What are the Choices in Prescription Menopause Medications?
Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Kim Allarie in Women's Health
There are many prescription menopause medicines that can help to take the edge off the symptoms of this phase of a woman’s life. Some of those symptoms that cause such distress include hot flashes, fast heartbeat and high blood pressure, mood swings, trouble sleeping, fatigue, anxiety, depression, irregular or heavy periods and many others. The reason they take place is because of hormone changes or lack of hormones related to the onset of menopause.
Hot flashes are probably one of the most bothersome symptoms that happen during the change of life. This is when a wave of heat comes over the woman, usually in the face and chest area, which results in flushing, sweating, heavy breathing and the feeling of being thrown into a furnace. The heart might race and hot flashes can last from 3 minutes up to 30 minutes. They can come up at any time during the day and sometimes even at nighttime.
There are several medicines in the antidepressant department that can aid in easing the symptoms of hot flashes and of course they also help with the symptoms of depression that frequently accompany menopause. These medicines include Effexor and Prozac, both of which also help with mood swings. Other drugs utilized for menopause are Zoloft, Norpramine, Tofranil and Aventyl. All will help to manage depression and some also aid in relieving hot flashes. Some women get confused easily throughout menopause and these drugs also lend a hand there.
Women who have never had high blood pressure before might suddenly be stricken with this disorder throughout menopause. Clonindine is frequently prescribed for it in these women because it also seems to help with hot flashes. But this drug does have adverse reactions like insomnia which could induce another menopausal symptom, sleeplessness. Conversely, it also has a tendency to make you drowsy throughout the day.
In the’70′s synthetic estrogen and progesterone medications given to menopausal women were found to be associated with endometrial cancer, then to breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and strokes. This spurred a search to try to find other methods to treat menopausal symptoms using more natural ingredients.
Bio-Identical Hormones was one substance that was developed for this objective. These synthetic hormones are molecularly the same as the hormones found naturally in a woman’s body, namely progesterone, estrogen and androgen. There haven’t been many studies on these substances so there’s no real evidence that they work, but those who take them say they do wonders.
Another option is to give over the counter menopause medication a shot. Some of the natural, herbal products are quite effective at managing menopausal symptoms without the adverse reactions you may experience with prescription menopause medications.
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