Gaslit, Dismissed, and Still Symptomatic: The Menopause Struggle is Real

Ever walked into a doctor’s office looking for answers and walked out wondering if you just imagined all your symptoms?

Yeah. Me too.

I talk to women all the time who get dismissed, brushed off, or straight-up gaslit when they try to get help for the weird and wonderful changes happening in their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

Doctors love to hit us with gems like:

✨ “You’re too young for menopause…” (Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my ovaries had to file paperwork before they started shutting down.)

✨ “You just need to get through this period…” (Fantastic. That’s exactly the level of expert medical guidance I was hoping for.)

✨ “Exercise more and cut back to a 1200-calorie diet…” (Ah yes, the age-old ‘just starve yourself’ advice. Groundbreaking.)

✨ “Go buy Estroven at the drugstore and always use lubricant during sex.” (Wow, thanks. That really gets to the root of the issue.)

But my personal favorite?

When I brought up my lack of libido to a health professional, he looked me dead in the eyes, nodded thoughtfully… and handed me a business card for marriage counseling.

I wish I were kidding.

Ladies, you are not imagining things. Your symptoms are real. Your experiences are real. And you deserve real answers—not a shrug, a diet plan, or a coupon for KY Jelly.

We have to keep advocating for ourselves—because if we don’t, who will?

Look, some women do breeze through the menopause transition, but the majority of women do not.

It took me many years, conversations, visits with doctors, nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists, ophthalmologists..before I realized , on my own, that all of my symptoms were related to the hormone transition.

Keep sharing, talking, commiserating and when you feel you are stuck do not settle. Talk to your daughters, nieces and partners. No one needs to go through this time feeling alone.