No longer taboo? – More women are speaking out about their menopause struggles

Despite it being a natural stage of life that every woman experiences, it has, nevertheless, been something that has caused women to feel shame, embarrassment, and distress.

Fortunately, times are finally changing. Women are starting to speak out about the effects that menopause symptoms have on their lives. Some, including menopause doctors at the Marion Gluck Clinic, are even trying to raise awareness so that ignorance and misconceptions about this stage of life can be put to rest.

Recently, celebrities have been featured in the media discussing their experiences with menopause. This has contributed to more women recognising that the symptoms that they are experiencing are related to menopause. In turn, this encourages them to seek help so that they can cope with them more effectively. This is something that every menopause doctor at the Marion Gluck Clinic is delighted to see.

Founded by Dr Marion Gluck, the clinic was established with the sole purpose of helping women going through menopause and perimenopause to take greater control over their hormonal wellbeing in order to improve their quality of life and boost their confidence by learning more about their hormonal function and, thus, their bodies.

Menopausal symptoms affect one in four women

Three-quarters of all women experience menopause symptoms that have a significant impact on their lives.

At least half of those women find that the side-effects of menopause affect their sex lives and their home lives, with 36% reporting an impact on their social lives too.

Yet, while over 40% of menopausal women found their symptoms worse than they had expected, half of them never contact a doctor or other healthcare professional to get help and relief.

Why don’t women seek help for menopause?    

In many cases, so few women seek help for their symptoms because they simply don’t recognise what is causing their symptoms     .

Menopause has been taboo for so long that women still receive very little information about what to expect when they reach this life stage and so fail to realise that what they are experiencing is caused by menopause. This lack of knowledge often results in women trying to power through,      facing their struggles alone.

It only complicates matters that many of the women who do seek medical help for their symptoms end up with a misdiagnosis. The anxiety and depression that menopausal hormonal imbalances cause, for example, often result in women being treated with antidepressants rather than hormone replacement therapies that would be more beneficial in addressing the root cause.

Yet, there is help out there – finding the right menopause doctor is the key, and at the Marion Gluck Clinic, menopause specialists are on hand to offer all the support menopausal women need to improve their quality of life.

Recognising menopausal symptoms

As the symptoms of menopause are often very similar to those of other medical problems, it’s very difficult in many cases to pinpoint the underlying condition. Self-diagnosis is therefore never a good idea.

Even if you’re approaching menopausal age, it’s always wise to see a doctor if you’re experiencing unusual symptoms. Seeking help from a specialist menopause doctor is often the best course of action, since GPs often lack the specific knowledge regarding this healthcare field.

The benefits of seeing a menopause specialist

Even women who understand that the symptoms they are experiencing are related to menopause often feel that seeking help from a doctor is pointless. There is still a school of thought that says menopause is a natural part of getting older, so there’s nothing that can be done to help. Yet, that isn’t the case at all.

At the Marion Gluck Clinic, doctors have in-depth knowledge and understanding of women’s hormonal health and can offer bespoke treatments that are tailored to the individual needs of each patient. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing menopause symptoms, the team uses bioidentical hormone replacement therapies to balance each patient’s hormones and give them a better quality of life.

With bespoke dosages and a wider choice of delivery options from patches and gels to oral tablets, paired with lifestyle advice and nutritional support, every patient can benefit from the individualised treatment from taking up a hobby to help relaxation to medical support they need to feel even better than they did before menopause.

The all-female team at the Marion Gluck Clinic has years of expertise in the field of women’s health and is passionate about helping women to understand their hormonal changes so they can be empowered to take control of their own health and well-being, especially during menopause.

By giving women the advice and treatment that they need to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life, the Marion Gluck team are working hard to change the way that women approach and experience menopause.

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