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Treatments & Solutions

  • Concerned About HRT and Dementia

    Am I wrong to be concerned about HRT and dementia?

  • Decreased Sex Drive After Ovariectomy

    My question relates to concerns of a close friend. She recently had a complete hysterectomy (ovaries also removed). She’s 48 years old. She was immediately put on a Vivelle-50 estrogen patch (twice weekly). It’s now almost 12 weeks later and she finds herself to have a much reduced interest in sex (compared to before the surgery). She wonders if this could be due to hormonal changes, physiological (will improve with healing/ time), or psychological. I mentioned your expertise in the hormonal area. Do you have any thoughts on this issue that might help or that she could discuss with her GP?

  • Early Menopause

    I am 39 and having hot flushes and night sweats. I’ve skipped my period for the last 18 months. Does that mean I am in menopause? Help! I’m too young—what can I do?

  • Is the use of non-natural medroxyprogesterone what makes HRT bad?

    I don’t think there is any problem with use of HRT as long as the natural estrogen (E2) is balanced with natural progesterone. What do you think? My feeling has always been that the “bad” things reported, supposedly because of HRT, even when E2 is used, are caused by the use of progestin. One can obtain progesterone easily enough, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

  • Progesterone (not Estrogen) is Optimal Therapy for Hot Flushes

    I’m having really bad night sweats waking me at least once every night and sometimes three or four times. I was given estrogen therapy for them when I was still having periods and it not only didn’t help, it made my flooding and breast tenderness worse. I’m now about two years since my last period and just dying for a good night’s sleep! I tried one of those new anti-depressants and it helped a bit but didn’t take the night sweats away. In fact, I think it made my sleep worse! My doctor says estrogen is what Canadian and USA experts recommend for hot flushes. I have seen so much conflicting stuff that I don’t know what to think. All I know is that I’m scared of estrogen. Are there any other good options?

  • Progesterone Adds to the Positive Bone Effects of Estrogen/Etidronate

    I saw you on Shaw TV last September and want to say “thanks” for such an informative and helpful presentation. I have been a fan of yours for a number of years, ever since I heard you at a seminar at Royal Columbian, when I was beginning perimenopause. I found your symptoms “diary” most helpful and have shared it with many of my friends over the years.

    Being a nurse I always seem to end up checking the pathophysiology of things before I accept them as beneficial to me, and of course menopause was no exception. I heard Dr. John Lee speak about the time I was considering hormone therapy. In 1998 I chose to start on a cream of natural progesterone (50 mg a day). I had to first convince my GP I did not want synthetics if a hormone identical to what I had made for 40 years was available! The reason for hormone therapy was to hopefully ward off osteoporosis because of a strong family history, a congenital abnormality of my back, and BMD showing osteopenia with osteoporosis of one vertebra. I have never looked back. But I did not get a rise in BD as I hoped; after 2 years it stayed much the same. So for the last year I have had estrogen added (as a cream, TriEst 2.5 mg, a natural combination of estrogens).

    My bargain with my GP was that if I had no increase after one year I would agree to start a bisphosphonate. My quandary is that at age 58, three years post last period, should I need to go there? I would rather not take Didrocal® because it doesn’t cause a BMD increase, or Fosamax®.

    Are there any better, safer alternatives coming along? Is a year long enough to evaluate the benefit of being on a combination of estrogen and progesterone?

  • Blood Clots and the Birth Control Patch

    I am almost 35 and a bit overweight so I’m concerned about blood clots with The Pill. My doctor thought that the patch called Evra would be safer, but I found some stuff on the Internet about lawsuits because Evra increases blood clots. What do you think?

  • Bewildered by Bio-Identical Hormones

    Are bio-identical hormones safe for treatment in menopause? I have no symptoms but did have a blood clot in my calf years ago when I was first pregnant. I was told then to never take estrogen. Could I safely take bio-identical hormones? I’m asking because I recently saw Suzanne Somers on the Oprah show discussing hormone replacement with bio-identical hormones. She says they are making her feel great. CBC’s “The National” last week said that drug company hormone therapy, too, is now considered safe.

  • What’s in a name?

    I’m all confused. Am I in menopause or not? If I am, how come I have regular periods? If I’m not, how come I get night sweats? I have a friend that’s menstruating and flushing like me who went to her doctor, had some blood test and was told she was “not in menopause.” Can you help me make sense of these confusing words?

  • What should I expect after early surgical menopause?

    I’m 47 and had my ovaries but not my uterus removed. However, following surgery I wasn’t told what to expect, if I needed to take hormones, or what I might experience. My GP was as vague as my gynecologist. I’m having 2-3 night sweats a week, my sleep is very interrupted and have 3-6 daytime hot flushes per week but all of these things are the same as before surgery. I even still have my usual libido and good vaginal lubrication. I thought I’d lose those with my ovaries. . . .