Women are suffering needlessly through menopause transition, physicians say
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Loading... - Nathan Anderson
- 30 Jan 2023
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Sue Panton thought she was having a heart attack.
Her father had just died from cancer, so the physicians treating her said the racing heart was likely due to stress.
In the space of a few months in 2018, the school teacher from Victoria — then 52 years old — visited an emergency department four times.
It turns out she was experiencing heart palpitations, one of more than 30 symptoms of perimenopause identified by the non-profit Menopause Foundation of Canada.
In addition to heart palpitations and hot flashes nearly hourly throughout the day, Panton was battling recurrent urinary tract and bladder infections — on top of really challenging gastrointestinal issues, for which she'd had a battery of tests.
"I was sort of at my absolute wit's end," Panton told White Coat, Black Art.
That's when she started researching her symptoms online and discovered that they could all potentially be linked to the menopause transition. Until then, "I did not connect any of the dots, nor did my doctor."
On the North American Menopause Society website, she found the name of a qualified doctor in her city (there are now five listed in Victoria). Panton got a referral from her family physician, who she said recognized he didn't know how best to help manage her hormones. Read More…
