RESTORE, REBUILD, & MAINTAIN.
Without hormones, women wither and dry up after their ovaries stop producing hormones. Atrophy of the vaginal area brings the most patients to my office:
“It felt like he was stabbing me, tearing me apart!” The vaginal area doesn’t just become dry, the opening actually narrows and shrinks. Over the counter lubricants do not fix this problem. The tightness of the opening is still there but moist—so what. However, this shrinkage and drying up of the tissues can be reversed with estradiol. The vagina becomes its muscular, moist self again, ready for action. I often prescribe a tiny bit of estradiol to insert into the vagina for a few weeks to hurry up this restoration. I also prescribe estradiol in sufficient amount orally or transdermally to bring the lab value up to young adult level.
Libido, the drive and desire for sex, often declines sharply in menopause. Testosterone also may be applied as a tiny bit of concentrated cream massaged into the tissues surrounding the vagina as well as the clitoris. Testosterone blood levels actually begin declining in the 20s!
Mentally, progesterone provides calmness, acceptance, and peace. Without progesterone, the menopause woman might be characterized as moody, irritable, and tearful at times. No, you don’t need an anti depressant, sleeping pill, or other calming, addictive drugs. I believe the worst thing you can do is buy into the mental illness label.
In the peri-menopause woman who is just beginning to have hot flashes, insomnia, and feels uncontrolled anger or crying “over nothing,” progesterone provides welcome calmness. “I feel like myself again, back in control!” Progesterone decline may begin in the early to mid-forties. Menopause, the complete cessation of hormones, is generally around 50-51.
Not everyone needs hormones. Some women do not have symptoms of menopause. Hormone blood levels vary widely. Some women need a lot more hormones than others to achieve a young adult level. A careful history, physical, and frank discussion of the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy must be provided.
210-545-5224 | www.antiagingsa.com