How long (peri)menopause care actually takes
Most people abandon an approach too early or wait too long to go back, because nobody told them what normal looks like. As a rough guide: expect weeks rather than days to get an appointment, six to twelve weeks before an approach can be judged fairly, and a planned follow-up rather than an open-ended wait. If you were given no timeframe at all, that is the thing to go back and ask for.
Getting the appointment
Waits vary enormously by system and by geography. Telehealth is usually the fastest route, which is why two thirds of listed practitioners offer it. A specialist NHS clinic or a sought-after private practice can run to months.
If the wait is long, ask to be put on a cancellation list and ask whether anyone else in the practice has a menopause interest.
Judging whether something is working
Six to twelve weeks is the usual window before an approach can be fairly assessed. Stopping at two weeks tells you very little, and a lot of people do exactly that.
That said, waiting is not the same as ignoring. Side effects that worry you are a reason to make contact now rather than at the scheduled follow-up.
Follow-up
You should leave an appointment knowing when the next contact is and what would prompt you to come sooner. If neither was given, ask before you leave the room. An open-ended “come back if it does not work” is how people end up waiting a year.
The whole transition
Perimenopause commonly runs for several years, and menopause itself is only confirmed retrospectively, twelve months after a final period. Care is therefore something that gets adjusted over time rather than settled in one visit. Expecting a single appointment to resolve everything is the most common source of disappointment.