saffy
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Post by saffy on Dec 28, 2013 1:14:42 GMT
Hi everyone! Having finally joined up and read the whole forum I thought I'd say hello . I'm 48 and have been hurtling inexorably towards menopause for a while now I think. Never one to approach anything unarmed I've been reading as much as I can find on the subject including the MM and PS forums that I know some of you have been/are members of. Rather naively I had thought that the internet was full of women suffering the more extreme/severe symptoms of menopause. Hahaha...how wrong I was . Whilst I was waiting for the hot flushes and heavy irregular periods to start, six months ago I woke up one day feeling like I'd been hit by a truck... I found this forum via Jacks blog from a link in her signature on the PS forum and thought it felt like the kind of place where I can have a bit of a rant as well as receive some good advice. I'll save my personal experience and related rant for elsewhere but I just want to say- what the hell is going on with women's healthcare that we are all being left to fall apart in middle and old age? I'm incensed and spitting blood at the way woman are being treated, especially in the UK by the NHS, and women seem to be complicit in this if some of the posts on other forums are anything to go by. OK that was a mini rant .
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gobe
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Post by gobe on Dec 28, 2013 13:10:38 GMT
I remember feeling I was embarking on a journey into the great unknown when I started menopause. If it were not for forums and websites I would have been none the wiser. There seemed to be a wall of silence around the whole subject. The whole approach from the NHS seems to be understated and information is only provided if it is asked for. I think that is wrong. Every women should have information supplied well before the menopause so that she is prepared and not scared by all the changes that can take place. Feel free to vent any time you feel the need Saffy!
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saffy
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Post by saffy on Dec 30, 2013 1:31:12 GMT
Thanks Gobe . Yes, it's certainly surrounded by a wall of silence, that's for sure. Even when women have apparently 'come out the other side' many seem to be completely unaware that so many of the physical and mental ailments that are still afflicting them are directly related to their hormones (or lack of). For my mum menopause was hot flushes and flooding. No mention of the fact that she was an emotional wreck forever after with constant aches and pains attributed to 'ageing'. Doctors/the NHS have to bear some responsibility for this. The NHS seems to be utterly impotent when faced with any quality of life issues and is positively obstructive if we wish to take control of our own health. Oh dear...I'm off again .
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Post by jacksfullofaces on Jan 19, 2014 21:16:58 GMT
Hi Saffy Rant away - I frequently do and am pleased to see you here. Jacks
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saffy
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Post by saffy on Jan 22, 2014 2:59:09 GMT
Thanks Jacks . I've been lurking elsewhere and saw you'd been having a rough time with your caved-in ceiling...my sympathies, it can be very unsettling. I loved your 'Menopause is Boring' thread. I'm sick to the back teeth of it and I've barely left the starting blocks. Somehow I don't think I will be attempting to embrace my inner goddess, assuming I could find her .
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Post by jacksfullofaces on Jan 22, 2014 7:03:51 GMT
Savvy I get the distinct impression on certain sites that my blunt views attract the attention of those who love suffering menopause and dislike any attempt at open discussion. Three women spring to mind lol. My ceiling will get fixed thank you and fortunately we gave enough room to manage Talking of the NHS I recently chatted with an NHS GP who told me the NHS encourages a defensive approach to medicine - he says you are more likely to be run over than come to harm using hormones- cost is a factor. Personally I think the NHS is so defensive they are now passive aggressive. The big scares were seized on to restrict hormones. Several years pre scares I read an article by the government saying that HRT was a life style option and too expensive for NHS - this was Major's time. Jacks
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saffy
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Post by saffy on Feb 7, 2014 19:58:52 GMT
Sorry, been really busy . It's the shortsightedness of the current NHS attitude that angers me. Years of impaired and blighted lives that could have been prevented by early intervention and a more rounded 'holistic', individualised approach. I've become quite fascinated by the US private/insurance-based healthcare system. Not that I would want to go that route in the UK but it does starkly illustrate what is available when money is not the defining factor in diagnosis and treatment. Age/gender appropriate regular scans and blood work ups, timely and individualised treatment options, all things which would save the NHS money in the long term but simply unavailable here. Even the private sector in the UK doesn't seem to offer a full alternative via the insurance route. Pay as you go only, pretty much. It's very frustrating. Finding a private GP is difficult where I live (near Exeter). There appears to be one practice of 2 doctors that I can find. None of the private hospitals nearby have them. Even 'though I would be prepared to pay for some things it seems to be incredibly difficult to take control of one's health in any co-ordinated and cohesive manner .
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saffy
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Post by saffy on Feb 8, 2014 18:21:48 GMT
While I'm still in rant mode ...I have just discovered that the Spanish equivalent of the NHS provides all it's patients with cradle to grave individualised, extensive testing/screening four times a year, apparently recently reduced to three times a year as a cost cutting measure. Their public health model is entirely based on prevention and baseline comparisons for optimal health. So clearly it can be done within the 'socialised' medical system :/.
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Post by jacksfullofaces on Feb 17, 2014 20:41:24 GMT
Saffy The NHS is penny wise and pound foolish. I just had a run in with a practice GP who banged on about my hormones. I said to him how about you try an androgen blocker and see how you enjoy menopause. I told him I have no intention of complying and I stated that I failed to see why I should potentially damage my health. He admitted it is NHS politics. They delight in refusing hormones when possible. Although he is not my regular doctor ( he was unavailable) he referred it to the hospital gynaecology department who if they refuse to endorse my hormones will be getting a formal complaint. I can afford private medicine so there us no way they can inflict their views on me. Jacks
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