Services
Menopause
The years around the menopause are treatable. None of it is something you simply have to get through.
Perimenopause often starts years before periods stop, and because cycles are still happening it is regularly missed — the symptoms get attributed to stress, or to age generally. Recognising what is actually going on is most of the work.
What women come in with
- Hot flushes and night sweats
- Sleep that has stopped being restorative
- Mood changes, anxiety, or a sense of not feeling like yourself
- Brain fog and difficulty concentrating
- Vaginal dryness, irritation, and pain during sex
- Recurrent urinary symptoms
- Periods becoming erratic, heavier, or further apart
Genitourinary symptoms deserve their own mention
Vaginal dryness and painful sex after the menopause are extremely common, rarely raised, and among the most treatable things in gynaecology. Local treatment is effective and works where systemic treatment sometimes does not. It is worth asking about even if nothing else is troubling you.
How it is managed
That depends on your symptoms, your medical history, and your own view on treatment. Options range from lifestyle and non-hormonal measures through to local and systemic hormone therapy. The decision is yours to make with a clear picture of the benefits and risks as they apply to you, rather than as they apply on average.
Risks and what to expect
Hormone therapy carries risks that depend on the type, the dose, your age and your medical history — including blood clots and, with some combined preparations used long term, a small increase in breast cancer risk. These are weighed against the benefits for your own circumstances before anything is prescribed.
Every procedure carries risk, and the risks that matter most depend on you — your history, your anatomy and your general health. They will be explained to you in full, in writing, before you are asked to consent to anything.
Any recovery times given here are typical rather than guaranteed, and outcomes vary from one person to another.
Every case is different, and what is right for one woman is not right for another. The purpose of a first appointment is to work out which applies to you. Arrange a consultation.
The information on this site reflects current international best practice and peer-reviewed literature, together with Dr Sharma’s own clinical experience. It is general information, not advice for your own situation, and is not a substitute for a consultation.
Talk it through
A consultation is a conversation first. Nothing is booked in until you want it to be.