Firing Menopause

More women in their 40s and 50s are firing their OBs and PCPs faster than my kids leave the supper table, linking up with healthcare specialists who’ve tossed out the passive healthcare playbook. The exodus seems to have started over frustrations with early menopause - women could be seeing their doctor for a hangnail and they’ll still likely get asked “so when was your last period” – but the sometimes awkwardly timed question isn’t the issue as much as the lack of direction for women who say they entered menopause early. According to our poll of 262 women now over 50 who had their last period age 35 to 45, nearly 87% say their doctors dismissed them when they said they were in menopause. Most said they later learned that they should have started hormone replacement therapy within 3-5 years of their last period but their doctors mostly said “you’re too young for menopause” or didn’t recommend HRT due to concerns over heart disease and cancer risk. The disconnect has left many of these women scrambling for health, suffering anxiety, phobias and weight gain, some leaving their families, jobs and the lifestyle they wanted. Sandy Wittman, 51, who entered menopause at around 45, tells me she “can’t get that time back” and wonders if the HRT she has just now started will work. “Why ask us about our last period every time,” she said, “if you aren’t going to have a good answer.”