Menopausal symptoms affect more than 75% of women going through the process. These can include hot flushes, night sweats, trouble sleeping, reduced sex drive, problems with memory and concentration, vaginal dryness, headaches, mood changes and anxiety, heart palpitations, joint stiffness, and frequent UTIs, according to the NHS{
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can relieve most menopausal symptoms but has so far only been available for £9.35 in England (or free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) as a prescription after visiting the GP—who will usually offer a low dose of the drug for the first three months while they monitor the patient’s progress.
But the UK’s health watchdog is reportedly proposing that HRT should be readily available over the counter. So, women can alleviate their symptoms and access the drug in the pharmacy without a prescription from the doctor.
‘Getting access to HRT without a prescription will be a positive for self-educated women who have found themselves let down by haphazard menopause knowledge among some GPs,’ Dee Murray, CEO and founder of Menopause Experts Group told Grazia.
‘But it’s not the only route for women to consider,’ she emphasised. Many women will need specialist advice if they cannot take the drug due to history of breast cancer or they simply prefer a more natural method of treatment.
HRT is complex and women will understandably want sound medical advice as well as accessible treatment: ‘Women need professionals to answer serious questions for them about HRT, like will they be on it for life? What age should they start it at? What are the increased risks?’ Murray continued. ‘We can make buying HRT as easy as buying cough syrup, but there are serious implications that need addressing by trained professionals,’ she said.
The Department Of Health And Social Care are developing a new government-led women’s health strategy{
For most women in the UK, menopause starts at 51 and for one in every 100 women it starts before the age of 40. Only 150,000 women are currently prescribed HRT, if three quarters of women undergoing menopause experience symptoms, then there’s a massive proportion of those effected who are potentially missing out on either treatment or guidance.
It’s vital that this proposed improved access to HRT goes hand in hand with education and support
‘These changes are positive in that they’re another step closer to removing the barriers that make life harder for women when they’re going through the menopause,’ intimate health expert, Dr Shirin Lakhani told Grazia. ‘However it’s important that the correct education and ongoing support is provided,’ she said.
‘If HRT is set to become available without prescription there should still be consultations first, even within a pharmacy setting, so that women have the access to advice and support and are not just expected to go away and deal with what can seem an incredibly daunting process by themselves,’ she continued. ‘It’s vital that this proposed improved access to HRT goes hand in hand with education and support.’
Women’s health and education about their own symptoms and conditions is not currently taken as seriously as men’s in the UK. Women are likely to wait longer for diagnosis and, last year, a government inquiry found there is a culture of medical complications being dismissed simply as ‘women’s problems’.
And HRT is complicated. It can take many forms, including pills, gels, and patches. The new over the counter proposal is to reclassify vaginal tablets, which are applied to the vagina rather than taken orally. ‘This is relatively safe,’ Dr Lakhani explained. ‘However, some types of HRT require more monitoring in order to observe the effect they’re having on a woman’s symptoms.’
Addressing the inequality in health care, she explained: ‘It’s only by breaking down the barriers and taboos surrounding menopause and intimate health that we can truly begin to allow women to play on an even playing field with their male counterparts and help to reduce the anxiety that these issues can still cause for so many women.’
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