How to prepare for a (peri)menopause appointment
The single most useful thing you can bring to a (peri)menopause appointment is a written symptom record covering the last two to three months: what you notice, how often, how badly it affects sleep, work and mood, and when your periods changed. Appointments are short, symptoms are easy to under-report in the moment, and a written record turns a vague conversation into a specific one.
What should I track before the appointment?
Track for at least a few weeks before you go. You are not trying to produce a medical chart, you are trying to stop yourself minimising things on the day.
- Cycle changes: dates, length, unusually heavy or light bleeding
- Sleep: how often you wake, and whether heat or anxiety wakes you
- Vasomotor symptoms: how many hot flushes or night sweats a day, and how disruptive
- Mood and cognition: irritability, low mood, word-finding, concentration
- Physical: joint aches, headaches, vaginal dryness, pain during sex, bladder changes
- What you have already tried, and whether it helped
What should I bring?
Bring a current list of every medicine and supplement you take, including doses, because interactions and contraindications drive a lot of the decision-making. Bring your personal and family history of breast cancer, blood clots, stroke and heart disease if you know it, since these change which options are appropriate.
If you have had recent blood tests elsewhere, bring the results rather than relying on them being visible in the system.
How do I use a short appointment well?
Lead with your top two problems rather than a full list, and say plainly how they affect your daily life. Clinicians triage by impact, so 'I have not slept more than four hours in three months and I am making mistakes at work' lands differently from 'I am a bit tired'.
Ask what the plan is, when you should expect a change, and what should prompt you to come back sooner. Write the answers down before you leave.