As the summer approaches my year takes on momentum, with events and holidays vying for a position in my diary ..work gets busy and with school holidays coming thick and fast I was up to my eyes in Grandchildren on a regular basis.
Trying to stay on top of my diet and exercise is hard and then there are dates to fit in as well. My personal life is the first thing to take a back seat so as usual I am trying to keep all my balls in the air, if you pardon the pun!
My well being is dependent on a lot of things and like any Older Woman who still wants to keep her pencil in sharp and perky order I take a number of prescribed medications given to me by my long suffering GP!
Unfortunately for me and the rest of the practice this lovely man who used to listen to my woes, always gave me the time I needed and indulged my carefully researched demands for medication, decided that he had enough and not only retired from General Practice but from being a doctor. (dealing with the likes of me had clearly become too much for him)
He was a great loss to all his patient’s, a loss that is still being felt even though it was sometime ago. So I was passed on to a new GP who took a little while to come to terms with my direct approach and knowledge. As I was also suffering from severe anxiety at the time so she had a bit of a hill to climb. But then as usual the subject of my HRT came up. Because I had been on it over the usual time limit murmurings were made about reducing it! tapering it off! giving it up!
Any mention of giving up HRT sends me into panic and as I was already suffering from acute anxiety I immediately went into defensive posturing explaining that I had already covered this with the outgoing GP. I had told him that he would have to wrestle me to the ground to remove those tiny youth enhancing pills from my grubby little mitts! Now here we go again!
So having stated my case in no uncertain terms listing all the reasons why it was essential to my well being and my very important libido! I then eloquently reeled off all my other medical reasons for taking it whilst quoting that I had no contraindications for not taking it and it was all about quality of life.
She agreed with me and wrote another prescription for three months and I exhaled. But now yet again I have been notified that I should try other medications that are just as effective. (yeah Right!) I received this bit of information by text if you please and now I have to waste the doctor’s valuable time by getting an appointment and going through it all again. Considering said same Doctor told me after my carefully worded argument that I could stay on it until until I was seventy and then we would have to have a conversation! I am at a loss to understand why we are here again!
I think I know the answer, Money! They don’t want to to keep me on an expensive drug when the recommended time limit has been exceeded. That and the fact I insist on Brands and not the generic variety must be very aggravating for whoever is trying to keep within budget.
Well, I refuse to be a bloody statistic! I want to be treated like the individual I am. I bet I’m on some spreadsheet somewhere with a big red flag next to my name! If they think I am going back to fifty hot flushes a day! A low libido! and a dry vagina they can bloody well think again!
Everything is working very nicely thank you! And I intend to keep it that way. It’s hard enough getting older, we need all the help we can get. I have always been full of praise for my Doctor’s practice and my treatment but lately things have got so regimented and robotic. Woe betide you if you over run your allotted ten minutes ! And if you have more than one thing to discuss then you have to make another appointment! Ridiculous!
So it looks like I am going to have to do battle all over again by rolling up my sleeves and getting the doctor in a headlock! Resistance is futile! I demand the right to feel normal! Whatever the fuck that is! Till next time
Gaynor xx
NB: Only take HRT with medical advice and this very much depends on you’re health and background.
I take Livial (Tibolone) in tablet form which contains a synthetic collection of Progesterone, Estrogen and a tiny bit of Testosterone. (It’s this combination that makes it so effective) The risk factors are a small increase in the chances of Breast Cancer, Uterine Cancer and Thrombosis as you age. On the plus side it helps keep or increase your Libido (especially good for Women that have lost theirs) Helps keep Osteoporosis at bay and gets rid of hot flushes and night sweats. However, regular check-ups are needed including Smear Tests! Mammograms! and Blood Pressure checks!
It’s up to each person to weigh up the Pros and Cons with the help of their GP. For me it’s a no Brainer!
