How dare you dismiss me?!

These are the words I wish I would have said to my GYN.

I’d been dealing with nighttime heart palpitations, hot flashes leaving me needing a shower, and anxiety I knew was much more than my typical nervous-nelly nature.

So I finally made a consultative appointment with my GYN, a woman I assume is in my age group.

When I explained what I’d been struggling with she looked me in the eye and plainly said… “what do you expect?”

Well… for starters I didn’t expect that as an answer from my female doctor.

I felt the rage start to boil inside me, yet instead of really saying anything I shut down and internalized (my usual go-to), let her write me a script for another anxiety med, and left.

When I started to do more research on my own, I was shocked to see I wasn’t the only one receiving this kind of treatment.

Apparently, medical schools are more interested in teaching doctors how to make babies. However, when it’s time to shut the baby factory down they really don’t pay us much attention.

To say this is unacceptable is an understatement.

The good news in all this is Modern Gen X Women like you are changing the unacceptable. We’re not taking the bullshit responses we get about menopause as the final answer. And to the women who have gone before us, I am so sorry you had to suffer in sweaty silence.

Women like Catherine Balsam-Schwaber over at Kindra, women like Tamsen Fadal at Thrive in Midlife and Beyond, and women like Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz author of Menopause Boot Camp.

Thanks to them, we are getting answers and relief.

As for my GYN, this week I made my annual appointment and I told the receptionist I need another doctor in the practice. I said I’m dealing with severe menopause symptoms and Dr. Let’s Not Say Her Name Here was dismissive and rude. Please give me someone else who will listen to me and help. My appointment is Feb 15th, let’s see how it goes.

In the meantime, I am committed to being responsible for my own health and continue to follow women, like Catherine, Tamsen, and Suzanne, who are doing the heaving lifting when it comes to changing the conversations around mid-life, menopause, and beyond.

In this week’s episode of Modern Gen X Woman, Jackie and I had the privilege of talking to Tamsen. We chatted about Why today is your someday. Take a listen here.

We hope you are as excited as we are about the change we’re starting to see.