Menopause Hot Flashes

Yesterday on Oprah, Robin McGraw (Dr. Phil’s wife) and Dr. Christiane Northrup discussed menopause and the effect it had on a woman’s life. In the course of the conversation, they talked about the pluses and minuses of bioidentical hormone therapy.

I was not able to watch the show, but I pulled video and some text off Oprah’s Web site to see if I could get the gist of the story. Two particular conversations were especially poignant to me. The first was Robin McGraw’s statement that her mother never discussed her experiences with menopause with her.

It is amazing to me that, as women, we can discuss everything from our favorite books and recipes to the best hair salon or ob/gyn. But when it comes to really discussing how we feel, both physically and emotionally, we tend to hold back. Why is that? What’s wrong with saying that you have unbearable hot flashes, bed-soaking night sweats, or excruciating menstrual cramps? Even more difficult is admitting that we are sad, disappointed, irritable, or, God forbid, angry.

What are we afraid of? That someone will judge us as less than? Ladies, we need to be gentler with ourselves and our gender in general. These are tough times we are all living through and no one has the magic answer in how to cope with them. The best we can do is to be compassionate, share our feelings and experiences, and be there for each other.

The second thing that struck me was when Robin discussed changes in her overall attitude, sharing that she was normally a happy person and always smiling and that she felt as if she was losing that. Wow did that hit home personally!

It seems like, lately, I have been completely out of sorts. It wasn’t until I read Robin’s quote that it occurred to me that I might need to adjust my hormone protocol. I had a really solid program that has been incredibly beneficial for me for the past five to six years. But in the last six months, I have undergone IVF treatments (two). Of course it makes sense that my hormones may have been affected for longer than simply the weeks I was taking the hormone medications.

As Dr. Northrup indicated on the show, an imbalance in any other the key sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone) can lead to a whole host of physical and emotional side effects. For me, irritability was the one that was the most notable (to others beside myself, I’m sure!). And, sure enough, too little progesterone can lead to irritability.

You’d think I’d know better! After all, in Hormone Revolution, Dr. Lark and I talk at length about the signs and symptoms of hormone imbalance. Looks like a classic case of the shoemaker’s kids going without shoes!

And while both Dr. Lark and Dr. Northrup are big advocates of bioidentical hormone therapy (and for good reason!), I think I’ll just readjust a few of my supplements and try a progesterone cream for now. Hopefully my hormones—and my mood—will come back into balance soon.