When menopause news from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) linked combined hormone therapy with slightly increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer, women across the nation became alarmed and confused.
Some women continue to rely on their HRT to relieve hot flashes as well as other menopausal symptoms. Many others have tried alternative therapies such as bio-identical hormones.
According to the American Medical Association, use of hormone therapy in the United States dropped from 18.5 million women in 2002 to 7.6 million in 2004. Women who remain on HRT say that they know it helps them with hot flashes and feel they are informed about the risks and have weighed their decision with their doctor.
What is Hormone Therapy?
Estrogen therapy, including drugs such as Premarin, Prempro and Provera, provide an estrogen supplement to the declining levels in the body that occurs during peri-menopause and even more so after menopause. A woman who still has her uterus should also be given a progesterone agent to help reduce the risk of uterine cancer. When estrogen and progesterone are given together, it’s referred to as hormone therapy.
Sometimes androgens (male reproductive hormones) are prescribed, either alone or in combination with estrogen and progestin if needed. If a woman has a failing sex drive, androgens can be effective in increasing her libido.
Estrogen comes in various doses in the form of pills, patches, gels and emulsions. For some women who have vaginal dryness, vaginal creams, tablets and a vaginal ring are available.
What are the Alternatives?
Depending on the severity of symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats, some women obtain adequate relief with alternative therapies. A number of lifestyle changes can help you cope, such as wearing layers of light clothing, setting the thermostat to a lower temperature and avoiding spicy foods, caffeinated beverages, sugar and alcohol.
Relaxation exercises or biofeedback can also help control temperature fluctuations. Some women swear that eating soy products helps them control heat because of the plant estrogens available in soy.
Bioidentical hormones are manufactured from plants to have the same molecular structure as the hormones made by your own body. The great appeal of bioidentical hormones is that they are natural, and our bodies can metabolize them as it was designed to do, minimizing side effects. Synthetic hormones are quite strong and often produce intolerable side effects. Moreover, the compounded bioidentical hormones can be matched individually to each woman’s needs – something that’s just impossible with mass-produced products.
One doctor suggested that the great majority of women, about 85%, can rebalance their hormones without the use of any drugs. Just by combining medical-grade nutritional supplements with over-the-counter bioidentical progesterone, as well as some dietary and lifestyle changes, significant relief can be obtained.
But for some women, peri-menopause and menopause symptoms can be debilitating. Most holistic doctors will test a woman for hormone levels when they first complain of menopause symptoms. They can then prescribe a precise dosage of bioidentical estrogen, testosterone or DHEA that is made up at a compounding pharmacy.
Each patient should be carefully monitored through regular follow-up hormone panels to ensure symptom relief at the lowest possible dosage. In the initial stages, a hormone panel could be done every three months. Once balance is restored, one panel a year is enough to maintain balance.
It’s Your Choice
The bottom line is that each women needs to monitor their own symptoms and weigh the risks of all available options. HRT may relieve hot flashes, and if they are severe, this can be a significant benefit. But you must factor into your decision, the slightly increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks, stroke, and breast cancer. Bio-identical hormones are new and although there are no known side effects, most feel that the jury is still out. In any case, many women today are experimenting with this alternative way to treat menopause symptoms. But the decision is yours to make. Just be sure it’s an informed one with which you feel comfortable.
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Cathy’s passion for the internet, as well as her own transition into peri-menopause, was the impetus to create her first website Everything Menopause (www.everythingmenopause.com) and create her eBook, How to Conquer Menopause (www.howtoconquermenopause.com). She writes often regarding menopause and issues that concern women at mid-life including healing the mind, body and emotions and has just released a second site for men at www.everythingandropause.com
