Hormone replacement therapy, HRT, is a common indication for people who have reached menopause and are struggling with associated symptoms. Menopause is a period when a woman transitions from one stage in their life to another due to physiological factors. On average, this milestone usually occurs between the age of forty and fifty years. At this point, the person may begin to experience hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. Menopause may, however, come much earlier for women whose ovaries have been removed for one reason or another. There are a number of things on hormone replacement therapy St Petersburg FL women need to understand if considering this treatment.
The reproductive hormones, progesterone and oestrogen cease to be secreted when one is in menopause. Being responsible for secondary sexual characteristics such as breast growth, the reduction in hormone concentration causes this to cease and the breasts and the sexual organs begin to contract. The uterine lining shrivels and one can no longer have periods.
The replacement therapy is composed of synthetic hormones that work the same way as the human estrogen and progesterone. They come either in single preparations of oestrogen, progesterone or as a combination of the two. Even though most of them come in the form of pills, some preparations exist as patches, gels or creams.
Patients are advised against getting these pills over the counter without a prescription from the doctor. This is because they been known to increase the susceptibility of getting breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. They have also been linked to deep vein thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes. Therefore, these diseases have to be ruled out through a thorough evaluation before they are considered safe for an individual.
Some of the side effects of hormone therapy include bloating, nausea, weight gain, mood swings, retention of fluid in the body and vaginal bleeding. The patient should be made aware of this and should continue taking their medication because these effects are largely transient. Changing the route of administration may help in addressing persistent side effects.
While most side effects are transient, some can be a nuisance to the patient. One can switch from skin patches to oral drugs if the patches cause too much irritation of from pills to patches if the pills give you persistent headaches. One can stick to the route they are most comfortable with once they identify it.
Once the patient starts taking the medication, menopausal symptoms subside with time. How a patient takes the medication depends on the specific symptoms. To illustrate this, if the problem that stands is dryness in the vagina, then it only makes sense that they use vaginal preparations rather than skin patches and so on. Improvement is generally seen within one to three months although it may take longer for some people.
In conclusion, hormone replacement medication could either be harmful or beneficial depending on the circumstances under which it is given. This is especially true for combination and oestrogen only pills. It is important to take extreme caution when using them and one of the ways to do that is make sure you are followed up by a gynecologist.
The reproductive hormones, progesterone and oestrogen cease to be secreted when one is in menopause. Being responsible for secondary sexual characteristics such as breast growth, the reduction in hormone concentration causes this to cease and the breasts and the sexual organs begin to contract. The uterine lining shrivels and one can no longer have periods.
The replacement therapy is composed of synthetic hormones that work the same way as the human estrogen and progesterone. They come either in single preparations of oestrogen, progesterone or as a combination of the two. Even though most of them come in the form of pills, some preparations exist as patches, gels or creams.
Patients are advised against getting these pills over the counter without a prescription from the doctor. This is because they been known to increase the susceptibility of getting breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. They have also been linked to deep vein thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes. Therefore, these diseases have to be ruled out through a thorough evaluation before they are considered safe for an individual.
Some of the side effects of hormone therapy include bloating, nausea, weight gain, mood swings, retention of fluid in the body and vaginal bleeding. The patient should be made aware of this and should continue taking their medication because these effects are largely transient. Changing the route of administration may help in addressing persistent side effects.
While most side effects are transient, some can be a nuisance to the patient. One can switch from skin patches to oral drugs if the patches cause too much irritation of from pills to patches if the pills give you persistent headaches. One can stick to the route they are most comfortable with once they identify it.
Once the patient starts taking the medication, menopausal symptoms subside with time. How a patient takes the medication depends on the specific symptoms. To illustrate this, if the problem that stands is dryness in the vagina, then it only makes sense that they use vaginal preparations rather than skin patches and so on. Improvement is generally seen within one to three months although it may take longer for some people.
In conclusion, hormone replacement medication could either be harmful or beneficial depending on the circumstances under which it is given. This is especially true for combination and oestrogen only pills. It is important to take extreme caution when using them and one of the ways to do that is make sure you are followed up by a gynecologist.
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