Menopause

Many women experience symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness and think there is no way to alleviate them. But in fact, treatments are readily available for these and other menopausal symptoms. At Premier Women’s Care of Southwest Florida, our expert providers want to help you feel your best during menopause by minimizing the unpleasant side effects while protecting your future health. We can provide individualized hormone therapies including bio-identical hormone replacement that will address each patient’s individual needs. We also offer non-hormonal therapies that are effective for menopausal symptoms, including treatment with the MonaLisa Touch® gynecologic laser to address urinary and vaginal changes that can occur with menopause.

To learn more about how we can help you feel your best throughout menopause and beyond, you can request a new patient appointment online. If you are already an established patient, you can book online through the patient portal. Or you can always call (239) 432-5858 to schedule a consultation with one of Premier Women’s Care of Southwest Florida’s women’s health-care providers in Fort Myers, Cape Coral or Lehigh Acres.

How you know when you are in menopause

Menopause is defined as a woman having gone without a menstrual cycle for a full year, during which her ovaries have stopped releasing an egg every month. In most cases, menopause occurs after age 40, but surgery or damage to the ovaries from cancer treatment can cause early menopause.

Before menopause, a woman’s body begins to produce less estrogen, but she continues to release eggs and can still get pregnant. This time before menopause can last several years and is called perimenopause. Big changes in estrogen levels during this time can cause symptoms women commonly associate with menopause, such as:

• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Fatigue
• Mood changes and decreased libido
• Weight gain and slowed metabolism
• Vaginal dryness and painful sex
• Irregular periods

Other health issues such as depression and anxiety, as well as difficulty concentrating and problems with memory can also be associated with menopause. It can be extremely helpful to see an OB/GYN during perimenopause and menopause to get help managing your symptoms. But it is also important to see an ob-gyn after menopause because a woman’s risk of developing various health issues increases post-menopause. 

Among them are:

• Osteoporosis
• Urinary incontinence
• Decreased muscle strength and tone
• Heart disease

Treatments for menopause

At Premier Women’s Care of Southwest Florida, our experienced, compassionate obstetrician-gynecologists offer a number of therapies for the symptoms associated with menopause. And we can help prevent or at least manage the health problems that can follow it. Hormone therapies in the form of creams, patches, and pills can help regulate your estrogen and progesterone levels, which we can measure with a blood test. But some women are not candidates for hormone therapies, in which case we might recommend plant-based supplements, vaginal estrogen creams to combat dryness, treatment with the MonaLisa Touch® for vaginal rejuvenation, or lifestyle changes to help ease your discomfort.

To learn more about managing menopause, you can request a new patient appointment online. If you are already an established patient, you can book online through the patient portal. Or you can always call (239) 432-5858 to schedule a consultation with one of Premier Women’s Care of Southwest Florida’s women’s health-care providers in Fort Myers, Cape Coral or Lehigh Acres.