Recognizing All the Symptoms of Menopause

By: Dr. Michael Lee, Medical Director of BodyLogicMD of Miami

When you think of menopause symptoms, you probably think of hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. But what about the other, lesser known symptoms of menopause? Before and during menopause, your hormones can decline rapidly. These hormonal fluctuations may be responsible for many problems, well beyond the all-familiar sudden heat and irritability. Even if you’re living with these symptoms, you may not realize that they’re hormonal in nature — and can be treated safely and effectively with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).

A Myriad of Symptoms

Symptoms of menopause can affect your entire body, from head to toe. In fact, many of the symptoms people frequently attribute to aging are actually caused from the decline in hormones that occurs during this transitional period of life. The lesser known menopause symptoms include:

However, certain other hormones may play a larger role in this picture. Many studies have revealed that levels of testosterone, growth hormone and pregnenolone are lower in chronic pain patients — male or female — than in the general population. Furthermore, returning these hormones to proper levels seems to be a very effective addition to chronic pain management.

• Fatigue and sleep problems. As your hormones decline, you may have trouble falling asleep or may wake up many times throughout the night. Even if you get enough sleep, you may feel tired and exhausted throughout the day.
• Aches and pains. Fluctuating hormones can cause pain throughout your body. You may have achy joints and sore muscles. You may also experience frequent headaches.
• Cognitive problems. During menopause, many women experience “brain fog.” Your short-term memory may seem to fail you as you struggle with forgetfulness and memory loss.
• Mood problems. Many people realize that mood swings are common during menopause, but other mood changes may occur, as well. In addition to increased irritability, you may also experience depression and/or anxiety.
• Skin changes. Your hormones help to keep your skin feeling soft and supple. As these hormones decline, your skin can become dry and you may develop more, deeper wrinkles.
• Dry Eyes. When your hormone levels are declining, your eyes may begin to feel very dry and uncomfortable.
• Heart palpitations. Hormone fluctuations can affect your heart, as well, leading to heart palpitations, or a fluttering feeling in your chest.
• Digestive problems. Your digestive system is affected by your hormones. As you go through menopause, you may find yourself dealing with urinary incontinence, especially when coughing, sneezing or otherwise exerting yourself. Constipation may also occur.
• Sexual problems. A loss of libido is very common during menopause. You may no longer be interested in sex and, even if your libido doesn’t plummet, vaginal dryness and a loss of elasticity in your vaginal walls may make sex uncomfortable or painful.

While many people do not think of these problems as being related to hormone decline, they’re actually very common menopause symptoms and frequently occur along-side the more well known symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats. In fact, they may even outlast them. Hot flashes and night sweats often fade off over time, while these less-well-known symptoms persist.

Like all menopause symptoms, these symptoms can vary widely from one woman to another. Some women may experience only a few symptoms, while others may experience all of them. They may vary in severity, as well. Some of your symptoms may be no more than a mild nuisance, while others may be severe enough to have a profound impact on your life.

Finding the True Cause

However, while all of these may be symptoms of menopause, they can also be caused by other health conditions. It is very important to do a full, careful medical history to weed out other causes. You have to address the actual cause of a problem to effectively treat it. Some of these symptoms may actually be caused by simple-to-treat, underlying physical conditions, while other potential causes may be more severe or even life-threatening.

For example, joint pain and stiffness may be due to arthritis or a slipped disc, and headaches may be caused by a variety of neurological or anatomical conditions — including tumors. If you’re experiencing severe headaches, we have to make sure there’s no central, neurological, anatomical cause. We can’t just assume that the headache is hormonal in nature. If your medical history indicates that you may be at risk for other causes, you may need to see a neurologist or even have an MRI.

Treatment and Management

When they are caused by hormone decline around menopause, all of these symptoms respond very well to bioidentical hormone therapy. Simple blood and saliva tests paint a picture of your current hormone status and your doctor can prescribe natural bioidentical hormones to help you regain natural hormone balance. You may need additional progesterone, estrogen, estradiol, estriol or even testosterone. It may take some time — usually a couple of months — to find the best balance for you but, once your hormones have been balanced, you’ll most likely experience a drastic improvement in all of these symptoms. You’ll feel much better and will have the energy and vigor to life your life to the fullest.

Working with Your Doctor

Any symptoms — even hot flashes and night sweats — can have multiple causes. It’s important to get to the root cause of any health issue. The best way to figure out the exact cause of your symptoms is to go through a thorough medical history and undergo any tests that your doctor recommends. If your symptoms are due to menopause — or any other hormonal imbalance — a hormone expert properly trained in the use of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy — such my colleagues at BodyLogicMD and I — can help you regain hormone balance, reduce or eliminate your symptoms and take back the full, vibrant life that you’ve been missing!

To learn more about the symptoms of menopause and how bioidentical hormones can help, visit www.bodylogicmd.com or call my office at (877) 872-0548.