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The Menopause Myth: Are Too Many Women Being Misdiagnosed?

Menopause has finally begun to receive the attention it deserves. After decades of being whispered about, brushed aside, or shrugged off as “just part of getting older,” women are now speaking openly about hot flushes, night sweats, mood changes and more. 

Awareness is undoubtedly a good thing, but with awareness has come a new concern.

Are we entering an era where everything is being blamed on the menopause?

With nearly 50 symptoms now regularly attributed to peri-menopause and menopause, from headaches to dry eyes, from itchy skin to joint pain, from palpitations to brittle nails, some clinicians worry that genuine health conditions are being missed because the default diagnosis has become:

“It’s just the menopause.”

Let’s explore the issue.

A Wider Understanding... or Over-Attribution?

In the past, many women struggled to access any recognition at all. Severe symptoms were frequently dismissed, under-treated, or mislabelled as stress or anxiety. The rise of menopause education has corrected much of that imbalance.

But while expanding the symptom list has helped many women connect the dots, it has also created new grey areas. When nearly every change in the body is said to be part of peri-menopause, it becomes harder to tell when something else is going on.

Examples include:

Persistent headaches that may actually signal migraines, vision changes, or blood pressure issues.

Dry eyes, which could point to autoimmune conditions such as Sjögren’s syndrome.

Joint pain, sometimes a sign of arthritis, injury, or inflammatory conditions.

Fatigue, which can be caused by thyroid disorders, iron deficiency, sleep disorders or infections.

Palpitations, occasionally related to heart conditions rather than hormone shifts.

When every one of these is explained away as hormone decline, opportunities for earlier diagnosis of unrelated medical problems may be missed.

The Risk of Self-Diagnosis

Social media has played a huge part in menopause awareness, with both positive and negative consequences.

Women understandably want answers, and communities online can be incredibly supportive. But there’s a growing trend of women concluding they are peri-menopausal based on generic symptom lists, sometimes without medical assessment. This can lead to:

Overlooking underlying health conditions

Starting HRT without ruling out other causes

Feeling frustrated if treatment doesn’t fix everything

Normalising symptoms that should be investigated

Self-advocacy is vital, but it must go hand-in-hand with proper healthcare guidance.

The Consultation Conundrum

GPs face a difficult balance. Many women want menopause acknowledged and managed properly. But equally:

Not every ache, pain, or mood shift is hormonally driven.

Not every symptom is automatically resolved by HRT.

Not every patient in their 40s or 50s is peri-menopausal.

Time-pressed appointments make it tempting to choose the simplest explanation, especially when the woman herself suspects “it’s the menopause”.

Some doctors fear that menopause has become a “catch-all label”, convenient, fast, and familiar, instead of a diagnosis reached through careful assessment.

Why It Matters

If an underlying condition is mistaken for menopause:

Treatment may be delayed

Symptoms can worsen

Women may end up discouraged or mistrustful of healthcare

Long-term health may be affected

The aim is not to undermine menopause awareness, quite the opposite. Proper menopause care must include ruling out other causes first, not instead.

What Women Should Do

A balanced approach helps prevent misdiagnosis while still ensuring menopause is treated seriously.

1. Track symptoms carefully

Patterns, timings, triggers and durations matter. A symptom diary can help you and your GP spot what fits menopause — and what does not.

2. Ask your GP to rule out alternatives

This may include thyroid tests, blood pressure checks, iron levels, ECGs or autoimmune screenings depending on the symptoms.

3. Don’t assume every new symptom is hormonal

New, severe, sudden or persistent symptoms should always be checked.

4. If starting HRT, monitor improvements realistically

Some symptoms may improve, some may not — and that can be a clue.

5. Remember: perimenopause can co-exist with other conditions

You don’t stop getting illnesses just because your hormones are fluctuating.

A More Nuanced Conversation

The menopause should neither be minimised nor used as an umbrella term that obscures other diagnoses. Greater awareness is empowering — but only when paired with accurate medical assessment.

The real “menopause myth” isn’t that symptoms exist. It’s the belief that menopause is the explanation for everything a woman experiences in midlife.

Women deserve more than one-size-fits-all answers. They deserve personalised, thorough healthcare that recognises the complexity of the body — hormonal or otherwise.

If in doubt, ask questions, seek clarity, and don’t be afraid to push for proper checks. Identifying the real cause of symptoms is not only reassuring, it can be life-changing.

See also:- "The Curious Case of Fad Medical Diagnoses: Stress, Viruses, and Obesity" https://thats-health.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-curious-case-of-fad-medical.html