What If It Isn’t Menopause?
It seems that every symptom under the Sun can now be put in the perimenopause/menopause category. Itchy ears, frozen shoulder, mood swings, changes in taste and smell, dry mouth, new skin breakouts, hair loss, joint pain, you name it, estrogen loss affects it! But what if it isn’t menopause? This is a really important point, especially as the menopause train picks up steam. We, as humans, want an easy answer to what plagues us, but hormones are not always the only cause. That is why it is so important to trust your care to a provider who won’t just claim every issue will be resolved with adding an estrogen patch and a progesterone pill. AND we as clinicians should be educating women on all the potential causes for symptoms.
Let’s look at an example: Fatigue. This is a very common complaint of women ages 35-65. We live in a fast-paced world. Women are tasked with taking on home and workloads that can be draining. Sleep, exercise, the food we eat all play their role as well. So it would be irresponsible to tout hormone therapy as a lone answer to this issue. Providers should be sharing that fatigue could be a sleep disorder (apnea), a nutritional disorder (Vit B or D deficiencies), a thyroid problem (classic symptom of hypothyroidism), anemia (not getting enough iron in your diet), or stress. There are more, but you get the idea!
Hormone therapy isn’t an isolated treatment plan. All kinds of supportive care should be coming along side of starting hormones. It may take a few months to weed through all the potential causes of a symptom and get a patient on the right track. But that’s an important piece of your care! You should have a provider who is trained in menopause but also knows there are other diagnoses that could thwart your progress. Being able to identify and work with a patient through sleep issues, vitamin deficiencies, and get a woman on the correct menopause therapy track is so important! You deserve a thorough diagnosis plan and it is important that certain issues are ruled out. If you are looking for a provider that sees you as a whole human being, not just a hormone deficiency to correct, make an appointment with Sapphire Wellness today! We want you to thrive in your midlife, not just put out fires!
