Are symptoms due to perimenopause or thyroid?

September 8, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 45-year-old female. I have two children, ages 10 and 7, and I’m in good physical condition. I exercise regularly, eat well, take a multivitamin and calcium supplement, and never miss my annual OB/gyn checkup and mammogram.

My problem is my hair has been thinning for about two years, and I don’t know how to stop or reverse it. My dermatologist dismissed it (took a blood test but never examined my scalp) as female pattern baldness, although no other females in my family seem to suffer from it (the men do, however). All my blood tests came back normal.
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On entering perimenopause

November 12, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I’m 48 years old and just had what appeared to be a hot flash. Does this mean I’m going through menopause? My menstrual cycle has been sort of regular, but I’m not sure that I’m ready for this next phase in my life.

DEAR READER: Menopause occurs only after a woman stops menstruating completely for 12 months. My guess is you have perimenopause, a stage that precedes menopause. This occurs because your body is not producing hormones as it did before. It generally consists of irregular cycles. They may be more frequent, shorter in length, lighter, or you may skip a month or two only to return to a normal monthly pattern. You may experience hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes or periods of poor concentration. [Read more...]

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Bee pollen helps reader with night sweats

October 12, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your column. Two years ago, I had been suffering from night sweats owing to perimenopause, and your column advised taking bee pollen. I tried it, and within just a few days, my night sweats all but disappeared. I kept taking the bee pollen (1,000 milligrams daily) for a few months and then stopped, thinking I didn’t need it anymore. Several months passed with no sweats, but recently they began again, as well as periodic daytime hot flashes. I went back on the bee pollen and, again, after just a few days, I don’t have any more sweating, day or night! I just wanted to pass this on to you and your readers, and to thank you, again, for your wonderful advice.

DEAR READER: Thank you for your kind comments. I am happy to have helped.
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Perimenopause precedes menopause

June 2, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 43-year-old female with irregular periods. When I finally went to my doctor, he told me that I have perimenopause. Can you tell me what this is?

DEAR READER: Simply put, perimenopause is an introduction to menopause. It commonly occurs when a female is in her 40s, but can happen to some women in their mid-30s. It generally lasts between two to eight years and is a natural part of the aging process. Estrogen levels rise and fall in an erratic pattern, and women may experience problems sleeping, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood changes and more. Repeated menstrual irregularity, however, is one of the most widely recognized initial phases of the condition. As long as the irregularity isn’t accompanied by extremely heavy bleeding, breakthrough bleeding between cycles, bleeding that lasts longer than eight days and cycles that occur fewer than 21 days apart, you can usually consider things as progressing normally. However, complications outside these guidelines should be brought to your primary-care physician’s or gynecologist’s attention.
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