In 2007 I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Margaret Smith who helped me immensely.
After numerous visits to my local GP (who by the way is a female, a little older than myself & who I thought would understand me), asking for help as I wasn’t coping with my menopause, she said “You need to go on Anti-depressants!!!”
My reply was “can’t you just check my levels??” Her answer was “no you need to come off your HRT for at least 3 months to check the levels.” That really scared me as I wasn’t coping on the HRT so how will I be off them??? That wasn’t the answer I needed.
I felt frustrated, unheard and uncared for and I wasn’t given any other options!!!! After this I spiraled down into a deep depression not sure what to do or where to turn, thinking this must be my lot in life.
One of my daughters became very concerned about me. She began to research for other doctors and found Dr Margaret Smith, she emailed her and became my doctor till she retired in Dec 2011. She became my God send.
This is a letter from Dr Margaret to my GP:
I have rechecked Linda’s hormone levels, her levels are the lowest I have ever seen!! Please note that for some women on long-term Premarin,(I had been on Premarin for 7 yrs) sex hormone binding globulin is significantly raised and therefore Oestrogen as estrone in the Premarin is not available nor is any Testosterone so changing to a patch and bypassing the liver will make all the difference for her.
I did try the patch but ended up with Implants which worked so much better for me and made me feel normal again.
