The menopause usually comes between 45 and 55, and the years before it, the perimenopause, can bring hot flushes, poor sleep, low mood and vaginal dryness. At Oshun you start with a consultation with Dr. Charles Rockhead, from J$11,000.
No obligation · Every consultation is in-person with Dr. Rockhead.
Menopause Management at a glance
Dr. Rockhead
Your consultation is with him
In person
Consultation before anything is booked
From J$11,000
Your consultation
9 Devon Road
Kingston, Jamaica
No obligation
You decide after the consultation
WhatsApp
Questions answered privately
Every visit, without exception
Four things that are true of every visit
Care by an OB/GYN
Dr. Rockhead is a board-certified obstetrician and gynaecologist.
With or without hormones
HRT is one option. Talking therapy, other treatments and day-to-day changes are others.
A written plan
You leave with a written plan for your symptoms, your bones and when you are seen again.
Your choice
Options in plain language, including none, and you decide at every step.
Treatment Details
Worth knowing.
The NHS says women from a Black ethnic background are more likely to have hot flushes that are severe and continue longer. Not sure it is your hormones? Read where to start with hormone health.
Medical Director: Dr. Charles Rockhead · Last updated: · Sources: Britain's NICE and NHS, the US Office on Women's Health and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. Prices: Oshun's own price list.
01Menopause 101
What are the perimenopause and the menopause?
In the perimenopause your periods become irregular; at the menopause they stop. You have reached the menopause once you have had no period for 12 months, without hormonal contraception. Symptoms can carry on for years after.
Symptoms
Hot flushes and night sweats, poor sleep, low mood or anxiety, trouble with memory or concentration, vaginal dryness and painful sex, lower sex drive, joint aches, headaches and weight gain around the middle.
No blood test needed
If you are 45 or over and otherwise healthy, NICE says your age, symptoms and periods are enough to tell. Hormonal contraception can make it harder. A blood test is considered only if you are younger.
Early menopause
Before 45 it is called early, and before 40 premature. It can follow cancer treatment or surgery to remove the ovaries. Before 40, NICE advises hormone treatment until at least the usual age of the menopause, unless it is unsafe for you, as after some cancers.
Keep in mind
Two things to know.
Any bleeding after your periods have stopped for good needs a doctor, even a small amount, even once. It is not usually serious, but it can be a sign of cancer.
HRT is not a contraceptive, and nor is the perimenopause: you can still get pregnant.
02Medical Leadership
Who will you see?
Dr. Charles Rockhead, in person, at 9 Devon Road in Kingston. He goes through your symptoms, your periods, your medicines, and your own and your family's health. Bring your medicines and any recent mammogram and Pap smear results; if you have none, say so when you book.
Dr. Charles Rockhead, Medical Director — Oshun Cosmetic Services, Kingston.
Dr. Charles Rockhead
Medical Director · Board-Certified OB/GYN · 30+ years of practice
Dr. Charles Rockhead is a board-certified Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with more than thirty years of practice in Kingston. He is the Medical Director of Oshun Cosmetic Services and the founding physician of Amadeo Medical Group, the parent clinical practice.
The most effective treatment for hot flushes and night sweats. It has real risks: combined HRT adds around 5 breast cancers for every 1,000 women who take it for 5 years, the NHS says. Our HRT page sets out the rest.
ii.
Talking therapy
NICE suggests cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a talking therapy made for the menopause, for hot flushes, and for the poor sleep and low mood that come with them, with or without HRT.
iii.
Medicines without hormones
NICE recommends one newer non-hormonal medicine for hot flushes when HRT is unsuitable. It advises against antidepressants as the first treatment for hot flushes alone.
iv.
Day to day
Light clothes, a cool bedroom, regular exercise, and less caffeine, alcohol and spicy food can help, the NHS says.
v.
Vaginal dryness
Vaginal oestrogen works locally: serious side effects are very rare and only a minimal amount reaches the blood, NICE says. Symptoms often return if you stop. Moisturisers and lubricants from a pharmacy can be used with it or instead. After breast cancer, non-hormonal products come first; vaginal oestrogen only with your cancer specialist. NICE advises against vaginal laser outside a trial.
Herbal remedies
NICE says their safety is uncertain and some interact with other medicines, so tell Dr. Rockhead about any you take.
04Your health after
Bones, heart and contraception.
Bones
Bone is lost faster after the menopause. The NHS advises weight-bearing and resistance exercise, 700mg of calcium a day from food, enough vitamin D, no smoking and less alcohol. A bone scan is offered by risk, not to everyone.
Heart
After the menopause a woman's risk of heart disease rises to match a man's. NICE says HRT should not be offered to prevent it; it points instead to other ways to lower the risk, such as lifestyle changes.
Contraception
Keep using it until 2 years after your last period if you are under 50, or 1 year after it if you are 50 or over. From 55, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare says it is no longer needed. Hormonal contraception can hide your last period, so agree with Dr. Rockhead when to stop.
Reviews
NICE advises reviewing any treatment at 3 months, or sooner if there are side effects or problems, then once a year.
05When to act
When should you see a doctor?
Book a visit
If symptoms are getting in the way of work, sleep or relationships, if you think the menopause is starting before 45, or if your periods change in a way that worries you.
See a doctor promptly
For any bleeding after the menopause, even once, or bleeding on HRT that is still irregular after 6 months, or gets heavier. For a lump or any change in a breast.
Go to a hospital at once
For chest pain with breathlessness, trouble speaking or moving an arm or leg, or a face that drops on one side. These are emergencies for anyone; they can be signs of a clot in the lung, heart problems or a stroke. HRT tablets can raise the risk of a clot and slightly raise the risk of stroke.
Call a doctor straight away
For pain, redness or swelling in one leg, usually the calf: it can be a clot.
Low mood
Tell us if low mood does not lift. If you ever feel you might harm yourself, go to a hospital at once.
06Cost & booking
How much does menopause care cost in Jamaica?
What it costs
The consultation with Dr. Rockhead starts at J$11,000. Follow-up visits are priced separately, any tests or scans are extra, and any medicine is bought from a pharmacy.
Consultation times
Monday and Wednesday, 1 to 6 PM, and Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 4 PM.
Paying
Cash, debit card, credit card or approved financing. Whether a health plan pays depends on the plan.
If this sounds right
The next step is a conversation, not a commitment.
Start with a consultation, in person, with Dr. Rockhead. Nothing is prescribed until you have talked it through.
No obligation · Every consultation is in-person with Dr. Rockhead.
The honest answers
Before you book.
Tap a question to open it.
How long do hot flushes last?
The NHS says symptoms usually last 7 to 9 years, sometimes longer. The US Office on Women's Health says hot flushes last an average of 9 years, and up to 14 for some women.
The story below is a real Oshun patient who agreed to share her experience publicly. Oshun does not buy reviews, write reviews on behalf of patients, or publish anonymous five-star strings. Real or nothing.
Real patient · Hormone therapy in perimenopause at Oshun
Often considered alongside
Three treatments patients ask about in the same conversation.
