Medicines
Menopause is when your reproductive cycle stops. At this time, you will stop having periods, and your hormone levels slow down. You will experience hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and emotional changes. There are medicines to help with these symptoms, and knowing what your choices are is the first step in making an informed decision regarding which to take.
Menopausal Hormone Therapy
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there are three types of hormone therapy medications: estrogen, progestin and a combination of both estrogen and progestin.
Bioidentical Therapy
Laboratories create these hormonal medicines, and according to the North American Menopause Society, a bioidentical preparation may have one or more hormone as the active ingredient. You should be careful when considering bioidentical therapy, because the Food and Drug Administration does not endorse or regulate some of these types of medicines.
Custom-Compounded Hormones
These types are not government-regulated medicines. Custom-compounded hormones fall in the class of bioidentical hormones, and you will need a prescription in order to get one. They will mix them depending on your particular needs, and you can get them in gel, cream, lotion, tablets or suppositories.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
Prozac is one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and these work by increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain, improving your mood and treating depression. The Mayo Clinic states that SSRIs successfully help with hot flashes associated with menopause.
Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs)
The Mayo Clinic states that raloxifene (Evista) is in a class of drugs known as SERMs. Evista has the ability to copy estrogen's ability to protect bones after menopause, and it has fewer side effects than estrogen therapy.
Herbal
Phytoestrogens are plant hormones that mimic the estrogen in your body. Soy is one source of phytoestrogens. Black cohosh, dong quai, wild yam and valerian root are other phytoestrogens that have a reputation in the herbal community as being helpful with menopausal symptoms.
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