Night sweats, mood swings, sleeping problems, weight gain, hot flashes, headaches, palpitations, and joint symptoms. These are just some of the debilitating symptoms that women experience when going through menopause.
One would think they might be enough to get a doctor’s attention and mobilize him or her to take action. Unfortunately, many times that is not the case.
The latest data has revealed the full and devastating impact that menopause can have, not only on the women affected, but on society and the economy as a whole.
According to NHS Confederation research, 60,000 women are off work due to long-term symptoms, and these absences cost the economy £1.5bn a year.
The report found that those who suffer from serious physical or mental problems are less likely to be employed compared to the rest of the population, and twice as likely to be economically inactive due to their health problems.
According to NHS Confederation research, 60,000 women are off work due to long-term menopause symptoms, and these absences cost the economy £1.5bn a year.
Yet despite this, menopausal women across the country are ignored or misled when they go to the doctor and ask for help. While the rich and famous can always afford private treatment, the rest face an uphill struggle to obtain even basic care.
Although 13 million women are going through menopause, it is estimated that one in four have to visit their GP at least three times before receiving appropriate treatment, such as HRT. Is it any wonder so many people feel disappointed and desperate?
Worse yet, when they finally receive treatment, it is often the wrong kind. Campaigners say common symptoms of menopause, such as anxiety, low mood or palpitations, are dismissed as psychological and patients are sent on antidepressants.
I have seen this several times in my clinics, where women have been told that they are “just” depressed. However, when I spend time talking and listening to them, it becomes clear that their problems are a result of menopause.
One patient had been given antidepressants, a beta blocker to treat palpitations attributed to stress, and a highly addictive anxiolytic to treat symptoms that had only developed with the onset of menopause.
Her GP had refused to prescribe HRT when she requested it. Desperate, she got it privately and, after a few months, her depression and anxiety disappeared, allowing her to stop taking all other pills.
Of course, it is perfectly possible to be menopausal and depressed.
That’s why doctors need to pay much more attention to women who are going through a life change with careful and detailed evaluations to find out where the root of their problems is.
Regular readers will know that I am a passionate supporter of the NHS, so it pains me to say that the health service is letting women down. Why do they have to fight for treatment? When did access to HRT become such a battle?
I am not suggesting that all women should take HRT. Some are lucky enough to go through menopause without major problems, others can manage using mindfulness and meditation techniques to help with hot flashes.
Menopause is a natural phenomenon, it is not a disease or the body going wrong in some way. While we hear a lot about the health risks associated with menopause, such as osteoporosis (thinning of the bones), we know from large-scale studies that it is complex and actually has some health benefits too.
Women are no longer at risk of getting pregnant, for example, and many say their sex lives benefit.
Others gain confidence once the symptoms disappear and love the fact that they don’t have to deal with monthly menstruation.
However, Western women are increasingly told that menopause is something to be feared and hated. It presents itself in terms of the body giving up or failing, rather than moving on to the next phase.
It is heartbreaking to think of all the women who have never experienced anxiety or depression before and who feel knocked down by it, can barely get up in the morning, find no enjoyment or excitement in life, and spend each day numb and like an automaton.
How can we expect people to keep a job in this state?
It is hard to believe that there are treatments and medications that can alleviate women’s suffering and distress, and yet accessing them is so difficult that tens of thousands have to be placed on sick leave.
Researchers have urged struggling new parents to seek specialist mental health support in the weeks after the birth of their child, in a bid to protect themselves from “postpartum depression in men”.
Some men may have difficulty adjusting to their new life as a father; However, this is similar to any difficulty adjusting to a big life event. It is a mistake to compare your experience to that of new mothers who go through major hormonal changes that do not affect men.
Shirley is right on Strictly Row
Strict judge Shirley Ballas broke her silence on the findings of the BBC bullying investigation last week, saying: “I don’t condone bullying… if things aren’t right or need to be addressed, I feel sorry for the person who wants to to be addressed.”
Then he added: “But now the investigation is over and everyone can move on.”
Bravo, Shirley. In particular, I think Amanda Abbington, for her own sanity and that of everyone else, needs to get away from the whole thing. I suspect that it really isn’t in his best interest to continue dragging out the dispute, with interviews and threats of legal action.
Strict judge Shirley Ballas broke her silence on the findings of the BBC harassment investigation last week, saying: “I do not condone harassment…”
I have had patients who have found it very difficult to get over something traumatic that has happened to them. They have a tendency to focus on one big cathartic event in the hope that this will somehow resolve everything, as perhaps Amanda did with the BBC report.
They spend their life savings taking people to court, giving interviews to television and the press, writing books, asking for consultations. This is all done with the best of intentions, but once it’s over, it often leaves the person feeling empty and hopeless because they realize that nothing has really changed.
As a therapist once told me, often the only way to deal with terrible things that happened in the past and cannot be changed is to remember the lyrics to the Disney song Frozen: Let it go.
The proportion of GP appointments made online has hit a record high despite concerns about patient safety, official figures reveal. This news fills me with dread. Can clinically accurate, patient-centered care really be delivered over the Internet? Certainly, for some things, especially minor ailments, virtual appointments may be fine.
But for some time now I have not been convinced that a virtual appointment can replace seeing a doctor face to face. I myself have had online consultations and the experience has been revealing. Several times I was misdiagnosed and prescribed treatment incorrect for the condition I actually had because the GP was unable to examine me properly.
Personal contact is also lost: that human connection that is so important in the doctor/patient relationship and almost impossible to replicate through a screen.
Dr. Max prescribes: Anna Richardson: love, loss and dementia
In her truly moving documentary Ch4, Anna explores the issues faced by people with dementia and the challenges of those who care for them. It’s all the better for being a deeply personal film, detailing his father’s battles with vascular dementia.
Anna Richardson explores the issues faced by people with dementia and the challenges of those who care for them in her Channel 4 documentary.