You get about ten minutes. Do not spend them finding the words.
Irish general practice is a clock. The women who leave feeling dismissed often arrived with a whole life and no page. The ones who are heard usually bring a week, three questions, and one sentence that fits the door. This is that page. It is not a diagnosis.
Before you book
Track for two or three weeks if you can. Sleep, heat, mood, words, energy, cycle. The Menopause Passport does this on your device and prints one page. If the appointment is tomorrow, write last night, this morning, and the loudest three things this month. Imperfect notes beat a blank chair.
If you might discuss HRT: Ireland’s free HRT arrangement (from 1 June 2025) needs a prescription plus a medical card or a Drugs Payment Scheme card, at a participating pharmacy. Apply for the DPS card on HSE.ie before the visit if you do not already have one. That is logistics. It is not a decision to start treatment.
The opening sentence
Say the pattern, the duration, and the ask. Not the autobiography.
“I’m 47. For about six months I’ve been waking at 3am, losing words in meetings, and running a shorter fuse. I’d like to check this as perimenopause, rule out other causes, and talk through options including HRT.”
If you are under 45, put your age first. If bleeding is unusual — very heavy, between periods, after sex, or after twelve months without a period — that is the first sentence, not the third.
Three questions that fit the clock
Thyroid, iron, and other common overlaps. You are not asking them to guess. You are asking for a differential, in one line.
NICE NG23: HRT is first-line for bothersome vasomotor symptoms unless unsuitable. You are asking whether it is on the table for you. We do not answer that from a website.
Bloods or not. Review date. Whether a specialist clinic is only for complex cases (it is). How to come back if you are not heard.
What you are not asking them to do
Fix your job. Read your entire history from a screenshot dump. Start a medicine because a reel said so. Argue with a Google printout. A GP who feels attacked will close. A GP who is handed a week and three questions can work.
If you leave unheard
You are allowed to book again. You are allowed to ask for a menopause-interested GP in the same practice. You are allowed a second opinion. HSE specialist menopause clinics exist for complex cases your GP refers — National Maternity Hospital, Rotunda, Coombe, Cork, Galway, Nenagh among them. You do not self-refer into those rooms. Persistence is not rudeness. Bring the same page the second time.
After you leave the surgery
Write down what was agreed before you reach the car. If HRT was prescribed, check the HSE pharmacy finder and that your DPS or medical card is in the bag. If the plan was “wait and lifestyle,” that is still a plan — protein at breakfast, two strength sessions, a real wind-down, and a date to return. The Method holds that part. The prescription, if there is one, holds the other.