As a women in her mid 40’s I do feel that any symptom of anything I may have is now just chalked up to the perimenopause.
This is what my online life tells me…and what my friends of the same age often hear from their GPs.
But women in their 40’s can have other medical conditions, including pregnancy and cancer.
We need to be heard properly.
‘A Mumsnet report drawing on a decade of users’ posts from the site paints a picture of a system where women fail to get the healthcare they need, with symptoms “brushed aside, treated as psychological, or simply not believed”; in a survey published with the report, 64% said they had been explicitly told pain or symptoms were “normal” or “in their head”.’
There are a lot of pains and symptoms in women that get missed by the medical profession because so many studies have been men only.
I didn’t really get a scale of this until I read ‘Invisible Women’ by Caroline Criado Perez.
Strong recommend if you have not read already.
This New Scientist article looks at some of the conditions and scenarios that can be missed from assuming every symptom is the perimenopause / menopause once you reach a certain age.
The assumption is that once you have a face to face consultation with your GP all will be well…but detecting other conditions may require several trips and trying HRT.
Back in my 20s in school it was "Are you pregnant?" even if you walked in saying your knee is hurting. So I learned to be persistent pretty early.
Heh.
There is one thing for which being pregnant is very useful: getting your teeth straightened. My orthodontist cousin tells me that teeth are much more mobile during pregnancy, and his pregnant patients have straight teeth in no time. I never did need it, but sometimes advise young women – and always get a rise out of them 😆
Juggling With Eggs
CelloMom On Cars
olena