Menopause signals a natural transition in a woman's life, marking the end of fertility. The years leading up to menopause are called perimenopause. This time is marked by changes in menstrual cycles and fluctuating hormone levels. Common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and irregular periods.
While menopause is natural, managing symptoms is key to maintaining comfort, health, and an optimal quality of life. Our compassionate and experienced staff at Vitality Wellness Clinic provide personalized care plans to help women thrive through perimenopause and beyond.
Menopause is clinically defined as occurring 12 months after a woman's last menstrual cycle. The average age is 51, but it can happen earlier or later. Perimenopause refers to the 2-10 year transition period leading up to menopause when hormones shift and cycles change.
Postmenopause follows 12 months after the final period. While symptoms often ease after menopause, some may continue for years. Ongoing care is essential for helping women achieve hormonal balance and wellbeing.
Natural menopause occurs due to waning reproductive function. The ovaries gradually make less estrogen and progesterone, hormones that regulate menstruation and impact health in myriad ways. Lower estrogen relates to troublesome symptoms while also influencing long-term health risks.
In some cases, menopause happens before age 40, which is considered premature. This can result from medical interventions or conditions impacting hormone production. Chemotherapy, radiation, oophorectomy, and autoimmune disorders can trigger early menopause. Genetics, smoking, chemotherapy exposure, and more also raise risks for early decline in ovarian function.
The hormone fluctuations involved in perimenopause and menopause give rise to a variety of possible symptoms. These vary widely in both presence and severity between women. Monitoring your personal symptoms and staying attuned to changes will help guide individualized treatment.
Hot flashes and night sweats are hallmark menopausal symptoms, experienced by over 60% of women. These sudden sensations of intense heat often appear on the face, neck and chest, lasting from 30 seconds up to several minutes. Night sweats can disrupt sleep and daily life. Prompt treatment provides relief.
As estrogen drops, tissues in the vagina and urethra lose elasticity. This can result in symptoms like vaginal dryness, pain, itching, discomfort, more frequent UTIs, and incontinence. Low estrogen also increases the risk of vaginal infections. Topical estrogen therapy improves vaginal tissue health and comfort.
Mood changes like anxiety, irritability, sadness, insomnia, and reduced motivation are common menopausal symptoms. Research indicates hormonal changes interact with factors like sleep disruption and life stress that can impact mood. Supportive counseling and hormonal therapies help stabilize mood.
Some women also experience memory problems, weight gain, headaches, joint pain, decreased libido, hair loss, and more through perimenopause and menopause. A customized treatment plan improves managing symptoms for better health and wellbeing.
The right combination of lifestyle changes and medical therapies can help women manage symptoms for a smooth transition. Our compassionate providers design personalized plans to meet each patient’s needs. We also provide emotional support and expert guidance at every step.
Regular exercise, nutritious eating, stress reduction, and other healthy habits help ease uncomfortable symptoms naturally. Stopping smoking can also reduce symptom severity. Our team offers holistic lifestyle counseling to empower self-care. We provide nutrition support, yoga and mindfulness resources, group workshops and more to nurture wellbeing from the inside out.
Hormone therapy (HT) replaces depleted hormones like estrogen and progesterone to correct imbalances driving menopausal woes. We utilize bioidentical hormones which precisely match the body’s natural hormones for improved safety and effectiveness.
Benefits may include relief from hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal atrophy, bone loss, emotional issues, sleep troubles, and urinary problems. HT also lowers risks for health conditions like osteoporosis and heart disease when initiated at the right time. We guide patients in understanding options to make informed choices about managing menopause for optimal aging.
Beyond hormones and lifestyle approaches, we offer additional therapies for multi-pronged support:
Our integrative solutions combine therapies and personalized care for life-changing relief from menopause challenges.
With individualized care in mind, determining the appropriate hormone therapy regimen starts with listening to each woman’s needs and goals. We then obtain necessary lab testing and thoughtfully consider health history along with risk factors to guide shared decision making about treatment plans.
Relevant lab tests check hormone levels and help clarify which therapies suit each unique case. We may recommend:
Tracking levels over time monitors treatment effectiveness. We utilize optimal medical protocols for accurate results.
Hormone therapy options differ based on the presence of a uterus and timing since the last period. Therapy choices impact side effect risks and benefits.
Estrogen relieves most bothersome symptoms resulting from menopause. For patients with an intact uterus, progestogens prevent unwanted thickening of the uterine lining from estrogen. Delivery methods include oral tablets, skin patches and gels, vaginal inserts like rings or creams, pellets, shots, and more. We thoughtfully determine the best estrogen preparations, doses, and schedules tailored to fit individual needs.
Our knowledgeable, compassionate practitioners provide ongoing guidance beyond initiating hormone therapy. Follow-up appointments monitor progress, manage side effects if any, ensure proper hormone dosing through testing, and modify plans as needed for sustained safety and symptom control.
We offer emotional support, community resources if desired for shared experiences, plus health information and practical lifestyle coaching to empower women to thrive before, during and after menopause. Contact us today to discuss your options for customized menopause treatment in a caring environment.
