Women suffering from the menopause are being forced to buy HRT on the black market amid shortages on the NHS.
An investigation found some women are being charged up to £50 for a single bottle online or trading prescriptions with others on Facebook.
Support groups say desperate women have even started to barter with private pharmacies and clinics for leftover stocks.
Menopausal women are entitled to hormone replacement therapy for free on the NHS, with a £9.35 prescription charge in England.
But the number of monthly HRT prescriptions has more than doubled in the last five years, with half a million now written every month, The Telegraph reports.
The surge in demand has outstripped supply, causing shortages of some of the most popular forms of the therapy.
Experts say the raised awareness and fading stigma about the menopause mean more women are coming forward for treatment.
An investigation has found that women suffering from the menopause are being forced to buy HRT on the black market amid shortages on the NHS (stock)
Every year, roughly 1.5million women experience difficult menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, night sweats and sleep disturbance.
Symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety, ‘brain fog’ and memory problems that impact all areas of their lives.
HRT provides the body with oestrogen which it stops producing during the menopause.
It is most commonly prescribed in the form of patches, pills or gels — but only a fraction of women with symptoms get treatment.
Supply chain issues and a shortage of key ingredients has led to the patients who do come forward struggling to get access, a problem made worse during the pandemic.
Some GPs are unaware of the shortages – meaning they continue to prescribe HRT, only for their patients to go to their pharmacy and be told it is out of stock.
Women are having to switch their HRT medication, sometimes causing the return of symptoms as the body gets used to the new drug.
Among those struggling to get HRT on the NHS is Fleur Maslin-Miller, 48, who ended up paying privately for Oestrogel.
She told The Telegraph: ‘I had a hysterectomy last November, and went straight into catastrophic menopause; with joint pain, insomnia, night sweats and anxiety.
When her pharmacy ran out and told her they did not know when they would next restock the drug, she turned to the black market, paying triple the NHS prescription fee.
‘Not having it is absolutely unthinkable. I am fortunate in that I can afford to pay, but there are thousands of women in absolute hell.
‘On the Facebook group I’m in it’s ridiculous – women are bartering and swapping bottles.’
Millie Kendall, the chief executive officer of the British Beauty Council, also grew desperate when her pharmacy ran out.
‘When one of the girls in my office said that her mum had some spare, I said I’d happily pay her £50 for it,’ she said.
Without the medication, Ms Kendall struggled to sleep and was plagued with anxiety.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘We are aware of supply issues that have affected hormone replacement therapy products in recent years, however most are unaffected, and alternatives are available to the limited number of products which have been impacted by supply issues’.
Menopause occurs when a woman stops having periods, meaning she is no longer able to get pregnant naturally.
The process — which is triggered by the ovaries producing less oestrogen — is a natural part of ageing and usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55.
HRT is one way of treating the symptoms. It restores the levels of female hormones, bringing relief to hundreds of thousands of women each year.
Doctors warn some types of HRT can raise the risk of breast cancer, but insists that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk