Before the end of your menstrual cycles, you’ll experience perimenopause which can last for up to 10 years. During this transition, you can experience many unwanted symptoms before “the big change.” These symptoms can cause your physical, mental, and emotional health to suffer. But, a same-day menopause consultation in Falls Church, Virginia can help!
If You Have Any of the Following Signs, You Should Book a Consultation With a Specialist
While each woman has their own unique experience, the following signs are often experienced to some degree by most women during the three stages of menopause (perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause).
- Hot flashes: which are often accompanied by night sweats: Hot flashes can occur day or night as sudden and intense feelings of heat in the upper body. It may affect the face as well, causing reddening of the skin. They may cause sweat, which can lead to sleep disruptions at night.
- Mood changes: Depression, anxiety, irritability, and other changes in moods are not uncommon during perimenopause and beyond.
- Painful intercourse: Often experienced due to vaginal dryness, you may experience discomfort that affects your sexual health.
- Irregular periods: This may be the first sign you experience. You may experience shorter cycles, longer cycles, heavier bleeding, lighter bleeding, or other changes to the duration, flow, and/or frequency of your periods.
- Insomnia/sleep changes: You may have difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep, especially if you’re experiencing night sweats.
- Weight gain with no known cause: Hormonal changes can lead to weight gain, especially around the abdomen.
- Urinary incontinence: Muscular changes in the pelvic floor can lead to the inability to hold your urine, leading to leakage.
You may have additional symptoms with the above or without any of the aforementioned signs. If you suspect you’re in or near menopause, talk to your healthcare provider about your experience.
Symptoms can vary in both duration and severity. It helps to keep a journal so you can keep track of the changes, including when they occur. This helps your specialist better understand your signs of menopause in order to recommend the best treatment(s) for you.
When Should You Book a Same-Day Menopause Consultation in Falls Church, Virginia?
If any of the symptoms above, or other signs of menopause are interfering with your quality of life, you should talk to your gynecologist about your options for treatment. Here’s why you should choose a gynecologist specializing in menopause.
A menopause specialist:
- Has expertise: They’ve undergone additional training to better understand the stages of menopause and how to best help women through this transition. A specialist will educate you about what to expect before, during, and after menopause, partnering with you in making health decisions throughout this time.
- Can provide an accurate diagnosis: They know what to look for, how to ask the right questions specifically related to women’s health, and which tests to order to make a proper diagnosis so the best treatments can be prescribed. Testing may include blood work, urinalysis, and a bone density test.
- Offers comprehensive and customized treatment plans: They tailor your plan to your distinctive needs, addressing you as an individual instead of prescribing a “one-size-fits-all” treatment.
A menopause specialist typically has access to advanced treatments they can prescribe to bring quick, safe, and effective symptom relief. Personalized plans are typically long-term term so they even address health concerns that can occur in the postmenopausal phase, such as cognitive changes and osteoporosis. They may recommend bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, lifestyle changes, low-dose antidepressants, and/or other prescriptions.
Reclaim Your Health and Overall Wellbeing With Menopause Treatments From Annandale Ob-Gyn
Suffer hot flashes? Insomnia? Mood swings? Other symptoms from the change? Not anymore, with a women’s health specialist on your healthcare team!
Contact us now at 703-642-7522 to schedule an appointment at our Falls Church location or one of our other convenient offices. Your same-day menopause consultation in Falls Church, Virginia, and relief from unbearable signs of the midlife change is just a phone call away!
