The change women experience with hormones
Every woman will experience menopause once she reaches a certain age. How each women experiences menopause is different from woman to woman. Some women will have severe reactions to the change while for other the symptoms may be mild. If you are feeling the effects of difficult symptoms on a daily basis because of the change, hormone replacement therapy could be an option for you. We are here to lay out the facts of menopause and discuss how hormone replacement can be used to combat those symptoms.
What is Menopause?
Before we can talk about hormone replacement therapy, we need to first understand what menopause is and how it affects all women as they age. Menopause happens to most women between the ages of 45 and 51. Menopause is when a natural shift in hormone production happens, and it can last anywhere from 7 to 14 years. When it happens, a woman’s menstrual cycle stops as well as her ability to become pregnant. Menopause will begin 12 months after your last period. Before your body begins to go into the change, many women experience perimenopause which is the precursor to menopause; during this time you will start to notice changes in your body. While all these changed are perfectly normal, this doesn’t mean that the symptoms accompanied with the change aren’t important. Many women are affected by the symptoms and find it changes their day to day life.
What kind of symptoms come with menopause?
While every woman will go through menopause at some point in her life, each woman will experience it differently. Menopause can have a wide variety of symptoms because hormones can affect every aspect and function of your body. Because of this, menopause varies so much from woman to woman. While some will have only minor symptoms, many women will have major symptoms that greatly impact their day to day lives, and cause disruption.
One of the most common and well known symptom associated with menopause are hot flashes. Some other common symptoms include night sweats, mood swings, and frequent urination. These are just a few symptoms that you could experience while going through perimenopause and menopause.
What happens after menopause?
Once your body has successfully made the change with your hormones and you are through menopause, many of the symptoms you have been feeling will stop. Generally hot flashes will stop because your hormones have reached a balanced level again. Most women are also able to go back to a normal sleep schedule. While the symptoms of menopause come to an end, many women experience post menopausal concerns. This can include low or no libido, vaginal dryness, pain during sex, loss of bladder control, dry skin and an increased risk for developing osteoporosis and heart disease.
Health concerns associated with post-menopause are something that cannot be avoided, but they can be managed with a healthy lifestyle and with the help of your doctor. However the symptoms that are associated with menopause could be managed by hormone replacement therapy.
What is Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Estrogen and progesterone are the primary female hormones related to reproduction. When ovarian function declines with age, ovulation doesn’t occur regularly. This will lead to irregular or missed periods – which eventually leads to the stop of your period completely. Because symptoms of menopause are directly tied to your hormones, it is possible that hormone replacement could be an option for you when combating menopause symptoms. During the treatment, estrogen and sometimes progestin, which is a synthetic version of progesterone. These can be injected to help reduce the time and intensity of menopause symptoms. HRT has the potential to provide relief from hot flashes, night sweats and also mood swings. In addition to relief from symptoms, it could also increase the elasticity of your blood vessels, lower your risk of osteoporosis, improve your glucose levels and even decrease chances of alzheimer’s and colon cancer! The potential of hormone replacement therapy is vast!!
Choosing HRT in Boulder
Hormone replacement therapy has the possibility of shortening the time you experience symptoms during menopause – and sometimes making symptoms so mild that you are able to ignore them!
At ThriveMD, we always conduct a thorough blood panel in order to determine not only what your current hormone levels are, but also how they are working within your body. This allows us to determine any imbalances or insufficiencies that you may be experiencing, and also helps us to rule out any other potential underlying conditions that can be affecting your hormones. Our practitioners always use a personalized approach to HRT, which works to bring your levels to within an optimal range that helps to reduce or to eliminate your symptoms.
How do I get started?
Are you ready to discuss your treatment options and to determine if you’re a candidate for Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women in Boulder, Broomfield, or Louisville today? Call ThriveMD today to schedule a free consultation at (720) 534-2333.
