OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
Estrogen replacement in Hormone Replacement Therapy has shown many benefits to women in Menopause, helping the over 206 bones in a woman’s body and the over 300 tissues that require estrogen and suffer when the production of estrogen in a woman’s body stops because of Menopause. So why is it that so many are afraid of taking estrogen with Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Dr Steven R. Goldstein is a Hormone Specialist in NYC and co-author of the book The Estrogen Alternative, the first book of its kind to outline the options and benefits of using synthetic hormones like Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs). In over twenty-five years of private practice, Dr Goldstein has used Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) successfully to help women cope with the symptoms of estrogen loss during Menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats, foggy memory, weight gain, painful intercourse and more.
To be clear, Dr Goldstein does not use Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) because he believes it is misleading and not a safer way to get hormone therapy. These compounded hormones are not personalized to a woman’s needs. Instead, Dr Goldstein’s recommended Hormone Replacement Therapy uses Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERM) which can be catered to the symptoms a woman is experiencing.
So why is it that so many are afraid of taking estrogen with Hormone Replacement Therapy? As one patient put it, they have this picture that HRT means swallowing a huge estrogen tablet each day and having it go racing through their bloodstream causing some kind of hormonal buzz. It doesn’t work that way at all.
The amount of estrogen prescribed is not a full replacement. It’s a fraction of the amount of estrogen that a woman’s ovary used to produce. It’s one half of the amount of effective estrogen contained in the ultra low dose birth control pills such as Loestrin.
If your mother took estrogen when she reached menopause, she took four to ten times as much as what doctors prescribe for women today. Still, today’s small dosage is usually enough to relieve you of the two major symptoms of a lack of estrogen women come to see their gynecologists about: vaginal dryness and hot flashes.
Dr Goldstein, a Hormone Specialist in NYC takes an individualized approach with each patient, to listen to their symptoms, examine their gynecological health and assess theiruterusanduterineliningwithtransvaginalultrasoundbeforeprescribinganyHRT. When he prescribes HRT, it’s after a long discussion where he helps a woman weigh herrisksand benefits.Then hedesignsatreatment specificallyforher.Theprescription for HRT often requires a little fine tuning.
Dr Steven R. Goldstein, a leading Hormone Specialist in NYC is a Certified Menopause Practitioner, a past President of the International Menopause Society and a past President of the North American Menopause Society.If you are menopausal or post-menopausal and suffering through the symptoms of menopause, then a consultation with Dr Goldstein may be appropriate to see if Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is right for you.