Menopause is a natural milestone, signaling the end of a woman’s reproductive years. Before this, there's a transitional phase called perimenopause, during which the body gradually decreases the production of hormones like estrogen and progesterone.
This can be a few years-long journey for many women, but understanding it can help make the experience more manageable. During this period, it’s common to experience several symptoms as a result of declining hormone levels.
At Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic in Gilbert, Fountain Hills, Mesa, and Scottsdale, Arizona, our providers, Dr. Pankaj Chopra and Dr. Neha Maheshwari, along with the rest of our team, understand how uncomfortable menopause and perimenopause can be, which is why we offer our patients hormone replacement therapy to subdue the symptoms.
If you’re experiencing uncomfortable symptoms during your mid-to-late 40s and early 50s, here’s how hormone therapy may be able to help.
During perimenopause, sometimes called the menopausal transition, the change in hormone levels can cause symptoms such as:
Skipped periods during perimenopause are also common. They may skip a month and then return, or they can skip a few months and then revert to regular monthly cycles again.
In early perimenopause, the menstrual cycle becomes shorter, leading to closer periods. As menopause approaches, the periods become farther apart until they cease entirely.
Until you’ve gone 12 consecutive months without a period, you can still become pregnant, so you need to consider using birth control if you don’t want to have a baby.
Brain fog is a general term that covers a range of symptoms leading to temporary cognitive impairment. This affects your ability to think clearly, focus on tasks, and remember information.
The fogginess makes it difficult to perform even basic tasks like having a conversation, following instructions, or remembering key points of something you just heard.
Hormone replacement therapy uses a synthetic version of estrogen and, sometimes, progestin, an analog of progesterone. We may recommend progestin because estrogen alone may lead to an increased risk for endometrial cancer.
Systemic (absorbed by the whole body) estrogen comes in several forms, including a pill, skin patch, ring, gel, and cream. It generally contains more estrogen than other hormone therapies. HRT can address many of the symptoms of menopause, including brain fog.
Systemic HRT can also address vaginal dryness and itching, urinary incontinence, moderate-to-severe hot flashes and night sweats, and the loss of bone density that comes with decreasing hormone levels (osteoporosis).
However, because there are increased risks for heart disease, stroke, blood clots, breast and endometrial cancer, dementia, mood swings, and gallbladder disease with the use of HRT, we prescribe the lowest amount needed for the shortest period of time.
Generally, though, if you’re healthy, the benefits of addressing menopausal symptoms greatly outweigh the risks.
Are you dealing with menopause-related brain fog and can’t bear it anymore? Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic can help with hormone replacement therapy. Walk in, call us at any of our locations, or book an appointment online.
