Menopause Treatment
Menopause Treatment in Winston-Salem
Menopause is a part of every woman’s life. It is part of a typical natural process where reproductive hormones start to scale down when a woman is in the fourth or fifth decade of her life.
One can understand that one is in this phase when they notice that menstruation did not occur for over 12 months. One can go through a wide range of symptoms that include hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Sleep issues also happen in this phase. Recall that a group of these problems can cause mental stress.
There are integrative medicine practices that target menopause and provide overall relief. It does not have to be tough, and you can undoubtedly move through this period with grace and peace.
Learn more about how Robinhood Integrative Health in Winston-Salem can use integrative medicine to help you progress through menopause.
We are sure that our integrative medicine processes and practices can help you make significant progress while going through this part of your journey.
How Do You Prepare For Menopause?
Menopause can be an intriguing time for many older women and their bodies. Dealing with fluctuating levels of progesterone and estrogen can affect moods, leaving them confused, saddened, or even distressed in many ways. Regardless of what happens, make sure you are at least prepared for it. To prepare yourself for menopause, you must ensure to train your mind and body.
Learn More For A Smoother Journey
The symptoms of menopause start occurring a short while before you enter this stage in your life.
Menopause is referred to as a period of women’s lives when they do not have a menstrual period for over eleven months. The period before menopause is known as perimenopause, which lasts for four years.
However, for every woman, it varies largely. Some may experience it for a couple of months, while some experience it for over seven years.
Hot flashes are the common symptoms found in 75% of women during a change in period and during his time.
Other symptoms that you notice are present below:
Fatigue
Lower sex drive
Mood swings
Breast tenderness
Sleeplessness
Vaginal dryness
Worsening premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Weight Management
If you are overweight, chances are you will experience worse hot flashes. As you are about to reach menopause, your metabolism slows down, making you weigh more. That is why it is crucial to maintain a healthy weight that helps protect your bones.
It would be best if you stuck to eating a healthy and balanced diet full of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Limit alcoholic beverages and avoid sweetened beverages.
Get Regular Exercise
The benefits of exercise to your health can not be overstated. Regular exercise helps keep your weight and stress levels under control. It can help minimize depression, add to greater muscle mass, help with better sleep, and provide more robust bones. Further, it reduces the risk of diseases like cancers, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
Aim For The Right Level of Rest During Menopause
Sleep disturbances are common during menopause.
How do you avoid or minimize issues when it comes to sleep problems with menopause?
One primary suggestion is to negate mid-afternoon caffeine intake. The second point is to keep your bedroom at stable temperatures that revolve around sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
You want to ensure that your environment is quiet and dark.
Finally, remove all electronic sources like smartphones, TVs, laptops, and tablets to suppress regular melatonin release.
We at Robinhood Integrative Health are able to provide more information around integrative medicine practices to help alleviate symptoms so you can live a healthy and comfortable life.
Mental health Challenges
People with clinical depression have presented with fatigue as a common symptom. The following mental health issues may also be associated with chronic fatigue:
- Grief and bereavement
- Harsh life events like getting a divorce and relocating
- Burnout
- Eating disorders
- Boredom
- Anxiety
Metabolic and Endocrine Issues
Most of the health factors that affect hormonal balance may also lead to the development of chronic fatigue. Some may include:
- Hormonal contraception like birth implants and birth control pills
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Thyroid diseases
- Pregnancy
- Electrolyte problems
- Diabetes
Signs of Menopause
You might start noticing some changes years or months before your menopause period. These can be irregular periods and hot flashes. Although you do not know when you will enter the menopause phase, pay attention to your body’s changes and feelings. Remember, symptoms and signs vary from woman to woman. Some women do not even experience any of these symptoms.
Change In Period Instances
Your periods can be regular or more prolonged; you might bleed less or more than usual. However, these are some of the expected changes, but you need to see a doctor immediately if you notice the following signs.
Your periods last more than a week
Heavy bleeding
Spotting
You get periods after no bleeding for over a year
Your periods come close together
Hot Flashes
Many women experience hot flashes that last a few years after menopause. They may be due to a change in estrogen levels. A hot flash is a sudden feeling of heat in all of your body or the upper part. You can also see red blotches on your arms, back, and chest, following cold shivering and heavy sweating.
Dryness in the Vagina
Your vagina might get dry, and this could make sexual intercourse uneasy. You could have health problems like a bladder infection and vaginal infections. Some women even find it hard to urinate and experience loss of bladder control. You may feel a sudden urge to urinate during laughing, sneezing, and while you exercise.
Mood swings
You might feel more irritable and moody at times. There could be a wide range of reasons for it. These reasons can range from a history of depression, feeling tired at that moment, aging, parents, etc., that can cause these mood swings.
Some women also experience body aches, weight gain, feel less interested in sex, and a few have trouble getting a good night’s sleep. Since menopausal symptoms may vary and change hormone levels, you can not predict how often symptoms will occur and how severe they will be.
Skipping periods during perimenopause are expected and common. Often periods will decline several months and return or can happen on shorter cycles. Despite irregular periods, you can still get pregnant. So when you experience such a condition, make sure to conduct a pregnancy test.
Treating Menopause in Winston-Salem
Women during menopause look for effective treatments to get rid of the symptoms. Below are a few treatments that might be helpful for different menopause symptoms.
Hormone Therapy
Also known as Estrogen therapy, it is the most effective treatment option to relieve hot flashes during menopause. Depending on your family medical history, and personal account, your doctor will recommend you the lowest estrogen dose. Make sure to talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of hormone therapy.
Vaginal Estrogen
This treatment is effective in relieving dryness from the vagina, urinary symptoms, and discomfort with intercourse. In this treatment, estrogen can be directly used to the vagina using a ring, tablet, or cream.
Low-dose Antidepressants
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are certain antidepressant drugs that can decrease hot flashes during menopause. A low dose of this antidepressant may be useful for women who can not take estrogen for health reasons.
Integrative Medicine
A practitioner at places like Robinhood Integrative Health in Winston-Salem can ensure to provide a holistic, integrative medicine strategy and care plan that can help you to improve your overall quality of life during this time.
Gabapentin (Neurontin, Horizant, and Gralise)
This drug is used to treat seizures and also reduce hot flashes. Women having nightmares of hot flashes or who can’t use estrogen therapy can obtain benefits from it.
Medications
Doctors often recommend certain medications to treat or prevent osteoporosis. These medications help reduce fracture risks and bone loss. To help strengthen bones, your doctor may recommend vitamin D in addition to other supplements.
Clonidine (Kapvay, Catapres)
Cholnidine is a patch or pill used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). It is also useful to provide relief from hot flashes.
Ensure regular visits with your doctor in Winston-Salem in case of any medical concerns or preventive health care.
Preventive health care includes health screening tests, such as triglyceride screening, colonoscopy, and mammography. Your physician might recommend other exams and tests such as thyroid testing, breast, and pelvic exams.
Learn How Integrative Medicine Can Help
While menopause signifies the end of menstrual cycles, its overall effects go beyond that surface-level indication. From hot flashes to insomnia, the hormonal changes in your body can create a world of problems for you. If you ignore them, these symptoms can start affecting your everyday life in Winston-Salem.
That’s where integrative medicine in Winston-Salem may help.
By looking into alternative therapies and supported approaches, you can relieve the problematic symptoms associated with menopause. This lets you address the bodily changes that menopause may bring about for you and helps you make your way through this biological event with ease.
Since your reproductive hormones also affect your metabolism, cardiovascular system, urinary health, and cognition, their significant loss can cause various issues for your bodily functions.
As a branch of medicine that understands each patient’s specific condition, integrative medicine can help you assess and address your symptoms of menopause.
This personalized approach can then help you seek alternative therapies, which can relieve the onset of menopause. As a result, it ensures that you continue leading a fulfilled life despite the natural effects of menopause.
By speaking to an integrative medicine physician, you can explore various approaches to address your menopause symptoms.
These include but are not limited to:
Hormonal Therapies
These approaches help you increase the level of hormones that are lost through menopause. This allows your body to prevent the symptoms that are associated with menopause.
Botanical Formulas
These medicines are developed from plants and plant-based ingredients. They may help address a host of issues and problems that are related to menopause.
Dietary Supplements
These products can support your vitality and may help prevent issues triggered by menopause, such as cardiovascular disease or weaker bone structure (osteoporosis).
Even though menopause is a natural phenomenon, you must manage its symptoms to prevent them from affecting your daily life. Integrative medicine helps you address these issues through a multifaceted approach; it can relieve the process’s problems.
Reach out to us at Robinhood Integrative Health in Winston-Salem to see how we can help you during this stage of your life.
