Dr Sandar Hlaing Women’s Health

Menopause: Your Questions Answered

Women can now book one-to-one consultations to gain additional support on menopause, health and well-being concerns at a Friday clinic hosted by Dr Hlaing.

Dr Hlaing, who has recently experienced menopause herself, is passionate about supporting women through this challenging time of their lives and has shared the most asked questions she receives.

What is menopause?

Basically, ‘meno’ is your period and ‘pause’ means cessation, so in a nutshell, it’s when your period stops. In Europe, the ‘official menopause age’ is between 45 to 55 but you could be going through menopause a lot younger than that too. If you were having menopause under the age of 40, that is called premature menopause.
What are the symptoms?

There are 34 symptoms associated with menopause. They are mainly due to the lack of oestrogen. So, oestrogens live in pretty much all cells in a woman’s body. When you are lacking that hormone, you notice it. When you don’t have enough of that in your brain cells, you’ve got this brain fog where you can’t concentrate, you forget things. It’s even involved in your body temperature regulation and that’s why you have hot flushes. It is there in your heart, which is why you experience palpitations, and raised heartbeats for no reason. Oestrogen lives in your joints, in your muscles, that’s why you’ll experience joint pains, and you feel exhausted.

What is HRT?

HRT stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy. When you reach menopause, your ovaries will stop functioning as they have done your whole life. They stop producing oestrogen, progesterone and the thyroid hormone, testosterone. HRT replaces these lost hormones, which most women need to function normally.

Can HRT cause palpitations and increased blood pressure?

All drugs have side effects, and every person is different, so it is possible. A menopausal woman is already prone to have palpitations and with age, our blood vessels get thickened, and we are prone to have high blood pressure. The best recommendation is to ensure low salt, low sugar, less processed food, regular, weight-bearing exercise for 30 minutes a day and if the blood pressure is on the high side, treat it and withhold HRT for a short duration. When blood pressure becomes under control, you can try HRT again and monitor your blood pressure.

How do you know if you are menopausal if you’re still having periods?

Periods vary around the time of perimenopause. It takes a while for periods to completely disappear. You will start noticing other symptoms such as easy fatiguability, extreme tiredness, being emotional, aches and pain, forgetfulness, brain fogs, being sensitive to temperature, sweating, flushes.

How long do HRT Evorel Sequi Patches take to start working?

Most people tend to find tiredness and lethargy improved in the first month. Sleep tends to improve after the first few weeks. Aches and pains tend to improve in two to three months. Brain fog and libido takes longer to improve. Hot flushes may lessen from the early days but may take a few months to completely disappear.

Can anything trigger early menopause?

Family tendency, physical or mental stress, chronic illnesses that require intensive treatments, eating disorders, they all can trigger early menopause but if menopause occurs secondary to such conditions, it can reverse back to normal too.

How long can you take HRT for?

There is no time limit. HRT in the first 7.5 years has most evidence so all the safety data and risks are based on this. You can stop early or late depending on how you are and your approach to risk. I tend to advise my ladies to gradually tail it off so that you don’t feel the lack of hormone so much but there are no hard rules about it.

Watch the full Menopause: Your Questions Answered webinar here, for more insight into how best to manage your menopause journey.

To book an appointment complete this booking form or call 03456 252 252 referencing ‘Dr Sandar Hlaing Menopause Consultation at HMT Sancta Maria Hospital Swansea’.