Menopause Tips - Find The Right Doctor, Ask The Right Questions

There's no cookbook approach for menopause, no recipe that works for all women. Women's needs can be vastly different. A few breeze along with few, if any symptoms, he said, while others require months of adjustments to get their treatment right.

When a woman complains of hot flashes, gynecology orders a test to measure the estrogen in her blood. While estrogen deficiency is the most frequent cause of hot flashes, the embarrassing flushes also are associated with weight gain and thyroid malfunction.

If blood tests indicate a low estrogen level, he may - or may not - is recommend estrogen replacement. The recommendation depends upon the medical histories of the patient and close family members. Whether or not to be prescribes progesterone along with the estrogen also is decided on an individual basis.

Menopause isn't the only thing that causes hot flashes, so don't jump to conclusions and don't try to self-diagnose - see your doctor. Though menopause is a transition, not a disease, a good doctor can see you through it, and help you to better health in the years that follow.

Experts agree it's important for every woman to find the right doctor, ask the right questions and receive the treatment that's right for her. If you don't have a doctor - or don't like the one you have - talk to other women. Compare notes. Find someone who likes, respects and trusts her doctor. Then make an appointment for yourself.

No doctors call themselves menopause specialists, but many of the older OB/Gyns no longer deliver babies, which automatically limits their practice to gynecology and surgery. Sometimes a woman finds it convenient to go to a general practice physician who also treats her other health problems.

Doctors may prescribe estrogen, or may suggest "ovarian extracts" as an alternative. The extracts are less potent than estrogens, and sometimes ease menopausal symptoms for women who would rather not take estrogens, or whose health history makes them poor candidates.

Doctors usually control a young woman's initial gynecological exam, but by the time a woman reaches menopause, the onus of responsibility has shifted. The patient should take the initiative, listing symptoms succinctly, and making sure she understands all the explanations and instructions.

Don't hesitate to ask as many questions as it takes, and if the physician acts too busy to have a conversation, find another physician. And if the doctor's prescription doesn't work for you, don't suffer in silence. Report it, and ask to try something else.

Doctors have not found any particular regime to be better than the other because everybody responds differently to the same hormonal picture. I believes that women over 40 should do their menopause homework. The more we know, the better equipped we become to make decisions and lifestyle changes.

Most want more time and more definitive information from their doctors than they're apt to get. Women want to talk about their symptoms, and they want reassurance that the symptoms are temporary. But that's most women. You might be one of the other kind - one of the ones who won't even say the "M" word, and doesn't want to hear it either.

It's the old need to know vs. the fear of knowing, and educating yourself will go a long way toward allaying those fears.

Rather than self-diagnose or jump to conclusions, I suggests perusing a book or two before seeing the doctor. If you understand what menopause is about, the questions you ask will be fewer and more specific.

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