From gaining weight to trouble sleeping - we are getting answers to your questions about menopause and other hormone-related health issues.
Dr. Mary Claire Haver is helping thousands of women going through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.
She’s best known for ‘The Galveston Diet’ and also ‘The Pause Life’ educational program.
Watch the video of Dr. Haver’s interview in the video box above. Below are a few of the questions she covered during the interview.
When does menopause start?
“Menopause is when your periods end forever. The average age is 51, but perimenopause is when your body starts recognizing that your hormones are being depleted. And those symptoms can start seven to 10 years before your period stops. So, if the average is 51 for full menopause, normal is still 45 to 55. So, do the math. Back that up seven to 10 years. It’s completely reasonable for a 35 to 45-year-old woman to begin to start experiencing these changes,” explained Dr. Haver.
Are hormone replacement therapies safe?
“Is it safe for the vast majority of patients? Well, more than we thought in the last 20 years, hormone therapy is very safe for almost everyone,” she said. “If you begin hormone therapy in the form of estrogen plus or minus progesterone starting in early menopause. So within 10 years of when your period stops, you actually have a lower all-cause mortality. So lower chance of death from any cause about a 50% decrease risk of cardiovascular disease year per year and a decreased risk of all cancers.”
What if I can’t afford hormone treatments? Am I just out of luck?
“Because of the Women’s Health Initiative and kind of all hormone therapy being taken off the table for most women because of fear, there were kind of cottage industries that popped up to give hormone therapy, and those were very expensive. However, FDA-approved options for hormone therapy like going to Walgreens and picking up their estrogen can be as low as $30 a month,” said Dr. Haver.
How can somebody be tested for their hormones to know if their symptoms might be linked?
“The menopause docs that I practice with, there’s really not a great bladder urine test that’s going to tell you perimenopause we know post menopause like you’re done. It’s easier to test for when you are completely done. We can test for that pretty easily. But in Peri (menopause) it’s a hormonal zone of chaos. So one time blood test urine or saliva test is rarely, rarely diagnostic. You just have to listen to the patient and believe her. Now we might do other blood tests like hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease. I mean, I do these routinely on my menopause patients to make sure I’m not missing something that looks a lot like perimenopause,” said Dr. Haver.
Why do black hairs suddenly pop up on my face? Is this hormone related?
“There’s a genetic component of course. But when we go through menopause we have higher androgen activity levels. And it’s a very complicated hormonal explanation, but basically the activity of your androgens. So you may get acne, you may get chin hairs, you may start losing hair in places that you wanted it,” she explains.
Dr. Haver talks about her new book, after the popularity of her first book ‘The Galveston Diet’.
“The Galveston Diet was more of a nutrition and lifestyle, you know, plan for women who are going through this transition. I stand by all of that 100%. This is more of the medical side, all about hormone therapy, the history of menopause, why you’re struggling to find a doctor who can support you during this time, and solutions and strategies. Because it turns out we have estrogen receptors in every organ system of our body. And when those levels decline, everything headaches, mental health changes, you know, asthma, frozen shoulder, musculoskeletal pain, gastrointestinal changes, much. You know, we know about osteoporosis.”
Find out more about Dr. Haver here.
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