April
Member52, Manchester. Keeping notes because my brain drops every useful detail the second I see the GP.
Helped this month
0
helpful marks received
0
reads on logs
0
helpful reply marks
Activity (9)
Jun 21 · Posted
52 and I have my GP appointment on Thursday and I am absolutely dreading walking in there and going blank. Every single time. I sit down and she asks how I've been and my brain just... empties. I come out having mentioned about 30% of what I actually wanted to say and then spend the drive home remembering the rest. So this week I've been writing things down as they happen. Woke at 3am Tuesday, heart going, couldn't get back off until nearly 5. Wrote it down. Wednesday felt fine actually. Thursday that low-level dread was back before I'd even got out of bed, no reason, nothing had happened. Wrote it down. I've got almost a week of it now and I'm going to print it out and just hand it to her if I have to. I've also written my actual questions because I know I'll forget those too. Mainly around whether the sleep stuff could be hormonal and whether HRT might help with that specifically, because it's the sleep that's wrecking everything else. The anxiety, the brain fog at work, all of it. Has anyone done this, just handed over a written list? Did the GP take it seriously or did it feel a bit odd? Bit nervous she'll think I'm being dramatic. x
Jun 21 · Replied
Community post
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Jun 20 · Posted
52 and I have finally booked a GP appointment for next week, which sounds like nothing but has taken me about three months to actually do. The problem is every time I get in that room my brain just... empties. I'll have spent the whole drive there running through what I want to say and then she asks "so what's brought you in today" and I say something like "oh just a bit tired I suppose" and that's it, appointment over, nothing changes. So this time I'm writing it all down beforehand. Properly. I've been keeping a note on my phone this week, just jotting when I wake (it's almost always between 3 and 4, almost to the minute, it's uncanny), how I feel when I eventually get up, whether the anxiety is bad. Nothing fancy, just a rough log so I have something to show her rather than relying on my absolutely useless memory. I want to ask about HRT specifically and whether it can help with sleep, because that's genuinely the thing that's wrecking me most right now. Not the other stuff, the sleep. I've read a bit about oestrogen and sleep cycles and I don't want to go in sounding like I've self-diagnosed off the internet but I also don't want to be fobbed off with "have you tried sleep hygiene" again. Has anyone managed to have a useful conversation with their GP about HRT and sleep specifically? What actually worked to get them to take it seriously? x
Jun 19 · Replied
Community post
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Jun 19 · Posted
52 and I've started writing things down before I even get to the waiting room because the last time I sat in front of my GP my mind just went completely blank. Like, I had been awake at 3am for six nights in a row and somehow when she asked how she could help I said "I've been a bit tired" and left with a leaflet on sleep hygiene. Not this time. I've got a notes app open on my phone that I've been adding to all week. Times I woke up, how long it took to get back to sleep, whether the sweating came before or after the waking (honestly still can't tell), how I felt by mid-afternoon. It looks a bit obsessive written out like that but I genuinely cannot hold this stuff in my head anymore. The thing I really want to ask about is HRT and whether it could help with the sleep specifically. I've read a bit and I know oestrogen is involved somehow but I don't know how to bring it up without sounding like I've diagnosed myself off the internet. Has anyone managed to steer a GP conversation towards that without being fobbed off? I keep rehearsing it in my head and then worrying I'll just go quiet again the second she looks at her screen. Appointment is Thursday. Fingers crossed x
Jun 18 · Replied
Community post
Just popping back to say thank you, especially Molly. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.
Jun 18 · Posted
52 and I have a GP appointment on Thursday and I am already panicking about it. Not about going, about the bit where she asks me what's been happening and my brain just... empties. Every single time. I'll have spent weeks thinking "I must mention the 3am waking" and "I must ask about HRT and whether it could help with sleep" and then I sit down in that chair and I suddenly sound completely fine and vague and she probably thinks I've come in about a mole. So this week I have actually been writing things down as they happen. Not a big system, just notes on my phone. Woke at 3.17, couldn't get back off until nearly 5, anxious but nothing to be anxious about. That kind of thing. Woke drenched Tuesday. Felt okay Wednesday but a fog all afternoon at work. I want to ask her specifically about HRT and sleep because I've read a bit and I'd like to understand whether the waking is hormonal or just... me being 52 and stressed. But I know if I don't write the question down I will nod along and come home and remember it on the drive back. Does anyone else do this? The notes thing? Did it actually help you get taken seriously or did the GP just sort of gloss over it? Genuinely asking because Thursday feels quite important and I don't want to waste it. x
Jun 11 · Replied
Community post
Thank you Yvonne, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Jun 11 · Posted
GP appointment Thursday and I am absolutely dreading walking in there and going blank. Every time. I have this whole list of things in my head on the drive over and then I sit down and she asks how she can help and I say something like "oh just a bit tired I think" and come home having mentioned precisely none of it. So this week I have been writing things down as they happen. Woke at 3.17am Tuesday, heart going, that low-level dread that doesn't attach to anything specific. Same Wednesday. Wrote it in my notes app straight away while it was real. I want to be able to show her an actual pattern rather than shrug and say "some nights are bad". The main thing I want to ask about is whether broken sleep like this can be a peri symptom even when I'm not having obvious night sweats every night. And whether HRT can actually help with sleep specifically, or whether that's not really what it's for. I don't want to go in asking for something she'll think is unreasonable. I just want to feel like myself again at work. I'm 52, my periods are all over the place, and I am so tired of being tired. Also started having a proper breakfast this week after years of just coffee. Eggs or yoghurt, something with a bit of substance. No idea if it's connected to anything but I feel slightly less desperate by 11am which is something. Anyway. Wish me luck Thursday x
Posts (5)
52 and I have my GP appointment on Thursday and I am absolutely dreading walking in there and going blank. Every single time. I sit down and she asks how I've been and my brain just... empties. I come out having mentioned about 30% of what I actually wanted to say and then spend the drive home remembering the rest. So this week I've been writing things down as they happen. Woke at 3am Tuesday, heart going, couldn't get back off until nearly 5. Wrote it down. Wednesday felt fine actually. Thursday that low-level dread was back before I'd even got out of bed, no reason, nothing had happened. Wrote it down. I've got almost a week of it now and I'm going to print it out and just hand it to her if I have to. I've also written my actual questions because I know I'll forget those too. Mainly around whether the sleep stuff could be hormonal and whether HRT might help with that specifically, because it's the sleep that's wrecking everything else. The anxiety, the brain fog at work, all of it. Has anyone done this, just handed over a written list? Did the GP take it seriously or did it feel a bit odd? Bit nervous she'll think I'm being dramatic. x
52 and I have finally booked a GP appointment for next week, which sounds like nothing but has taken me about three months to actually do. The problem is every time I get in that room my brain just... empties. I'll have spent the whole drive there running through what I want to say and then she asks "so what's brought you in today" and I say something like "oh just a bit tired I suppose" and that's it, appointment over, nothing changes. So this time I'm writing it all down beforehand. Properly. I've been keeping a note on my phone this week, just jotting when I wake (it's almost always between 3 and 4, almost to the minute, it's uncanny), how I feel when I eventually get up, whether the anxiety is bad. Nothing fancy, just a rough log so I have something to show her rather than relying on my absolutely useless memory. I want to ask about HRT specifically and whether it can help with sleep, because that's genuinely the thing that's wrecking me most right now. Not the other stuff, the sleep. I've read a bit about oestrogen and sleep cycles and I don't want to go in sounding like I've self-diagnosed off the internet but I also don't want to be fobbed off with "have you tried sleep hygiene" again. Has anyone managed to have a useful conversation with their GP about HRT and sleep specifically? What actually worked to get them to take it seriously? x
52 and I've started writing things down before I even get to the waiting room because the last time I sat in front of my GP my mind just went completely blank. Like, I had been awake at 3am for six nights in a row and somehow when she asked how she could help I said "I've been a bit tired" and left with a leaflet on sleep hygiene. Not this time. I've got a notes app open on my phone that I've been adding to all week. Times I woke up, how long it took to get back to sleep, whether the sweating came before or after the waking (honestly still can't tell), how I felt by mid-afternoon. It looks a bit obsessive written out like that but I genuinely cannot hold this stuff in my head anymore. The thing I really want to ask about is HRT and whether it could help with the sleep specifically. I've read a bit and I know oestrogen is involved somehow but I don't know how to bring it up without sounding like I've diagnosed myself off the internet. Has anyone managed to steer a GP conversation towards that without being fobbed off? I keep rehearsing it in my head and then worrying I'll just go quiet again the second she looks at her screen. Appointment is Thursday. Fingers crossed x
52 and I have a GP appointment on Thursday and I am already panicking about it. Not about going, about the bit where she asks me what's been happening and my brain just... empties. Every single time. I'll have spent weeks thinking "I must mention the 3am waking" and "I must ask about HRT and whether it could help with sleep" and then I sit down in that chair and I suddenly sound completely fine and vague and she probably thinks I've come in about a mole. So this week I have actually been writing things down as they happen. Not a big system, just notes on my phone. Woke at 3.17, couldn't get back off until nearly 5, anxious but nothing to be anxious about. That kind of thing. Woke drenched Tuesday. Felt okay Wednesday but a fog all afternoon at work. I want to ask her specifically about HRT and sleep because I've read a bit and I'd like to understand whether the waking is hormonal or just... me being 52 and stressed. But I know if I don't write the question down I will nod along and come home and remember it on the drive back. Does anyone else do this? The notes thing? Did it actually help you get taken seriously or did the GP just sort of gloss over it? Genuinely asking because Thursday feels quite important and I don't want to waste it. x
GP appointment Thursday and I am absolutely dreading walking in there and going blank. Every time. I have this whole list of things in my head on the drive over and then I sit down and she asks how she can help and I say something like "oh just a bit tired I think" and come home having mentioned precisely none of it. So this week I have been writing things down as they happen. Woke at 3.17am Tuesday, heart going, that low-level dread that doesn't attach to anything specific. Same Wednesday. Wrote it in my notes app straight away while it was real. I want to be able to show her an actual pattern rather than shrug and say "some nights are bad". The main thing I want to ask about is whether broken sleep like this can be a peri symptom even when I'm not having obvious night sweats every night. And whether HRT can actually help with sleep specifically, or whether that's not really what it's for. I don't want to go in asking for something she'll think is unreasonable. I just want to feel like myself again at work. I'm 52, my periods are all over the place, and I am so tired of being tired. Also started having a proper breakfast this week after years of just coffee. Eggs or yoghurt, something with a bit of substance. No idea if it's connected to anything but I feel slightly less desperate by 11am which is something. Anyway. Wish me luck Thursday x
Likes & Replies (4)
Jun 21 · Replied to Community post
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Jun 19 · Replied to Community post
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Jun 18 · Replied to Community post
Just popping back to say thank you, especially Molly. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.
Jun 11 · Replied to Community post
Thank you Yvonne, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Logs (0)
No experiences shared yet.
Comments (4)
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Thank you Alison, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.
Just popping back to say thank you, especially Molly. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.
Thank you Yvonne, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.