Latest / The Menopause Resource Hub Podcast / When your GP doesn't have the answers, where do you go?
Transcript
- MRH Episode 1 NEW: I sat in a GP's office while she Googled my symptoms in front of me. Another doctor told me they were going to book me in for surgery. And when I asked what for, I didn't even get a straight answer. So if you've ever walked out an appointment feeling unheard, or you're laying awake wondering who you're even supposed to see about your symptoms, then this podcast is for you. I'm Sharon Ludlow. I am not a doctor. And I'm not the health expert. I built Menopause Resource Hub because I couldn't find the people who actually know this stuff. And I figured if I couldn't, a lot of other women couldn't either. Each episode across this series, you're going to be introduced to practitioners who really focus on the Perimenopause phase and menopause for midlife women. GPs, dietitians, naturopaths, physios, whoever is looking after those women, like you and I, specifically, we want to hear from them. So that you know what comes next and who to book. We all know that menopause or perimenopause is part of that life transition. We hit different ages, but we start to notice changes in our body, and that's what happened to me. I had a few symptoms and I went down the path of the GP, different appointments, and without going into detail, I can just say it was a disappointing experience. And they encountered People that didn't know a lot about it, they didn't know how to help me, they were Googling answers while I was in the room. One person just said, well, we'll book you in for surgery. And I said, For what? And needless to say, I came away very disappointed. And then I started the Google search. How do I find a provider? Where do I look? How do I know who to trust? How do I even know if that GP knows anything about menopause? And then I saw these people everywhere having the same problem. They're going to a GP, they're not getting the solution they're looking for. And that's not to say people aren't trying. That's not to say all GPs are the same. It's just that it's an area that hasn't been highly focused on. And one beautiful doctor that has since come on board and got involved and actually sees the vision of what I'm trying to create. She made a beautiful statement to me that stuck. And she said, the problem is for most GPs, menopause is not a sickness. It's a life transition, right? So it hasn't been the focus of education and training and concentrated effort unless they have specifically focused on that. Now, things might be starting to change in the Australian environment, and we can hope that. We have things like the government medicine. care rebate that's come into play they've spent their millions of dollars in research in but still there is a gap of trust and a gap of pathway so where do you go how do you know who to trust that was my journey I went down the Google rabbit hole how do I know who who are these people am I going by their website am I going by reviews how do I know a GP's the one that has the answer? The more I started to explore this thing, I thought, surely there's somewhere I can go where the resources are there for me to find. But what I found was sites that might have lots of doctors listed on it, but that doesn't mean they're menopause informed. There might be a whole list of other services, but does that mean they're menopause informed? And it can be pricey, going from one to another or getting the wrong treatment. It can be a tricky pathway. And I think it's just one that has not been really focused on and it's forming, right? It's a little bit like the Wild Wild West out there at the moment. Who knows who to trust and what to listen to? I see a gap between the medical appointment. You go to the GP, what's happening to me, but looking at ourselves as a holistic person, the whole of me doesn't always need a GP. The GP might be the solution, but maybe what I need is to change my diet. Or maybe what I need is a psychiatrist that can help me through this phase. If you want to call it your own board of directors for your health that you can pull around you that have different skills. When I first started the menopause hub, it started just as a directory idea. I was like, I'm gonna find these people, put them here so that even I know how to find them. I can look on a map near me, I can see if they're telehealth. type of thing. I started to build that. And in the process, I realized even then there are still some who really are menopause focused and others who are just using the phrase for search engine optimization. But as I started to refine the process and refine who I would invite on, because it is a manual process for me. I'm actually vetting them all. And the goal is for the women like you and I who have no idea who to look at. We don't know who to trust. How do you trust a Google website? How do you trust AI? It's a tricky place. So my goal is to be able to create a place that at the minimum you have some options presented to you and you can decide. In this case, I might go to a naturopath or I might go to a chiropractor. Who can look after various parts of your health journey? My goal was that it was manually vetted. That it is across disciplines because our health is a multifaceted thing. It's not just going to a GP. And while a GP is a really important part of the health journey, it is not the only thing. And so what I love about starting to speak to these providers across Australia. Is that they too love the idea of a support network and sharing between themselves in the space where it's not in their purview to do that element of somebody's treatment. So my journey of disappointment and my background is in the online space predominantly. I've built websites, I've had e commerce business, I've done coaching and consulting, leadership development. I'm also a travel agent. I'm a bit of everything, right? But that exposure to business for a couple of decades now has me see the gap in the market. It's coming out of an experience, but it's also coming out of what I understand about the online space, what I see in Facebook groups. Some people's conversations are so heartbreaking because they're going through symptoms that they can't cope with. Their relationship is in going through crisis. Some are in really Deep distress about how they're handling their work life, their family. Unexplicable things like rage or no sleep or there are so many things and it is a tricky space. And I think for some women they think, I'll go to the GP, I'll get HRT, and that's the solution. But it is remarkably evident if you look five seconds beyond that, that that is not the solution. For some people, HIT might be the perfect option. For other people, it might be a big problem depending on their medical background. For some people, they just might not even want to go there and choose a natural path. Everybody's position is valid. No one should be invalidated because they chose a path of their own. That's my position with Menopause Resource Hub. I'm not gonna gatekeep you and force you to only go through a GP, for example. And as much as I love them and as much as I love partnering with them, the ones that understand menopause are the ones more likely to understand the power of collaboration across discipline. And that's what I've been finding in my conversations with them as as they've come on. And in the process, it's really wonderful because there's some really lovely ideas that are coming. And the the goal of really caring for women, because this is a journey, right? I think my journey, it's at least eight years now that I've been going through various symptoms and different things not knowing and it changes all the time. So some people can go through 15 years and longer. Some people will just breeze through. And this place here I wanted to create so that people had information to make the choices. So some of these conversations that are going to start coming through this podcast are for that reason. They're not to give treatment advice. What it is is to bring you into the world of that kind of provider, what they look at, what they're serving, what got them into it, how long they've been looking after menopausal women. Why would I go to a nutritionalist instead of a dietitian? Or vice versa? Or why would I go to an exercise physiologist or a personal trainer or go to the chiropractor? There's how do you know which And and I think that a lot of women we do try things. Sometimes we might be afraid because we don't really understand it. So I'm not always gonna go down the medical route. Sometimes it will be a food-based route. It might be exercise based. So we wanna be able to look at it and that's what the menopause hub is really designed to do. And since we launched in January, we have been building steadily. A website is developing. We have the appointment ready workshop to help you, which we'll talk about in another episode. There are some simple downloads if you just want to know about symptoms or treatment options or support. I think that I've I've had a long history of working non-profit around the world and doing things within Australia. And so part of my life has always been trying to help people. find a solution in whatever form that looks like. And this journey has been a lot of fun. Everybody, even though we might be slightly overlapping, everyone's story is different. And what I see in the Facebook groups, which is really heartbreaking, really, is that they are asking very, very, very specific questions. Personal, intimate questions that you would think that they would be going to their GP in, but their GP's Sadly, in a lot of cases, either aren't hearing them. What I appreciate about a GP is that they are a general practitioner. They're supposed to be a little bit good at everything. So that nothing catastrophic is happening in that person that's come in their room. We're looking after you first, then we're hearing you. But and in 10 minutes appointment, that's a lot to ask. When you think about the whole health, when they've got to be able to assess in front of them the myriad of health things that are could be. So I think that we have to just have a bit of grace here and at the same time in this space find the people who care enough to be educated in it and get around them and ask them the questions and all that. So that's been my journey. And I so I invite you to come along to the Menopause Resource Hub. I invite you to share your ideas for it, to tell me what it is you want about menopause. I think we need to look after ourselves. We've been doing a lot for a long time. Whether or not you've got kids, you're married, you've you're in the work life, all you like you've been doing a lot and to care and to listen and to share the journey and to help each other through the rough patch and celebrate the good patch. There are a lot of things we can do for women because we are still very productive in the economy. We have responsibility with our family and finances and the spiritual center of our families. And there's a lot of things that rest on us. And so to be really smart with how we look after ourselves and each other, I think is a valuable asset for Australia. And that is my goal. And I invite you on the to the journey with me to do it. So whether you're a provider and you want to join in and be part of it. Or whether you are someone with experiences that you cannot figure out for the life of you what's going on, maybe there's some providers in our directory that you can go and have a conversation with and reach out to. There's resources, there's articles, we're building things all the time. And I just invite you to jump on the email list so that you know some of those offers. There'll be some really distinct things that aren't really conventionally part of a directory that are coming. But all of this being said is it's a new thing. I'm hoping that it really connects with people in the sense that we all wanna understand our health and be know who to trust with it. And that's what we're forming here. Yeah. That's my story and it's why this podcast exists. In the next episode, I'll walk you through how to get taken seriously at your next appointment, what to bring, what to say, and what to do if it doesn't go well. I'll see you there.