More than a quarter of women going through the menopause struggle to cope with everyday life due to their symptoms, research shows.
A fifth have been forced to take time off work, while one in 50 are on long-term sick leave.
Half say they are depressed, while more than a third suffer from anxiety, the poll of 3,275 women found.
Scroll down for video
A fifth of women were forced to take time off work due to symptoms related to menopause, it has emerged
Other common symptoms include exhaustion, aching muscles, night sweats, hot flushes and memory loss.
Yet many women said their GP either failed to recognise their problems as the menopause or refused to prescribe treatment such as HRT.
Nearly four in ten women had sought help from their family doctor and of these, a quarter said the menopause was never discussed.
Experts claim unsympathetic doctors and employers dismiss the menopause as a ‘fact of life’, which women should just get on with. The survey, carried out by private medical firm Nuffield Health, also found 28 per cent of women said their menopause symptoms were so severe they interfered with day-to-day life.
Many of the women polled said their doctors had failed to recognise the symptoms as related to menopause
Dr Annie Evans, a menopause specialist at Nuffield Health’s hospital in Bristol, said: ‘Menopause is a condition which is often sidelined as just a fact of life, and not something to be taken seriously, but for many women the symptoms are extreme and can have a devastating impact.
‘Many feel anxious, confused, depressed and exhausted to the point where they are struggling to cope with daily routines.
‘It is an absolute tragedy that large numbers of women are getting no help at all.’
The survey found only a fifth of women who went to their GP were prescribed HRT – hormone replacement therapy – despite increasing evidence that it protects against heart disease and bone thinning as well as alleviating symptoms.
The safety of HRT was called into question in 2002 when an American study linked it to breast cancer and heart disease.
In Britain, this led to the numbers of women taking it falling by half to just one million – even though subsequent research has claimed there is no risk.
The survey also found one in ten women had considered quitting their job or taking early retirement due to menopause symptoms.
The average age for onset of the menopause is 51, but many women go through it in their 40s or 60s.
As many as 6 per cent of women experience it before the age of 40.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2796460/how-menopause-makes-life-misery-quarter-women-four-ten-seek-help-family-doctor-symptoms-including-depression-anxiety-night-sweats.html#ixzz3GdI5VhtL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
