How do I know if this is the menopause?

It is a common misconception that menopause symptoms start and end with the infamous ‘hot flush’.

In fact, the list of the symptoms and effects of the menopause is long and includes many psychological as well as physical symptoms. These can be anything from difficulty sleeping, to anxiety, cognitive impairment, palpitations, vaginal soreness, recurrent urinary infections and lots more besides. In fact a lot of women we see don’t even realise that some of the symptoms they are experiencing could be connected to the menopause; many more are misdiagnosed and may not receive the right treatment.

Before an appointment with us, we ask all patients to complete this symptom checker, which is based on the validated and widely used Greene Climacteric scale:

There is also a summary of the most common symptoms below, or watch Katie’s short video for more information.

You may also find our FAQ section helpful; you can find it here:

There’s no such thing as average symptoms

Here Katie talks about some of the symptoms of the menopause. Women may experience, some of them, or all of them. They may also change over time as women go through the perimenopause, menopause, and into post menopause.

 
Thank you so much for yesterday’s consult, it was lovely to be able to chat freely without time constraints and judgment together with such understanding.
— - Patient, November 2020