I worked as a medical assistant in a pediatrician's office for 20 years. He said, and I saw that it was true, that pediatricians were really more like vets than other doctors, as they had to really check their patients to find out what was wrong, as the babies couldn't tell them (just as animals can't tell the vets). So often, in my experience, "adult" doctors base their decision on what the patient "says", and not on what they, the doctors, have discovered. And often the patient doesn't have the knowledge, or the words, to "say" it properly. A baby can't say it at all, so the pediatricians have to delve deeper. During my years in that clinic I often chose to take my minor medical complaints to the pediatricians rather than run across the hall to Family Practice. I felt that they listened better. Now that I am retired, and not living in the same area, it would be really silly for me to search out a pediatriician for my minor woes ... but I do sometimes wish that I could.

And, speaking of "pre-" something or other, what is it with pre-menopause?

Pre menopause just means not yet in menopausal. (Pre-menopausal women are less likely to suffer heart attacks, for example.)

Peri-menopause just means "around menopause", and is all the time and events that occur as the ovaries are slowly shutting down and stopping their release of eggs.

Well, obviously. But I have seen references to it as though it were a "condition". However, for myself, I never really thought that menopause itself was a "condition", so perhaps I lack understanding on this matter.

It's what's called the medicalization of life. This from Dr Gilbert Welch:

"it exemplifies the medicalization of life. Everyday experiences get turned into diseases, the definitions of what (and who) is normal get narrowed, and our ability to affect the course of normal aging get exaggerated. And we doctors feel increasingly compelled to look hard for things to be wrong in those who feel well."

Jean

Jean, that is amazing. I've looked up Dr. Welch and found his book which I plan to read. Thanks. Less Medicine, More Health

Yes - that's it exactly. I can't remember the doctor's name, but I used to read a lot of books by an OB/GYN who talked about this a lot. He talked about it more in terms of childhood illnesses and pregnancy - which we also treat as a condition instead of a normal life event - but it was really affirming when I was just starting to realize just how hosed up our medical industry actually seemed to be.

Also check out his book "Overdiagnosed". I found both at my public library.

Of course my problem is that my goes WAY higher than 160/100 when I go to see a doctor, even as high as 200/100. But I check all the time at home (and have calibrated with doctor to verify my home readings are accurate) and it generally runs from 114/65 to 140/82, up and down in that range. Never exactly the same but nothing like the readings I get whenever the BP is taken by a professional.

Part of that effect could be as simple as people in the doctor's office not knowing how to correctly take blood pressure using the cuff, or in using a too small cuff, or in not taking blood pressure with the patient's arm in the proper position, all of those factors may affect the procedure and result in a too high reading. Personnel in my specialists office said that was one of the reasons for moving to taking pressure with the wrist cuff...the often obtained erratic readings or pressures too high to do start sedations and procedures.

For someone like me. who was pushed into menopause by medical incompetence, it was definitely a condition; one they were woefully inadequate at treating, too.

Pre-menopausal states are ones where periods become spotty or inconsistent, and there might be hormonal diminishment which affect appetite, mood, or energy levels.

I agree that this "should be" a natural state, but with all the lousy eating, hormones in everything from the drinking water to the food supply, and our "never met a drug risk we can't live with" medical practices, it is far from happening happily all by itself.

I agree. At least 50% of the time they do a really bad job of taking your blood pressure in the MD's office.

Also, you've got your BP up from the drive to the office, rushing around, maybe a tad bit nervous or impatient from a long wait, been drinking lots of coffee... all things that can push the BP up.

The thing about perimenopause, with the diets that most women consume, is that the fluctuations in mood from the fluctuations in hormone levels are exacerbated by the effects of grains and sugar on the brain.

I agree with the medicalization of normal states, however. The newest DSM groupings include grief as a disease state. Because mourning the loss of someone you love is NOT a good and normal thing to do?

By that logic, every possible emotion lasting longer than a day or so becomes a disease.

That reminds me of a friend (an employee) who tried to kill herself at age 19. Given the incredible violence and dysfunctional drama in her home life, this really wasn't quite as crazy as it sounds -- she felt she had no way out. Anyway, so over a year later, this semi-local mental health residential place about an hour away was covered by her father's insurance and they would give her meds, but they required she come in every week for a blood test. They kept changing the meds -- it was like a wild experiment of diff meds, diff doses -- and then if her readings were even slightly past some preferred range, rather than dropping the dose or whatever, they would literally IMPRISON HER which apparently they had the right to do (or she didn't know better). Of course they made a LOT of money while she was there. And she would lose her job she'd worked hard to get. And she would lose her apt. or house she'd worked hard to finally get. And then when she had nothing, a week or two months later, they'd suddenly release her, and she'd have to go back to staying with her parents (uber-violent father, useless mother) again because she had nothing. And she would work hard to try and catch up in jr. college if she wasn't already failing, and she'd try to find another job and work hard to get full time hours, and finally save up enough money to get a tiny place of her own again -- and then they'd basically kidnap her again during her weekly testing for another week or six, and she'd have to start all over again. She said when this happened, if she was upset it was labeled, if she acted happy it was labeled, if she forced herself to be calm it was labeled -- it didn't matter HOW she reacted, there was a label for it that made it pathological in some way. (And of course the way any NORMAL person would act would seem twice as crazy.)

I've seen a few refs to studies where kids diagnosed ADD, ADHD, when a whole class or group was tested by someone without the pre-existing labels, they usually couldn't be told apart from the rest of the kids. We medicalized "childhood" (especially boyhood) into a disease state also.

PJ

To continue off on the hormonal tangent....I have to believe that our current diets and environment have created a situation where something completely normal and a non-event has become such a "condition" for so many (MEN also, not just women--andropause is real!). Certainly for me it was a "condition" that made me want to seek medication for some kind of relief. I don't believe it is natural for us to struggle so much.

But just like teenagers with acne, over time it is accepted that this is a "normal" part of the maturation process, though painful. Rather than try and figure out what is going on--diet, toxins, xenoestrogens? it's easier to medicate it and just make jokes about it.

Interesting thread, and I've vicariously unloaded just by reading the posts here. Being weaned off BP meds made me aware of the subjective metrics identified just for an excuse to prescribe meds. Hey, it's a business, and these poor Pharma companies need to make a living.

Being in ketosis for well over a year, I went to have my NMR lipid panel interpreted by a cardiologist and bariatric physician in my area who treated overweight patients with a keto approach. When he looked at my fasting cholesterol, he recommended I start taking statins. I thought I must be going mad, as my triglycerides were extremely low, my HDL was really good, and my LDL was overwhelmingly large and fluffy. My athero risk was off the scale on the low end. So, why would this physician go native and prescribe statins??? I came to one conclusion: he's staying in the safe zone and eliminating risk by dutifully prescribing what he's told is safe by current medical information. More BS, and I will no longer get anymore blood tests! What a waste!!!

Thanks to all who recommended it, I'm getting ready to read "Overdiagnosed."