MENSTRUAL CHANGES, HOT FLASHES, DEPRESSION, INSOMNIA, FATIGUE

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

For several decades, your menstrual cycle probably ran like clockwork. Except for during pregnancy and times of stress, you usually knew when to expect your period, you were more than a little familiar with your symptoms, and you even knew when to anticipate them.

Now it seems as though nothing about your cycle is predictable. Hot

flashes appear out of nowhere, and you may feel depressed and tired and yet be unable to sleep at times. Plus, you’ve gone from being able to set your clock by your period to never knowing when it will start—or stop.

All these changes are due to the hormonal fluctuations that occur as your body prepares for menopause, when your periods will cease. Hot flashes and these other Body Signals occur in about 70% of women who are in the premenopausal stage, which usually starts when in the late 40s. Every woman will experience premenopause differently, however, depending on the severity of symptoms as well as one’s degree of tolerance for pain and/or discomfort.

Treatment

Though many women choose to treat their premenopausal symptoms with estrogen replacement therapy, others decide to wait them out. Though hot flashes, depression, and fatigue can be eased by the use of progesterone ot estrogen replacement therapy, the risks and benefits of hormonal therapy have to be considered carefully by both you and your doctor.

My advice is that you see your gynecologist and have both a mammogram and a Pap smear before you consider estrogen replacement therapy. Discuss the pros and cons with yout doctor, taking into consideration your family’s history of disease as well as your own risk factors. However, I do feel that if you have a high risk of coronary disease and/or osteoporosis, you will benefit from the protective effect hotmonal therapy provides against both of these diseases.