Women often experience major transition periods during their perimenopause and menopause times. During this time your ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen and it lasts until menopause, the point when your ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last 1-2 years of perimenopause, there is a significant drop in estrogen levels and thus women might experience severe menopause symptoms.
It is during perimenopause that the ovaries produce less of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone and hence their levels rise and fall less predictably causing irregular periods. Evidently reaching menopause is going a year without a period.
When Does Perimenopause Start?
Perimenopause usually starts 8-10 years before menopause. It usually happens when women are in their mid-40s, but it can start in their 30s or earlier. The average length of perimenopause is 4 years, but this stage might last only a few months or continue for 10 years. Perimenopause ends when you've gone 12 months without having a period.
If a woman goes through menopause before age 40, that's called premature menopause. It can be caused by some medical conditions or procedures. If there is no medical or surgical cause for premature menopause, it's called primary ovarian insufficiency.
Some of the early menopause causes include:
• Smoking or using other tobacco products
• A family history of early menopause
• A history of cancer treatment
• Having your uterus or ovaries removed
What is the Difference between Perimenopause vs. Premenopause?
Often the terms perimenopause and premenopause are used interchangeably, but they mean different things:
Premenopause is the time between your first period and the onset of perimenopause.
Perimenopause is when you transition into menopause.
Perimenopause symptoms may include:
1. Hot flashes and night sweats, or vasomotor symptoms (VMS)
2. Breast tenderness
3. Worse premenstrual symptoms
4. Low libido - Lower sex drive
5. Fatigue
6. Irregular periods (also called perimenopause periods)
7. Vaginal dryness or discomfort during sex
8. Leaking pee when you cough or sneeze
9. Having an urgent need to pee more frequently
10. Mood swings
11. Insomnia - Trouble sleeping
12. Short-term memory problems
13. Memory changes
14. Trouble concentrating
15. Excessive bleeding
16. Mood changes
17. Joint pain
18. Palpitations
19. Anxiety
20. Depression
21. Mental health
22. Weight gain
23. Recurrent UTIs
24. Hospitalizations
25. Decreased bone strength
26. Decrease strength
27. Difficulty working out
28. Difficulty with having sex
29. Pain during having sex
30. Iron deficiency
Check your Perimenopausal Symptoms whether they are Normal or Something to Be Concerned About.
For women irregular periods are a common occurrence during perimenopause. However, there are a few other conditions that can cause changes in menstrual bleeding. If any of the following situations apply to you, it is advisable to consult a doctor to rule out other causes:
1. Your periods are very heavy, or they have blood clots.
2. Your periods last several days longer than usual.
3. You spot between periods.
4. You have spotting after sex.
5. Your periods happen closer together.
Since causes of abnormal bleeding consist of hormone problems, birth control pills, pregnancy, blood clotting problems, or rarely, cancer it is necessary to see your doctor if you have these symptoms. To rule out the chances of fibroids which include symptoms such as heavy cycles, backaches, pelvic pain and pressure, frequent urination, and anaemia it is inevitable to your doctor if you have these symptoms.
Perimenopause Treatment for Women in NYC
Many times women get relief from hot flashes and night sweats after taking low-dose birth control pills for a short time. Other options for controlling hot flashes that your doctor might prescribe you include birth control skin patch, vaginal ring, and progesterone injections. However, it is important to talk to your doctor before using birth control hormones.
Since perimenopause is a natural part of life there is no treatment to stop perimenopause. However, there are medical treatments to treat the symptoms of perimenopause. Menopause Treatment for Women in NYC usually includes recommended over-the-counter or prescription perimenopause treatment, such as:
1. Antidepressants: These medications help with mood swings or depression. Low doses of antidepressants can help with hot flashes, too.
2. Birth control pills. These medications stabilize your hormone levels and typically ease symptoms.
3. Estrogen therapy: This treatment stabilizes estrogen levels. You may take estrogen therapy as a cream, gel, patch, or pill.
4. Gabapentin: This medicine relieves hot flashes for some women.
5. Vaginal creams: Your doctor can tell you about prescription and over-the-counter options. Treatment can decrease pain related to sex and relieve vaginal dryness.
6. Hormone therapy. If you choose this treatment to ease your perimenopause symptoms, your doctor may want you to start it within 10 years of beginning menopause symptoms, and use it for less than 5 years. That's because estrogen and hormones are linked to an increased risk of heart problems and some types of breast cancer.
Your healthcare provider can suggest some home remedies for perimenopause treatment for women in NYC. With certain lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, light exercise, and avoiding foods or activities that trigger hot flashes you can include the following things that enhance your general well-being, such as:
• Exercise
• Stop smoking
• Get more sleep, and try sleeping and waking up at the same time each day
• Drink less alcohol
• Avoid caffeine
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Get enough calcium in your diet
• Ask your doctor if you should take a multivitamin
• Reduce your stress and build stress-coping skills
• Talk to your doctor if you are having problems with your sex drive.
Perimenopause Treatment for Women NYC
Antidepressant pills, birth control pills, estrogen therapy and vaginal creams claim to help with hot flashes, bone loss, and other symptoms of the transitional phase before menopause. After consulting your doctor you can take these medicines. This transitional phase before menopause known as perimenopause brings with it hormone changes that can trigger bone loss and dozens of uncomfortable symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep issues, and mood changes. While HRT or hormone therapy and other prescription drugs help is available for women going through this disturbing transitional phase.
Before trusting any supplement it is important to consult your doctor. Products prescribed to help with Perimenopause Treatment for Women NYC often contain a mix of ingredients, including vitamin B (for energy, mood, and more), vitamin D (for bone health) and minerals like zinc (for healthy skin and nails). According to experts supplements for people going through perimenopause such as calcium supplements can promote bone health if you don’t get enough from your diet, as does vitamin D, which people produce less efficiently as they age.
The main medicine treatment for menopause and perimenopause symptoms is hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which replaces the hormones that are at low levels. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a safe and effective treatment for most going through menopause and perimenopause. Your GP will discuss any risks with you. HRT involves using estrogen to replace your body's levels around the time of menopause. There are different types and doses of HRT. Using the right dose and type usually means your symptoms improve.
Estrogen comes as:
1. skin patches
2. a gel or spray to put on the skin
3. implants
4. tablets
If you have a womb (uterus) you also need to take progesterone to protect your womb lining from the effects of estrogen. Taking estrogen and progesterone is called combined HRT.
Progesterone comes as:
1. patches, as part of a combined patch with estrogen
2. IUS (intrauterine system, or coil)
3. tablets
In case you have a low sex drive or low libido because of perimenopause and menopause and HRT does not improve it, you may be offered testosterone.
Benefits of HRT for Menopause Treatment for Women in NYC
The main benefit of HRT is that it can help relieve most menopause and perimenopause symptoms, including hot flushes, brain fog, joint pains, mood swings and vaginal dryness. Hot flushes or night sweats often improve within a few weeks. Other symptoms like mood changes and vaginal dryness can take a few months to improve. Taking HRT can also reduce your risk of hormone-related health problems including osteoporosis and heart disease.
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