Has either of these happened to you?
- Your doctor listens to your list of symptoms, says it sounds like PMS or "period moodiness," and offers you a prescription for an antidepressant.
- Your doctor listens to your list of symptoms, says the only approach is hormone replacement, and offers you a prescription for hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
If so, it's a red flag that your doctor isn't doing all he or she should to help you.
Solution: You're going to have to push harder to get quality help from your doctor. Don't get us wrong: Both antidepressants and hormones are reasonable approaches to some menopause-related problems. But neither should be an automatic first-line solution, and neither should be given without making sure they're the right approach.
So before you zip over to the drugstore with a prescription, make sure you and your doctor have had a thorough discussion about your symptoms, the best dosage, and what you can expect the drug to accomplish, as well as a full rundown of the side effects and risks. And if you find you consistently leave your doctor's office feeling that no one really listened to you, or that you don't know what to do next to feel better, it's time to get a new doctor. Really.
