Good News for Menopause: Prescription Medications Help!

By Kim Allarie

There are many prescription menopause drugs that can help to lessen 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 associated with the onset of menopause.

Hot flashes are almost certainly one of the most aggravating symptoms that transpire throughout the change of life. This is when a wave of heat comes over the woman, commonly in the face and chest area, which causes 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 throughout the day and sometimes even at nighttime.

There are a few 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 often accompany menopause. These medications include Effexor and Prozac, both of which also help with mood swings. Other medicines used 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 medications also help out there.

Some women experience high blood pressure throughout menopause, even if they have never had it before. Clonindine is the drug that is normally prescribed in these circumstances, because this drug also aids in stopping hot flashes. There are some nasty side effects such as insomnia which can compound sleep difficulties that are already associated with going through menopause. Conversely, this drug can also cause you to become sleepy when you don't want to be.

In the'70's artificial estrogen and progesterone drugs given to menopausal women were found to be associated with endometrial cancer, then to breast cancer, heart problems and strokes. This spurred a search to try to find other methods to treat menopausal symptoms utilizing more natural ingredients.

The result was the creation of Bio-Identical Hormones for use in treating menopausal symptoms. These are hormones that are molecularly the same as the hormones that are produced in the body. Medical professionals can write a compounded prescription that's tailor made to the woman which balances all three hormone categories within the body: estrogen, progesterone, and androgen. Although there is not any actual medical proof that these things work, women who use them will tell you that they do.

Another alternative 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 negative reactions you may experience with prescription menopause medications. - 30307

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here