PRE-MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS

This is a fairly controversial area, where medical research,drug company research, naturopathic research and splinter groups of all the above have their own theories, best practices and advice that often conflict with each other. HRT is the first area of controversy followed by advice to have a hysterectomy, take the contraception pill, anti-depressants, use of bio-identical hormones, various naturopathic remedies and the advice of good food and exercise. In my blog I hope to cover all of these topics in more depth but for now I will give you my overview.

In my experience HRT has proven to be very succesful as the main resource in managing the Pre-Menopause stage of your life. In general women who take a course of HRT tend to see a large reduction in most of the symptoms of the Pre-menopause stage. There are percieved risks and the medical science world is full of conflicting evidence on what those risks are in terms of likelihood and consequence but experience leads me to believe the risks are limited though every woman should seek full medical advice before making a decision.

I have also seen very strong results in pre-menopause management through the taking of bio-identical hormones. This is more expensive than HRT and generally seems not to be included in private health insurance plans, wheras depending on where you are in the world, HRT can often be included in insurance plans.

The most solid piece of advice I can give on how to manage your Menopause is sadly not startling news, but eating healthily and getting regular exercise is very important. It is not uncommon for women to put on weight during Pre-Menopause despite increasing their exercise and being more careful of their diet but this should never be an excuse to avoid focusing on these two areas.

I have seen over the years several women who have been put on anti-depressants and the contraceptive pill in order to help them manage their Menopause. I have never felt comfortable about this, not just because of any percieved side effects but because I find that those women are not managing the change effectively and the range of symptoms they have and the strength of them does not suggest this is helping them overall.