Menopause: What about Hormone Replacement?

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During peri-menopause, your doctor may suggest birth control to ease the discomfort of severe cramping of significantly heavy menstrual periods. The birth control will work to keep your cycles more regular and consistent.

Birth control may also help with symptoms such as hot flashes. Birth control can, however, hide the actual arrival of menopause. If you think you might have reached menopause, stop taking your pills for a little while in order to see if your cycle returns. If you were taking the pills in order to prevent pregnancy it is important that you use alternate birth control for a while in order to eliminate the possibility of something else ending your cycles. It is not considered menopause until you have gone a full 12 months without a menstrual cycle.

In certain instances, your doctor might feel that you should undergo hormone replacement therapy, commonly referred to as HRT. This involves taking estrogen and/or progestin. Estrogen, when used in combination with progestin is believed to reduce the risk of developing uterine cancer. Some common delivery methods for these hormones include: patches, pills, and other methods depending on the specific needs of the woman receiving them.

While short-term use of HRT has been known to quite effectively relieve many symptoms of menopause it is not a wise decision to use as a long-term treatment for the prevention of heart disease as it increases the risks rather than reducing them. In addition to increasing the risks of heart disease, HRT increases the risks of breast cancer and blood clots while reducing the risks of colon cancer. There are ongoing studies in order to gain more definitive answers about the pros and cons of HRT but for the moment it is important to carefully consider whether the benefits are worth the risks.

So how about phytoestrogens?

These are substances that are commonly found in cereals, vegetables, and some herbs and are very estrogen-like in nature. They are believed to work within the body very much like a weak form of estrogen and are known to help lower cholesterol. Soy, wild yams, and herbs like black cohosh contain phytoestrogens and are thought to relieve some of the symptoms of menopause. Scientists are currently performing more stringent testing on these products to learn more about their long term affects and effectiveness.

Be sure to let your doctor know if you change your diet to include phytoestrogens or begin taking supplements that could interact with any prescribed medications or cause an overdose.

How do I decide what’s right for me?

Talk candidly with your doctor about how to best manage your menopause. Be honest and frank about your symptoms and how manageable you really feel they are as well as how you feel you are coping with them. Consider your family and personal medical history and what risk factors you are bringing in to the mix. Keep in mind that no decision is final; you can change your mind if you try one thing and feel it isn’t working for you.

Our grandmothers and great grandmothers had much shorter life expectancies than today’s woman. Reaching menopause for them meant approaching the final stage of their lives. We live much longer today and still have a good deal of living to do after menopause. There is life after menopause and the decisions you make while going through it, will greatly impact the quality of that life. For more information on menopause visit www.MenopauseTime.com.