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While a regular part of aging, menopause can bring a range of physical and emotional changes and symptoms.
“Up to 40% of a woman’s life is spent in menopause,” says Dr. Susan E. Loeb-Zeitlin, OBGYN, assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of the Women’s Midlife Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. “However, there’s no one universal menopause syndrome. Everyone goes through it differently and experiences different symptoms. So, we tailor our patient care to each woman’s needs.”
Here are some treatment options that may help you navigate the changes and symptoms of menopause.
Managing menopause’s symptoms often starts with adjusting your lifestyle. A few small changes can greatly affect how you pass through the years of menopause. An added perk to these treatments is that they don’t come with unwanted side effects.
Lifestyle changes include:
During the menopause transition, the production of estrogen and progesterone becomes less consistent and ultimately decreases as menopause arrives. These changes can lead to the frustrating symptoms of menopause. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help remedy this problem.
Also known as menopause hormone therapy, HRT supplies you with the hormones menopause takes away.
Many healthy women can benefit from HRT.
“In carefully selected patients, HRT is the most effective menopause treatment for hot flashes and night sweats,” Dr. Loeb-Zeitlin says. “There are also other health benefits associated with HRT, especially with the bones.”
The use of HRT is individualized based on a woman’s personal health. While helpful for many women, some of the reasons a woman can’t use HRT include a history of:
You may take HRT in various ways. Some come in pill form that you swallow, while others come in a patch, gel or spray. These work to increase hormones throughout your body.
If a woman has a uterus, she will need to take progesterone to protect the uterus from the systemic estrogen.
If your main symptom is vaginal dryness, you may benefit from local therapy. Instead of increasing hormones throughout your body, you spread a cream or place a tablet or ring directly in your vagina. These provide increased hormones within the vagina, which help reduce dryness.
“Using estrogen vaginally is very much a local treatment,” Dr. Loeb-Zeitlin says. “It doesn't raise blood levels above a normal menopausal blood level, so women can stay on it longer and only benefit from it while they’re still taking it.”
Derived from plants, bioidentical hormones replenish hormones taken during menopause. While some are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), others are not. Compounded hormone therapy is generally not recommended.
Talk with your care provider to find out if this menopause treatment could help you.
Like lifestyle changes and HRT, non-hormonal menopause treatments aim to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. Your care provider will ask about your symptoms and medical history to determine which treatment may help you.
Several types of medication help reduce your symptoms. Your care provider may recommend non-hormonal medication to address the following symptoms:
You may also benefit from other non-hormonal menopause treatments, such as:
“Cognitive therapy and clinical hypnosis are mind-body techniques with good evidence that they can help a woman get through the menopause transition better,” Dr. Loeb-Zeitlin says. “In terms of treatment that doesn’t require medicine, these two are the most effective.”
Want a trusted ally by your side as you navigate menopause? Find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine who is ready to serve you.