BMH can provide expert doctor led consultations for women suffering from menopause or perimenopause. Our menopause specialists are on hand to help you regain control over your hormones by offering bespoke treatments aligned to combat life disrupting symptoms that some women suffer with whilst going through the menopause.
What is Menopause?
Menopause is a definite point in time when you have been without a period for 12 months, not due to other factors such as contraceptive pills or other conditions that are stopping periods such as malnutrition. You can be put into a menopause like state with some medications to treat conditions like breast cancer or endometriosis where medications are given to either block the hormones being active or stopping your body producing them in the first place. This isn’t a true menopause, despite the symptoms being identical, as by stopping the medication, this can be reversed and BMH can help with medically induced menopause like symptoms.
Surgical Menopause
This is when you have your ovaries removed meaning you loose the production facilities for producing female sex hormones, most importantly, oestrogen (some progesterone and testosterone are still produced by the adrenal glands).
It’s more complicated if you have your uterus (womb) removed but have your ovaries conserved. This is then more down to symptoms and blood tests to determine if you have “gone through the menopause”.
What is Perimenopause?
The perimenopause is the period of time leading up to the menopause and can often start in the mid 30’s in some women as their ovarian reserves stop reducing and their hormone levels start dropping from the previous highs of the teenage years through to the early 30’s. Women may find they have lower energy levels, have difficulty concentrating and experience brain fog.
Periods may start to become less regular or be heavier or more painful. Libido and enjoyment of sex may reduce and they may start to notice changes in their hair or skin and feel their vagina is drier than it once was, possibly making sex uncomfortable without extra lubrication. Mood changes and premenstrual symptoms are common. All of these changes may vary through months or years as the decline in hormone levels aren’t linear i.e. they may go up or down month by month but will show a general decline over months and years.
Perimenopause and Pregnancy
Pregnancy is still possible in early perimenopause but may be more difficult to achieve, if symptoms were present before pregnancy then they may be more noticeable after the baby arrives and can sometimes be exacerbated by normal postnatal problems such as postnatal depression.
Symptoms of Menopause and Perimenopause
Reduced Libido
Brain fog and poor concentration span
Drops in energy levels
Skin, hair and vaginal dryness
Changes in mood (irritability and anxiety)
Increase in facial hair
Night sweats and hot flushes
Loss in self-confidence
How BMH can Help
NICE guidance suggest that unless another cause is suspected, bloods are not required to diagnose the perimenopause or menopause if over the age of 45. This is true to a point, however at BMH we want to ensure there are no other causes for your symptoms and ensure that the treatment you receive is the right one for you so we may check your general health with blood tests to ensure there are no underlying conditions.Below the age of 45, sadly many women still find that they are simply told they are depressed and are given an antidepressant to try and make them feel better. At BMH we recognise that women can start experiencing the symptoms of declining hormone levels much earlier in life and through a detailed discussion and full panel of bloods, we are able to assess and tailor treatment to meet the individual requirements of many of the women we see.
We offer a much wider range of treatments, some that are not available on the NHS and others that are usually only prescribed by menopause clinics which often have waiting times in excess of 1 year.
BMH Treatment options
We aim to treat women on an individual basis offering them the treatments that are going to work best for them. We offer topical, vaginal and oral oestrogen therapy (although topical is preferred over oral due to the lower risk of blood clots). We can offer progesterone via tablets, orally or vaginally or by patches (with progesterones the oral route is favoured as this route doesn’t carry the increased risk of blood clots that topical application does). We also offer testosterone treatment, at present using creams or gels.
There are also a host of pro-hormones and often forgotten derivatives of the usual hormones such as pregnenolone & DHEA.We also recognise that some women don’t need to increase their oestrogen levels and may need testosterone treatment as a standalone which we also offer.
BMH Aftercare and Support
Many women come to us as they feel they are given treatment and then forgotten, often been told if the standard treatment doesn’t work for them, it’s just not for them. Women vary grately in their response to hormones, some women are super absorbers of oestrogen through the skin an donly need timy doses, some women can need 3 times the dose as they absorb poorly. These women are often classed as failure to respond or told that it’snot for the. Using blood tests and dealing with the common and less common side effects of HRT every day, we are able to recognise where things are working and where things are going wrong.We offer 30 minute appointments where you can feel listened to and be sure that te doctor treating you is aware of how you are feeling, what external factors may be affecting your response to treatment and will involve you in the decisions being made as well as supporting you through any difficulties you may experience whilst your body adjusts to the new you.We check bloods regularly whilst we are adjusting doses then at least annually to ensure we are addressing your ever changing health and maintaining an optimised response to treatment. As well as doctor reviews, your PCM is available to answer any questions or run things by the doctor when all you have is a quick question.
Find Out More
Simply fill out the online form below to find out more about this service.
Balance My Hormones helps men and women restore their hormones to optimal levels through bespoke TRT and HRT treatment plans. We use modern American treatment methods and have over 25 years of experience in hormonal health which is backed up by our very own GPhC pharmacy.
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