Alternative Prescription Medication for Perimenopause
The conventional means of treating perimenopause may be effective, but also carries with it certain risks. Alternative prescription medication though, is said to be just as effective as the conventional ones.
The difference?
Well, the conventional treatments have had a lot of clinical testing and studies conducted; these are also the ones that are commonly known to and are usually prescribed by doctors. Alternative prescription medication, on the other hand, doesn’t have many studies under its belt, and is just now being recognized by mainstream healthcare providers as possible substitute medication for perimenopausal symptoms.
Most of these alternative medication can be taken to ease discomfort brought about by hot flashes and menorrhagia – excessive bleeding – which in turn, are linked to several other symptoms, like perimenopause insomnia and night sweats, to name a few. Risk-wise, however, these are also known to carry the same amount of risk as conventional medicines.
These may be prescribed to you by your doctor after a thorough evaluation that shows the benefits outweigh the risks of the side effects. Most people given these substances do not experience serious side effects. (I have included known side effects so that you won’t panic if it happens to you after taking some of these.) Not to scare you, but if you get a rash, severe dizziness and breathing problems, get immediate medical attention as you may be allergic to the drug.
Some of these drugs are as follows:
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Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s). As an antidepressant, this drug helps in managing mood swings and depression – perimenopausal or not. The drug’s role in neurotransmission (sending of nerve impulses) is specific to the neurotransmitter called serotonin (also called the “happy” neurotransmitter) which affects mood and depression.
And reportedly, it has another effect: it is said that at very low doses of SSRI, it can decrease the occurrence of hot flashes. How it happens is not really known, but some women have claimed that it hits two birds with one stone as it works wonders not only in managing their mood swings, but in regulating their body temperature as well.
Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft are just some of the most common SSRI’s prescribed. SSRIs are said to be less likely to affect or interact with other medication you may be taking. Still, there may be some side effects like nausea, headaches, diarrhea, drowsiness, and even insomnia. These side effects usually depend on your body’s general make-up so caution must always be taken. A week or two of low-dosage intake of SSRI’s should be sufficient to let you and your doctor evaluate if it is the right treatment for you. That said, you should still be very vigilant when taking these. There are some things that should be considered:
- Be forewarned that an SSRI combined with one particular antidepressant (monoamine oxidase inhibitors, or MAOIs) may have possible life-threatening risks.
- Using aspirin or anticoagulants (such as warfarin) while using SSRI’s may lead to gastrointestinal bleeding.
- SSRI’s (or any antidepressant for that matter) should not be abruptly stopped on a whim as there must be a reason why it was prescribed to you. Inform your doctor so that he can take you off the treatment slowly to transition you for another one. This is so that you will not experience withdrawal symptoms—nausea, lethargy and dizziness are just some of them.
- As with any medication, be sure that you are not pregnant before taking these. Studies show that pregnant women taking Paxil (a common SSRI) increases the chance of birth defects in babies. (This is exactly the reason why we emphasize the importance of taking medical tests before taking anything else.) So ask your doctor about it just to be safe.
Page Two: More Alternative Prescription Medication for Perimenopause (Alternative Prescription Medication for Perimenopause continued)
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