The symptoms can sometimes creep up on you. Suddenly you don’t feel like yourself. You may have less energy. You may notice less focus less concentration and your motivation may slip away. Temperature control problems can sometimes happen. Not necessarily hot flashes that we traditionally associate with menopause. Often the heat wave hits at night and we wake up in the middle of the night with soaking sheets. We may flip between being cold when we go to bed and burning up at 2 AM. We may notice that we never feel rested or alert. We may find ourselves nodding off over our computers or phones in the middle of the afternoon. A healthy sex drive may seem like a fond memory. We may be plagued with vaginal dryness and pain with intimacy. We may have a seemingly endless series of bladder and/or vaginal infections. We may feel cranky, weepy, and sad like all of a sudden the emotional rug has been pulled out from under us. At work, this may show up as suddenly becoming the distracted cranky old lady instead of the sharpest and most trustworthy tack in the box. Our weight may shoot up and we may suddenly develop a bothersome roll of belly fat.
What’s Happening With My Hormones?
If you’re a woman between 36 and 60, you may be experiencing hormonal changes. These changes can happen whether your menstrual cycle is normal or not but can be especially confusing if you’ve had a hysterectomy or you have a hormone IUD. When I’m consulted by a patient with this constellation of symptoms, I know that there are a variety of possible explanations. The first step I take is a careful history and physical examination. I’m looking for signs of low estrogen,high or low testosterone and thyroid problems. Some problems are not visually apparent and for that reason a hormone profile is very helpful. The hormone profile includes pituitary testing, including FSH female hormones, including estradiol, and the hormone that is made by both men and women testosterone. In addition, it’s helpful to look at a full and complete thyroid profile, evaluate blood sugar and liver function, and to examine the possibility of nutritional deficiencies by checking for iron vitamin B 12 and vitamin D levels. It’s important to note that the problem may not be menopause in the strictest definition. Menopause is simply the point where a woman is one year past her last period because her ovaries are not functioning properly in producing estrogen. Hormone problems with similar symptoms include andropause where testosterone has dropped dropped. Low thyroid or autoimmune thyroid problems like Hashimoto disease can also show up with similar symptoms like temperature, control problems, fatigue, and mood changes. Finally the overlap with other interrelated problems may include insulin resistance or pre-diabetes, low iron, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D.
Often the problem stems not from just one source, but from a series of inner related factors that are amplifying each other.
What Are The Best First Steps?
If these symptoms are familiar your best first step is to consult with your hormone expert. Here at Center for Wellness MD we have over 30 years of experience diagnosing and treating simple and complex hormonal problems. Let us open the window to getting your best life back.
What Are The Treatment Options?
Treatment options depend on the root cause. Hormone therapy is not the answer for everybody, but for many women, it provides the gateway to a greater sense of well-being and and prevention of many of the medical problems like heart, disease, and osteoporosis that complain plague middle-age. W we now have new non-hormonal options for the treatment of hot flashes and night sweats like Veozah.
Thyroid problems, which are more common in aging women can sometimes be addressed by dietary changes and supplements. But if needed thyroid medication can be a game changer.
If the problems seem centered in the pelvic floor, as with vaginal dryness and recurrent bladder infections, treatment may be as simple as vaginal estrogen or preventative antibiotics or as life-changing as radiofrequency vaginal rejuvenation with Morpheus 8V or Votiva.
Decreased sex drive sometimes responds to testosterone therapy or innovative treatments like the O shot with Botox or Xeomin or the Olympus troche.
Weight gain can can be reversed by treating insulin resistance with GLP-1 medications similar to Ozempic or Wegovy.
At Center For Wellness MD, Dr. Asela Russell and Cathie, Nurse Practitioner, are dedicated to partnering with you to do serious research into how to best to improve your health and quality of life.