Hormone Treatment for Moderate to Severe Menopause Symptoms
Estrogen therapy (alone or together with progesterone) is the only FDA approved treatment for women with moderate to severe hot flashes and menopause symptoms. But there are many other benefits of estrogen as you wil see.
Despite the reports about risks of breast cancer and heart disease, hormone therapy is safe if done correctly. You will see that there are many choices for using this hormone and you may be surprised at the different options.
Aside from the benefits for the heart, it is also keeping your bones strong, your hair full and the wrinkles at bay. It plays an important role for the maintenance of the collagen in the skin.
Other benefits of estrogen therapy include help for the following menopause symptoms:
- Vaginal Dryness
- Low libido
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Skin problems
- Joint pain
- Weight Gain
- Depression
- Fatigue
So you might think that all you need to do is to replace the hormone when the level drops to avoid the worst menopause symptoms.
This was exactly what women where told for decades until the results from a long term study showed that there might be more risks than benefits associated with hormone therapy. After the results of the study was released, the use of estrogen for menopause symptoms plummeted. But new recommendations and newer forms of hormones have emerged and the benefits of hormone therapy are again available, especially for the treatment of low estrogen symptoms.
But new recommendations and newer forms of hormones have emerged and the benefits of hormone therapy are again available, especially for the treatment of low estrogen symptoms.
New treatment recommendation for estrogen therapy:
- Use estrogen in the lowest dose to help your symptoms
- Use estrogen for only a few years (after 5 years the risk for serious problems increase dramatically)
- Start estrogen as close to actual menopause as possible (meaning 12 months without a period).
Today Women have many choices to get the benefits with less risk:
- Bioidentical or natural estrogen that has the same chemical structure as the hormone in our body
- Individualized estrogen therapy (to bring the balance back to the level of much younger woman)
- Patches in various forms with natural estrogen in standard dosage, approved by the FDA
- Creams and gels containing different kinds of estrogen (i.e bi-est or tri-est)
- Pellets that are placed under the skin and release the hormone over time Estrogen that can be taken under the tongue (where there are a lot of blood vessels so it enters the blood stream rapidly)
- Rings that are inserted into the vagina (in a low dose to treat either just vaginal dryness or urinary tract infections or in a higher dose for a wider range of symptoms)
The best choice depends on your and your doctor’s preference and your medical history.
The benefits of hormone therapy are numerous and with the different options that are available, most women will be able to get relief from their symptoms.
You may be interested in specific information about the pro’s and con’s (and risks) associated with the different delivery options of hormones into the body.