Hormone Therapy
Menopause is a time in a woman’s life that can bring on a host of unexpected and unwanted issues. Hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep, irritability, and pain during sex are some of the most common complaints of menopause. Many women can use menopausal hormone therapy to help control the symptoms of menopause. Hormone replacement therapy involves taking the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Hormone therapy can help to moderate the symptoms of menopause that often cause discomfort, embarrassment, and other medical symptoms.
Whether they want to or not, all women will go through menopause. This phase in a woman’s life is when she shifts from being able to conceive children and when she is not. Not all women need hormone therapy during menopause, but for women whose estrogen and progesterone levels drop significantly because of menopause, they often take supplements to reduce certain menopausal symptoms. Estrogen stimulates the release of eggs in a woman’s system, and as soon as a woman’s supply of eggs has ended, estrogen levels begin to go down.
Some women may begin to experience symptoms before the menopause period starts. This is known as peri-menopause. In this case women have not finished releasing her supply of eggs, but because they have dropped in supply this can trigger a fall in hormone levels. Progesterone levels also fall during menopause, but these levels do not typically cause women any discomfort as this hormone is to prepare the woman’s womb for pregnancy.
Not all women are good candidates for menopausal hormone therapy. By talking with your gynecologist, you can determine whether hormone therapy will be beneficial to you to help reduce menopausal symptoms.
Posted on behalf of Carlos Alarcon, M.D., Marietta OB-GYN Affiliates, P.A.
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