What exactly is happening with hormones during menopause?

Estrogen is a very important hormone in women since it carries out so many different functions throughout the female body. During menopause, female estrogen levels produced by the ovaries fluctuate wildly and eventually drop to a very low level. This estrogen deficiency can cause a long list of potential symptoms to occur such as hot flashes, headaches, insomnia, fatigue and bone loss.

Also involved in during menopause is the hormone progesterone. This hormone is responsible for preparing uterine lining for a fertilized egg. Since women going through menopause will no longer release eggs from their ovaries, progesterone is no longer necessary and production of it stops. The combination of a sudden drop in estrogen and the halt of progesterone production causes significant hormonal imbalances in the body.

Women who suffer from unbearable or uncomfortable symptoms from estrogen deficiency or estrogen dominance (when there is more estrogen than progesterone) during menopause, may want to consider hormone replacement to help restore their hormones to normal levels. Just like birth control hormones, there are several different options and dosages available for supplementing with estrogen including pills, patches, pellets, creams, and vaginal rings. Many of these options that use synthetic hormones has been linked to scientific evidence that increases a woman’s risk for heart disease, blood clots, breast cancer, dementia and stroke.

Scientific evidence has also concluded that these health risks associated with synthetic hormone treatment are significantly reduced in natural treatments which utilize bio-identical hormones (such as those used at MyVita Wellness Institute). These natural compounds are chemically identical to those produced by the body in pre-menopausal women so they help to naturally restore normal hormone levels and alleviate menopausal symptoms without the serious side effects.