Patient information from BMJ

Menopause: questions to ask your doctor

Last published:Apr 15, 2025

If you're going through the menopause, you may be experiencing various symptoms and have many questions. Here are some questions that you may want to talk through with your doctor.

General questions

• How do I know my symptoms are due to the menopause?

• Is there a test I can have to find out whether I'm going through the menopause?

• What symptoms am I likely to get? Hot flushes? Night sweats?

• How long will I have these symptoms?

• Do I still need to use contraceptives?

• How will the menopause affect my health in the long term? What problems am I likely to get?

• Am I at higher risk of thinning bones (osteoporosis)? Is there a test I can take?

• Am I at higher risk of heart disease or stroke?

• Should I have my blood pressure and my cholesterol levels checked?

Questions to ask your doctor about hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

• Do you recommend that I take HRT? Why or why not?

• Which symptoms can HRT help with?

• What side effects might I get with HRT?

• Will the side effects go away?

• What are the different ways I can take HRT?

• Do some ways of taking HRT work better than others?

• Do some ways of taking HRT have fewer side effects than others?

• Do different HRT products have different doses of hormones?

• How long will I have to take HRT?

• What are the potential health risks associated with taking HRT? 

• Am I at high risk or low risk of getting health problems from HRT?

• What are the benefits of taking HRT?

• How can I work out if HRT is right for me?

Questions to ask your doctor about other treatments

• Are there other treatments that can improve my symptoms?

• How can they help?

• What are their side effects?

• How long will I have to take them?

• Is there anything else I can do to relieve my symptoms?

• What other treatments can prevent thinning bones? Do I need to consider one of these treatments?

You may also like to read our information on Menopause: what is it?And Menopausal symptoms: what are the treatment options?