A Brisbane woman reports that her doctors did not believe her when she was experiencing perimenopause. A Senate inquiry into menopause has revealed that the medical field is plagued by under-diagnosis and misinformation about menopause.
The inquiry is set to conclude hearings next week.
Jennifer Hacker Pearson, a Brisbane psychotherapist and mother of three, shared her struggle to get a perimenopause diagnosis. She consulted four doctors and one gynaecologist before being taken seriously.
Her symptoms began shortly after her 45th birthday, severely affecting her life. Dr. Pearson recounted her experience to the Senate inquiry on menopause and perimenopause in Australian women.
“I couldn’t sleep anymore, my anxiety was through the roof, I doubted myself as a mother, and I had brain fog that rendered me useless at work,” Dr. Pearson said. “I couldn’t focus, I stressed over things I’d done for years that had never stressed me out before, and I’m very embarrassed to say that I raged at my family, especially my children.”
Her first doctor dismissed perimenopause, attributing her symptoms to midlife stress and her husband’s long-distance work, and prescribed sleeping pills. The second doctor also dismissed perimenopause, prescribed antidepressants, and referred her to a gynaecologist. The gynaecologist also ruled out perimenopause, prescribing an oral contraceptive for hormonal regulation, which worsened her depression. A third doctor also offered antidepressants. Finally, a fourth doctor diagnosed her with perimenopause and prescribed hormone replacement therapy, which she described as a “game changer,” but she remains frustrated by the delay in being believed.
Widespread Misinformation
The Senate inquiry revealed that the health sector is rife with misinformation, outdated practices, and a lack of knowledge about menopause symptoms.
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, in its Senate submission, noted that doctors often lack sufficient training to identify and treat menopause. The submission stated, “For a condition that affects such a large population cohort, its management is poorly understood by both women and healthcare practitioners. Despite readily available, safe hormonal and non-hormonal therapies, over 85 percent of women with bothersome symptoms are not receiving evidence-based care.”
The submission also pointed out that menopausal hormone therapies are underprescribed due to longstanding misinformation about their safety and efficacy. As a result, more women resort to alternative medicines for hot flush symptoms than to scientifically backed menopausal hormone therapies.
The Society recommended that menopause and perimenopause become part of the core curriculum for general practitioners’ graduate training. Similar concerns about the lack of training and information about menopause were echoed in submissions from Monash University, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, and the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union.
