Want an Easy Way to “Talk to Your Doc?” Here’s a Tool That May Help

If you are thinking of beginning hormone therapy or have been on it for awhile and want to talk to your doctor about it, this tool may be just the ticket for you. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging, Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises has come up with a nifty little questionnaire that can help you think through your hormone decisions.

You answer questions about your medical history, menstrual history and current medications. (Have your prescriptions on hand when you fill out the questionnaire – it will ask for brand names and dosages.) There are some questions about menopause symptoms and risk factors, as well as a list of other questions you might like to ask your medical provider.

Once you finish the questionnaire, the information is compiled into a user friendly printout that you can take to your next visit. It summarizes your medical history and risk factors, and poses questions to your doctor at the end. All in all a very nice tool to get through your next doctor visit with all your questions answered and some help deciding whether to use hormone therapy to treat menopausal symptoms. Doctors seem to like it too, according to the website. Anything that makes it easier to get what you need from a medical visit is a plus. We menopausal women are notorious for the occasional memory lapse, so this is news we can use.

If you use the questionnaire, let us know in the forum whether you found it useful.

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