Considering Menopause Treatment? Start With These Questions
Finding the right menopause care starts with having reliable information and asking the right questions. Dr. Karen Horst shares trusted resources for learning about perimenopause and menopause and offers tips for evaluating health information online. Dr. Horst shares questions to ask healthcare providers about their experience and training in treating women during the menopause transition.
Transcript:
Jamie Forward: When you’re having this conversation with a professional or even you’re considering seeking treatment, what questions should women be asking about their treatment options?
Dr. Karen Horst: I would say there are a couple things. There are some good resources for learning whether what you’re experiencing could be perimenopause. My Menoplan is one that was developed by academics. They’re not selling anything; they got research money to do it. There are places on the web that are selling things that still have good information, but you’ve just got to know they’re also going to say, “And I have a supplement for you.”
And that supplement may be good quality but it might not be. There are other good websites, the ASRM, the Association – I don’t know the it’s reproductive medicine. It’s the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, ASRM. They have very good information on menopause. And the Menopause Society also has good information.
So, most women are getting their information through social media is my experience, or the Web, or AI. And there is good information out there on these platforms, but there’s also a lot of – it’s like a bazaar and there are a lot of people selling you things on these also, on these platforms.
And so, you just have to be more suspicious. What I encourage women to empower themselves with is enough information that they have a checklist of possible symptoms and what they’re experiencing, and they bring that to the doctor and then they ask directly “How much training have you had in treating women going through the menopause transition?” If your doctor doesn’t seem to have good answers and is dismissive and they say they haven’t sought much training, you’re going to have to find a different doctor. Yeah.
