Question - How can a woman in her late 40's minimize the symptoms of hormonal fluctuations, such as fatigue, forgetfulness, lower ability to handle stress, and hot flashes?

Dear Anne,

The first thing you must ask yourself is:  Why am I having these symptoms?  The diagnosis should direct your treatment.

Most likely, all else being normal, you may be suffering from perimenopause, which is the transition period to menopause, or frank menopause.  During this time, all women lose the production of the hormones estradiol and progesterone, as their last eggs die off and eventually they are no longer able to bear children.  

So, if the cause of your symptoms are the nose-diving reproductive hormones or you are already in menopause, I believe the treatment should consist of balancing or replacing your deficient hormones to youthful levels.  It's the same idea as replacing low thyroid with thyroid hormones.  

In conventional medicine, however, you will mostly be offered birth control (alien or foreign) hormones for a short period, antidepressants, or therapy.  If you think i am not serious, click here to read all about it on WebMD.  Please ignore their ads for foreign and alien reproductive hormones.  And click here to learn about the differences between foreign/alien hormones and bio-identical hormones.

In addition, for a traditionally-trained doctor, the main goal is only to make your menopausal symptoms go away, not address the primary problem of a reproductive hormones deficiency with all of its sequelae.  This is a huge misunderstanding because for many women in menopause, the hot flashes do eventually subside once they reach rock bottom hormone levels and they are no longer on the hormone roller coaster.  But, that doesn't mean they are all well and have nothing to worry about.  They are still at rock bottom, and they are still suffering from a reproductive hormones deficiency . . . which increases their risk of weight gain, brain fog, fatigue, muscle atrophy, low sex drive, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, depression, anxiety, insomnia, heart disease, osteoporosis, and more.

I would recommend you see an Integrative Medicine physician for a comprehensive evaluation, preferably one who is able to prescribe you The Wiley Protocol  if appropriate and necessary.

I hope that helps.

- Dr. Shira Miller