Is Sterilization Right for Me?
Having kids isn’t in your immediate or long-term future, and you’re exploring whether sterilization is right for you. Here, we present some information about tubal ligation to help with your decision-making.
Am I Too Young for Hormone Therapy?
The average woman reaches menopause — or the end of menstruation and fertility — at the age of 51. Early menopause causes some women to stop getting their periods sooner, between the ages of 40-45; premature menopause occurs before the age of 40.
No matter when it happens, the declining sex hormone levels that drive and define the menopause process often give rise to innumerable irritating symptoms, which can vary in severity and duration from one woman to the next.
Menopause may be normal, but you don’t have to live with its disruptive effects. At Capital Women’s Care in Frederick and Mount Airy, Maryland, our expert team offers a full scope of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) options to eliminate bothersome symptoms and help restore a better quality of life.
Menopause symptoms and health effects
The most bothersome effects of menopause are directly related to the substantial and sustained decline of female reproductive hormones, particularly estrogen. As your ovaries produce lower levels of these health-supporting hormones, you may contend with the following:
- Hot and cold flashes; night sweats
- A sluggish metabolism; weight gain
- Diminished energy; chronic fatigue
- Sleep problems and mood changes
- Depression, anxiety, and brain fog
- Chronic vaginal dryness; low libido
- Pain or discomfort during intercourse
- Thinning hair and drier skin tissues
Suppose this wide-ranging laundry list of physical and mental symptoms weren’t bad enough. In that case, the estrogen drop of menopause is also associated with increased health risks, including heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.
Offset the effects of menopause with HRT
While daily exercise, healthy dietary choices, improved sleep practices, better stress management, and other healthy habits can often ease mild menopause symptoms, lifestyle changes don’t always deliver effective relief for moderate to severe symptoms.
If you’re coping with persistent menopausal symptoms that disrupt your routine or diminish your quality of life, we have a simple solution: hormone therapy.
Restore hormonal balance
Using prescription, low-dose hormones that have the same molecular structure as your natural hormones, HRT eliminates menopausal symptoms by restoring hormonal balance to your system.
Tailored symptom relief
At Capital Women’s Care, we offer a full scope of HRT options, including low-dose vaginal estrogen (tablet, ring, or topical cream) as well as systemic therapies in the form of an oral medication (pill) or skin cream, gel, spray, or patch. The treatment option that’s best for you depends on the nature and severity of your menopausal symptoms.
Lasting symptom control
Once you start HRT, you can expect gradual symptom improvement as estrogen balance is restored. With the right form and dosage, HRT can keep your hormone levels optimized and your menopausal symptoms at bay long-term.
What are the age range guidelines for HRT?
One of the most asked questions about HRT is, “When is the best time to start?” Some women want to know if they’re too young — or possibly too old — for hormone treatment.
Start when you have symptoms
The first HRT guideline is this: You can start taking HRT if you’re coping with menopausal symptoms, whether you’re in perimenopause (the years-long transition into menopause) or you’ve already reached menopause and haven’t had a period for 12 months or longer.
Average timing for starting HRT
For most women, this means starting HRT somewhere between the ages of 45 and 55 years old. So, can you start HRT earlier? And is there an upper age limit for starting HRT, or a fixed limit on how long you can take it?
Beginning HRT at an earlier age
About 5% of women experience early menopause, and roughly 1% of women go through premature menopause at an even younger age. Still, the advice is the same: If you’re having menopause symptoms that you’d like to eliminate, ask us about HRT.
While it’s your choice whether to take HRT and when to start, we highly recommend it — or taking the combined contraceptive pill, which contains estrogen — for women who are having menopause symptoms in their 30s or early 40s.
Why? Early menopause increases the chance of developing heart disease, osteoporosis, and other associated health risks at a younger age — and HRT helps counteract these risks.
Upper age limits for taking HRT
While there’s no specific fixed limit on how long you can take HRT, we’ll want to review your treatment annually for its duration. For systemic symptoms like hot flashes, many women take HRT for two to five years. Vaginal estrogen can be taken indefinitely to deal with vaginal dryness.
As you get older — particularly starting at the age of 60 — the risks of systemic HRT can outweigh its benefits. That’s because taking estrogen in older age is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and blood clots, among other problems. HRT isn’t recommended for women older than 60 who haven’t had a period for over 10 years.
Learn how hormone therapy can benefit you
Are you ready to explore the benefits of HRT? We can help. Visit your nearest Capital Women’s Care office in Frederick or Mount Airy, Maryland, today.
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