Dr. Louise Newson

and and in my brain and you know just this weird behavior it's just different um and then they can join the dots and then hopefully say to their doctor or healthcare professional look i'm getting xyz symptoms i feel they're my hormones please can i talk to you about hormones whereas before people would just literally talk about one symptom and then the doctor would compartmentalize it into one diagnosis and that's when often they were given the wrong treatment

Well, this is the thing, and I've done the same for many years as a family physician.

You know, someone would come maybe with a urinary tract infection and I'd go, okay, you've got an infection, have some antibiotic.

I wouldn't then say, oh, you're having any palpitations.

What's your mood like?

What's your sleep like?

And that's why we've developed a symptom questionnaire, which people can fill out and then work it out themselves.

Because, you know, then they can say, well, actually, I'm having these urinary symptoms, but I'm also having mood changes and I can't sleep, whatever.

And I think it's my hormones because my periods are a bit all over the place.

And then, you know, as a doctor, you want your patients to help you.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah.

Especially if you're limited, you know, I used to only have 10 minute consultations.

So you would focus very much on the problem that the patient came with you.

When the patients are more empowered, you can start in a very different level.

And I'm hoping, you know, that's with all your work, that it's just so brilliant that women are then going back and thinking, right, okay, I've worked out that it's not me going mad.

So what am I going to do about it?

Because the suffering is immense.

Like it's just awful for women.

I think male doctors, this is a generalization, are more accepting than a lot of female doctors.