, we need to persevere. So check out the freebie. That would give you some tips if it's menopause-related, if it's general health or chronic health conditions.

And I think, like, chronic fatigue, fibro, or endometriosis, pelvic pain, anything that's of a more chronic nature. Again, it's making sure that it's no other causes for it, but then it's getting any kind of other support, asking the GP what else you can do. Is there any other support services? It depends where you are in the country, but oftentimes...

There are specific support services, even if you have to wait for it. But there are people around, or there are charities for a lot of conditions that may be able to offer support as well. So it's looking outside of the box, as it were, if you need more support, is there anybody like me in your local vicinity or you can come see me online, but it's looking at where you can get that help.

The GP may not be able to offer you, but it's certainly asking for the right things. It's just, I could just see everybody was so lacking in motivation because the GPs just kind of fob you off. But they get 10 minutes to see each patient. And if you've got more than one problem with you, so we know with menopause, particularly 30-odd symptoms, 30-odd symptoms that could all be connected related to menopause. could be some of them are caused by other problems. 10 minutes is not enough to try and ascertain exactly what's going on with the body when you've got that many symptoms. I mean, all those symptoms related together, if they don't diagnose you with menopause or perimenopause, then they obviously don't know enough about perimenopause if they can't put all of those symptoms together.

But they obviously need to do the blood test to check out if there's anything else going on. Now I know a lot of women go wanting to have the blood tests to check for perimenopause. They are not very accurate because the levels of our oestrogen and progesterone as we go through perimenopause fluctuate day to day. So it may be that you go and have a blood test on a day when your oestrogen is quite high, therefore it's not going to give you that positive result. If you went the next day, it might be low and then it would. But generally they do the blood test to rule out any other condition that might be causing your symptoms. But again, with things like endometriosis is often seven to 10 years before you get kind of a diagnosis, which is not, is not good enough.

Again, when it's a chronic condition, I will do a whole podcast on endometriosis, but it's a lot of different. It's not just period pain, heavy bleeding, it may also cause bloating, back pain, headaches, fatigue. So there's so many things all rolled into one. It's making sure that you outline all of your symptoms. If you have an idea of what it might be going into it, that does help.

But the same time, if you go into the doctors and give them a list of, this is my condition that I have, the doctors don't necessarily respond well to that. But we need to outline what's going on with us.

Today was just a bit of ranting episode but if you are struggling with any symptoms pop along into the podcast group and kind of talk through with all other women that are in there any topics that we are discussing on the podcast. I will do podcast episodes on those particular problems if you are getting them. I'm happy to help people and answer questions. you've got any questions, I can do a podcast on a question and answers. If you're getting any particular symptoms or issues that you want me to do a podcast on, then feel free to pop into the group. The details of that also in the show notes. But it's interesting how many different women have different experiences of menopause, but the same experience of struggling to get the support that they need.

But then getting disheartened and struggling through it and putting up with it, which we shouldn't have to. mean, there's many reasons that we struggle more maybe now than we did in previous generations, but also it's more understood now. Check out the previous episodes that I've done on menopause, but there's various factors that can make it worse.

But if we can get that support early on as well, so that's another big tip I would suggest is don't wait until you are finding the symptoms almost unmanageable. As soon as you start to get symptoms, if they are starting to affect your quality of life, then look to get help. There's a lot you can do. Check out the previous episode I did about training for the perimenopause in terms of before you get to there, there's lots of lifestyle changes that you can make that will make your journey smoother. But if you've been forced into an early menopause, whether that's surgical menopause, whether that's medical menopause or whether that's early menopause, but a natural one, then you definitely need to be getting some support for that because the long-term health...

issues with that need some further support. If you are going through a natural menopause and you're not wanting any medical support, that's absolutely fine. There is a lot that you can do yourself, but again, don't put up with feeling terrible. There are things that you can do yourself or things that you can get from the GP in terms of HRT or other advice, but certainly there's a lot you can do.

I just want to, the main message of this episode is don't put up with feeling rubbish. Seek support in wherever you need to. So whether that's the GP, whether that's friends and family, whether that's people like me, whether it's just listening to podcasts or researching yourself and things that you can do, do it. Don't sit around and...

think that this is how life is, that you're going to have to struggle forever more. You need to have that knowledge and understanding and know how you can change it, but also having that motivation. So check out the episode coming soon about motivation and how you can start to make the changes that you need to. It is so difficult when you're feeling rubbish, believe me, I know.

make any kind of progress or any positive changes, but I'm going to give you tips on how to do that in the next episode. So make sure that you are subscribing to the podcast. Join the podcast group, check out the free resource that I've included. If you want to go and get some help from the GP, but you're not really getting anywhere or you're not sure where to start with the GP, then that is a great resource for you to use.

And for now, goodbye and take care and make sure that if you're needing support you seek it out. Bye bye.