hoping for help from doctor

[crackedglass]

I've had a series of bad home life experiences recently and am now having trouble at work with concentrating, remembering, finding things...I forget what I'm looking for...that sort of thing. It got me into trouble at work. Work seems to think I'm just being stubborn or irresponsible, but I actually am trying very hard to manage my condition by keeping lists of notes, etc. I realized I had put the wrong room numbers on my lists, however. None of this affects the people I work for except that they are tired of my making mistakes. It's a confusing, stressful job anyway, but what with me making it worse, I'm at my wit's end. I have to wait until Monday to make an appointment with my pcp about this trouble I'm having. I hope he takes me seriously and doesn't just chalk it up to me getting older and not adjusting well because the anxiety of it all is actually causing me pain. I'm going to look on the insurance card to see if there's mental health available without a pcp referral. I now know I can't manage this on my own, that something is definitely wrong and needs to be addressed and that blaming it on menopause is NOT the answer that will provide me with the hep I need. Please wish me luck...I am determined to go this alone, against everyone who insists I'm just getting older and need to learn to adjust....

[greenlydia]

As someone who has been there and done that, I can relate to the way menopause can disrupt your life both physically and mentally. The confusion, the inability to concentrate, the memory difficulties..THE ANXIETY.......ALL part of the process. I too work a job that is stressful and I also must keep many, many things in my head at the same time. I use to feel like an insane juggler, always on the verge of dropping everything..........it was a really difficult and frightening time for me because I didn't really understand what was happening to me.
While I think it's good that you are seeing your doctor about these issues, I would also suggest a visit with your OB/GYN. They have a much better grasp of what menaopause can do to us and in my opinion, a much better understanding of what can be done to help us get through it. If your PCP does not take you seriously, run, do NOT walk, out of his office and find a doctor who DOES.
While blaming everything on menopause is not the answer, I think it has a great deal to do with the issues you're dealing with. And we DO have to accept that as we get older, certain abilities that  we've always taken for granted, do become a tad more challenging, but there ARE ways around that as well.
While I think it's rather noble that you are determined to go this alone, there is no reason you should. Why make this any more difficult than it already is? Menopause is no longer a subject we hide in the closet and there are hundreds of books and classes available to help guide us through this major change in our lives.
And while I did say earlier that we do have to accept that as we age, we have to make certain adjustments, I did NOT say that because of our age, we have suddenly become dottering, feeble minded women who must subtract points from our IQ's! If anything, we should get to ADD some for the wisdom we have gained.
Don't take any guff from the uneducated! Get yourself feeling better and then show them what older women are made of!
You go girl
Peace
Greenlydia  

[Paxiled]

I would personally recommend a naturopath or holistic nutritionist rather than a medical doctor.  You're not sick, you've just changed, and need to reorient your diet and nutrients to this new phase.  Doctors don't deal with that, they just dish out medication.  While that's sometimes necessary, it usually isn't and can cause other confusions.  I just think in your position, a wellness approach rather than a disease approach is the right one, but greenlydia's got a lot of wisdom, too, and it's always your choice.  What we both agree on is, find someone who listens, and if they don't, well, greenlydia's already told you what to do.