Hi Guys, your recent series on menopause has been super helpful for my wife and myself as we are trying to navigate the medical system. She is mid 40’s probably in perimenopause (extremely heavy menstrual bleeding, anemia, palpitations, irregular periods, etc. for several years). We live in a smaller city with a shortage of medical providers, so it is always a struggle to find a provider. Her GP doesn’t really listen and is completely unhelpful. She’s been seeing an OB for the last few years, but he is also not really listening, keeps pushing treatments that my wife has repeatedly said she doesn’t want (such as a hysterectomy or ablation), and obviously doesn’t review her chart before the visit (suggested testing for things that his own clinic has already tested for…). He did put her on a combined oral contraceptive that really helped, but then we found out about the clotting risk of oral estrogen. She had an ASD closure 15+ years ago and there is a residual shunt…so we felt like she should at least consult with a cardiologist about this and/or use transdermal estrogen or progesterone only and see if that helps. Who knows? We both think we need to find a new provider given all the negative experiences with this one.
My question is: what should we look for in a provider to provide good perimopause care? We looked on the Menopause Society provider directory and there is only one provider in our city…and she only accepts clients with state insurance, which we don’t have (no cash pay either, which is odd…). My wife has a friend who is an MD in another state that does telehealth focused on menopause. She told my wife to find someone with training through WorldLink (https://worldlinkmedical.com/). Both things on this website (functional medicine, etc.) and some things my wife’s friend have mentioned make me think this might not be the best way to go. Are you familiar with this certification? Thoughts?
Should we just look for? Should we just drive a few hours to a city with more Menopause Society providers? Telehealth? Any other things to look for? She really needs care and it is so frustrating to navigate the medical system. Your series helped us understand why this topic is particularly hard to navigate.