Menopause marks the end of a woman's reproductive years. It is diagnosed after 12 months of no menstrual periods. The years leading up to menopause are called perimenopause. This time brings shifts in hormone levels that can result in symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, difficulty sleeping, and emotional changes.
Menopause occurs at an average age of 51, but it can happen earlier or later. Making lifestyle adjustments and using medical therapies can help ease challenging menopause symptoms. Hormone Harmony Clinic provides customized menopause care to help women transition through this life stage with grace and good health.
The perimenopausal transition typically begins in the may become heavier or lighter and more or less frequent. Other symptoms like hot flashes, trouble sleeping, and mood changes often start during this time.
Early menopause happens before age 40. It may be naturally early or induced by surgery, chemotherapy, or other medical treatments. Women who go through early menopause are at higher risk for health problems like osteoporosis and heart disease.
A small percentage of women go through delayed menopause after age 55. Reasons for later menopause include smoking, being overweight, and having children later in life. Delaying menopause lowers risks for Alzheimer’s disease, colon cancer, heart attack, and osteoporosis.
The hormone changes of perimenopause and menopause can cause unpleasant signs and symptoms. Knowing what to expect helps women prepare. Common menopausal symptoms include:
Hot flashes are sudden feelings of intense body heat, flushing, and sweating, lasting from 30 seconds up to several minutes. Night sweats are hot flashes happening at night, often disrupting sleep.
Declining estrogen levels can cause the vaginal tissues to lose elasticity, lubrication, and thickness. Symptoms include:
Vaginal moisturizers and lubricants help ease mild symptoms. For moderate to severe cases, prescription estrogen creams, tablets, or rings restore vaginal tissue health and comfort.
Hormone changes impact brain chemistry and stress hormones. Supportive counseling helps women process emotional ups and downs. Certain antidepressant medications also alleviate mood symptoms.
Menopause hormone therapy, also called menopausal hormone replacement therapy or HRT, involves taking estrogen and progestogen to treat hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal atrophy symptoms, and bone loss during and after menopause.
Taking menopause hormones:
The safest candidates for hormone therapy are women under 60 or who are less than 10 years into menopause. Hormone Harmony Clinic menopause doctors carefully evaluate individuals to provide customized treatment plans with the lowest effective hormone doses.
We offer menopause bioidentical hormone therapy including FDA-approved products like BiEst and compounded BHRT prescriptions tailored to each woman’s hormone needs and preferences.
Taking estrogen alleviates hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, recurring UTIs, and supports emotional health. When the uterus is present, progestogen must be included to prevent uterine cancer.
Estrogen is available as:
Hormone Harmony Clinic menopause specialists help determine the optimal estrogen formulations, doses, and schedules customized for each patient. We carefully monitor progress with follow up visits and lab tests.
When a woman still has her uterus, she uses combination estrogen-progestogen menopause hormone therapy. The most common HT regimens are:
Continuous daily estrogen and progestogen - Best for women who want to have fewer or no periods. Types include:
Cyclic estrogen with progestogen for 14 days per month - Causes monthly scheduled bleeding episodes. Regimens include:
Our compassionate menopause care experts explain the different combination therapy options so patients can give input choosing the one fitting their needs and preferences.
Hormone Harmony Clinic offers customized compounded BHRT for perimenopause and menopause tailored to each woman’s unique hormone profile and physiology. Our on-site pharmacy prepares personalized prescription formulas in topical creams, gels, inserts, and other specialty delivery methods.
Key advantages of custom compounded hormones:
Our menopause practitioner works closely with patients to ensure compounded formulas help relieve symptoms safely and effectively.
Allowing menopause symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal atrophy, and sleep disruption to persist untreated negatively impacts quality of life. Evidence shows menopause hormone therapy also provides vital long-term health benefits when started in early menopause.
Estrogen plays a key role maintaining healthy bone density. During the first years after menopause, women rapidly lose bone due to declining estrogen making bones thinner and weaker. This leads to osteoporosis and higher fracture risks.
Menopause experts advise women start treatment within the first 5 years after periods end to guard against excessive irreversible bone loss. Taking estrogen-based therapy early on preserves bone mass helping prevent painful fractures later in life.
Estrogen has beneficial cardiovascular effects including maintaining elastic artery walls and optimal blood flow. Starting combination estrogen plus progestogen therapy soon after menopause reduces a woman's risk of heart disease.
Research shows taking estrogen early on after menopause onset appears protective for memory, cognition, and reducing later dementia risks. Estrogen impacts regions in the brain vital for learning, memory, decision making and emotional health.
Due to these demonstrated long-term health benefits from early adequate estrogen exposure after menopause, medical groups like the North American Menopause Society advocate most women consider continuing menopause hormone therapy for at least 5-7 years after entering menopause. Hormone Harmony Clinic' compassionate menopause specialists help women balance symptom relief with protecting future wellness.
Studies show that practicing yoga and mindfulness meditation can help reduce troublesome menopause symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings and sleep problems without medication. These mind-body therapies relax the nervous system, lowering stress hormones that aggravate menopause symptoms. They are low-cost, accessible alternatives to consider alongside other therapies.
Hormone Harmony Clinic medical center provides comprehensive menopause care to women in the Altamonte Springs, FL area. Our warm, welcoming office offers advanced testing, cutting-edge hormone therapies, nutrition plans, counseling and community referrals.
Get relief from menopause symptoms and take control of your long-term health. Our caring staff will explain the simple process to become an established patient and begin customized menopause treatment.
We look forward to welcoming you to our relaxing, caring, state-of-the-art hormone therapy and health center very soon!
In addition to hormone therapy, making positive lifestyle changes enhances menopause treatment results and benefits. Hormone Harmony Clinic’ clinicians provide tailored practical recommendations on key areas like the following based on each woman's health profile:
- Emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, nuts, seeds, beans - Get needed calcium from yogurt, milk, kale, broccoli, supplements - Stay hydrated drinking adequate water and herbal tea - Reduce spicy foods, alcohol, excess salt and sugar to prevent hot flashes
- Aim for 150 minutes weekly of moderate cardio and muscle-strengthening - Try walking, swimming, yoga, pilates, strength-training - Outdoor parks in Altamonte Springs with trails include ( /locations/) and
- Make time for relaxing hobbies like gardening, crafting, reading - Practice meditation, deep breathing, gentle stretching - Join a class at local studios like () for sensory deprivation meditation or the ( /location/ymca-of-central-florida-altamonte-springs-ymca) for group fitness.
- Share feelings openly with loved ones and friends - Prioritize intimacy; use lubricants for comfort - Seek counseling support individually or as a couple
Following individualized healthy lifestyle plans alongside hormone therapy allows women to feel their best during the menopause transition and beyond!
