What is Perimenopause and Menopause?

There are numerous identified symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. You may experience one or two, many or most of them. Their impact can vary from nuisance to severe. Some of the common symptoms include:

  • e.g. an overwhelming feeling of heat, such that you might think you have a high fever

  • e.g. where you wake up in a pool of sweat, often with your clothes sticking to you

  • e.g. sluggish thinking, forgetfulness, can’t remember words or people

  • e.g. difficulty falling or staying asleep, difficulty getting back to sleep

  • e.g. seeing thicker chin and/or upper lip hair

  • e.g. sensation of dryness, can lead to discomfort or pain with sex

  • e.g. change in your sex drive, loss of interest in sex, difficulty achieving orgasm

  • e.g. particularly around the midsection, weight that can’t be lost

  • e.g. moody, think 24/7 PMS

  • e.g. limited shoulder range of motion which often occurs out of the blue

  • e.g. tired all of the time, even if you slept

  • e.g. itchy skin, itchy scalp, itchy ears

  • e.g.  joint aches and pains, muscle aches

What is Hormone Therapy?

Hormone Therapy can be started when you feel the onset of perimenopausal symptoms and as late as post-menopause, the use of which includes regular monitoring by a healthcare provider. Hormone Therapy may also be referred to as “Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT)” or “Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT),” both of which mean utilizing bio-identical hormones. What are “bio-identical” hormones? This means that the hormone you are prescribed is structurally identical to those naturally produced by your own body. All of the hormones we prescribe are available in non-compounded options.

Hormone Therapy is available in different forms, including patches, gels, pills, sprays, vaginal creams and rings. The most common type of Hormone Therapy is combined estrogen and progesterone, but estrogen-only therapy is sometimes used for women who have had a hysterectomy. Testosterone is sometimes an added therapy.

How Does Hormone Therapy Work?

Most symptoms are due to decreasing estrogen levels produced by a woman’s body as she ages. Hormone Therapy can help with many of the frustrating symptoms and conditions brought on in perimenopause and menopause by augmenting those declining hormones. Hormone Therapy also has additional benefits.

Symptom Relief

Hormone Therapy can help relieve many of the common symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause. Hormone Therapy may also provide preventative benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease.

Mood/Irritability

Hormone Therapy can help improve overall mood, reduce emotional volatility, and restore a sense of calm and stability, making daily life more manageable and enjoyable.

Sleep

Hormone Therapy can help stabilize hormone levels, regulate body temperature, promote relaxation, and decrease nighttime awakenings. Many women find that with better sleep, they wake up feeling more refreshed, focused, and energized for the day ahead.

Osteoporosis Prevention

Hormone Therapy can help prevent osteoporosis, which is a thinning of the bones that can increase the risk of fractures. Studies estimate that one out of three women will suffer from a hip fracture after age fifty.