Hot flushes, insomnia, mood swings, vaginal dryness. These are symptoms that can be treated. You do not have to cope with them on your own, and you do not have to wait for them to “pass on their own”. I hold a certificate from the International Menopause Society (IMS) and I deal with this stage of life every day, online as well.
Menopause is your final period. It is diagnosed in hindsight, once the typical symptoms are there and you have had no period for a year. Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause and just after it, when hormone levels fluctuate. Perimenopause is when patients first say that “something is not right” - periods are often still regular, hormones are all over the place, and the symptoms will not let up.
That is why I do not base the diagnosis on a single blood test. What matters is what you tell me: how your cycle has changed, how you are sleeping, how you feel during the day. I order hormone tests when they will actually change the decision, for example when symptoms start before the age of 45. No two patients are the same, so each one needs looking at properly.
If anything on this list makes your day or your night harder, that is reason enough.
Any bleeding after a year without periods is always a reason to see me, even if it happens once and is light.
I ask about your symptoms, your cycle, your medical history, your medication, illnesses in your family, and what bothers you most. This is the part that shapes everything else, so it takes the longest.
I do an internal examination and an ultrasound scan when they are needed, and I tell you beforehand why. Sometimes I order blood tests, a smear test or investigations of other organs, if the symptoms call for it.
I set out the options: hormone therapy, local (vaginal) treatment, non-hormonal treatment, changes to exercise and diet. We choose together. We also agree when to check whether it is working.
Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), which you probably know as HRT, is replacement therapy: it gives the body the hormones it can no longer produce, or produces too little of, the shortfall that causes the troublesome symptoms. It is definitely not one pill for everyone. It can differ in how it is taken, the dose, the type of hormones and how long it is used - it should be tailored to you. Some patients need only local (vaginal) treatment for vaginal and bladder symptoms, with no systemic therapy.
Before I suggest anything, I check for contraindications and go through your individual risk: your age, the time since your last period, any history of blood clots (thrombosis), cancer or heart disease in your family, your blood pressure, and up-to-date screening results including a breast ultrasound or mammogram. I do not promise results and I do not hide the risks. I explain what the research shows, what is not known and what that means for you. The decision is yours, and we can come back to it at any time, including to stop the therapy.
Not every patient can take hormones, and not every patient wants to. Then we talk about what else makes sense: local (vaginal) treatment, non-hormonal medicines proven to help with hot flushes, work on sleep, exercise, psychological support. None of this is second best: it is a treatment route in its own right, and one that often works alongside hormone therapy as well.
I provide online care for perimenopause and menopause through Klinika Digna, an online menopause clinic. It works well if you live far away, if you want to go through results, or if you are continuing treatment we have already started. An internal examination or an ultrasound scan needs an in-person appointment, and for those I will see you at one of the clinics.
Menopause is the subject closest to my heart, my main professional interest and, I believe, a field with a great future. I know that in time we will be able to care for women even more confidently and effectively, but that takes groundwork and keeping up to date. I hold a certificate from the International Menopause Society, the international body that produces the guidelines on menopause care.
I also teach students on the Menopause Educator programme at the Gdańsk Academy of Applied Medical Sciences - I teach how to talk to a patient at this stage of life and what the current evidence on treatment says. Teaching also forces me to keep up to date, and that pays off in my clinic.
I also hold a certificate from the Polish Society for the Treatment of Obesity (PTLO) and I am a qualified personal trainer and gym instructor. In menopause this is not a sideline: weight change, loss of muscle mass and bone health belong in the same conversation as hot flushes, night sweats and brain fog.
Every answer is a starting point for a conversation at the appointment, not a substitute for it.
This is the question I hear most often. The short answer: the risk depends on the type of therapy, your age, the time since your last period and your medical history, and for most patients it is very small. That is why we assess it for you individually before deciding, not “in general”. You will find the longer answer on the blog.
The basics are up-to-date cervical screening (a smear test and/or an HPV test, HPV being the human papillomavirus), a breast ultrasound or mammogram, a pelvic ultrasound scan and sometimes hormone blood tests. We usually agree which tests are useful at the appointment; it varies from patient to patient.
Some women have symptoms for a few years, others for longer, and some have none at all. There is no end date set in advance for treatment. We review it every year: is it still helping, is it still safe, do you still want it. For most patients menopausal hormone therapy can be a long-term treatment.
Yes. There are non-hormonal medicines that help with hot flushes, there is local (vaginal) treatment for vaginal and bladder symptoms, and there is work on sleep and exercise. How well they work varies, and I say so plainly.
Yes - until your periods have stopped, pregnancy is possible. Choosing a method over the age of 40 has rules of its own. More about contraception →
Centrum Medyczne NZOZ Twoje Zdrowie
ul. Naftowa 13
Wednesdays 14:00-20:00
Sonicus Centrum Diagnostyczne
ul. Krasińskiego 8
Thursdays 14:00-20:00
Poradnia NFZ
pl. Wolności 23
Mondays and Tuesdays 14:00-20:00
Online: Klinika Digna.
In Sosnowiec and Zabrze you book your appointment through ZnanyLekarz; in Ogrodzieniec (the Polish National Health Fund, NFZ) by phoning the clinic reception. I provide online care through Klinika Digna. I reply to emails within 2 working days.
This site is for information only and does not replace a medical consultation. If you are worried about your symptoms, book an appointment.
