Health Issues

How Can I Tell I Am in Perimenopause?

What’s going on? Why can’t I sleep normally, why am I so grumpy or suddenly anxious, why am I abruptly hot and sweaty? Could I be in perimenopause? CeMCOR believes that if: —our experiences have changed (see the Table of characteristic changes) —our hormone levels have changed (scientific evidence says that perimenopausal estrogen levels are…
Depo-Provera Use and Bone Health

New science decreases concerns even about use in teenagers by Drs. Azita Goshtasebi & Jerilynn C. Prior Many teenagers and women of all ages around the world use a three monthly injection of medroxyprogesterone for contraception. This long-acting and highly effective birth control method is officially called DepoProvera® but for simplicity here we will call…
Stopping Depo-Provera

Many women experience difficulty when they stop taking Depo-Provera contraception – everything from heavy flow to amenorrhea, sore breasts, mood swings and weight gain. In this article based on a re:Cycling blog post for the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research (SMCR), Laura Wershler interviews Dr. Jerilynn Prior about what causes these adverse effects and what…
Perimenopause Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior answers FAQ’s from Perimenopausal Women 1. My doctor has prescribed Clonidine 50mg and Prometrium 100mg daily to treat my hot flushes. Should I start both? In general, it is important to do ‘one at a time’ when trying out medications or any intervention for a symptom or a problem. If you…
The ABCs Of Osteoporosis Prevention For Menopausal Women

Menopause means graduation! One year has passed since the last menstrual period—perimenopause is over. Because of the hormonal changes of the first few years after menopause, bone renovation is more rapid and risks for bone loss are greater. Thus we must continue habits that will keep bones healthy for the rest of our lives. Bone…
The ABCs of Osteoporosis Prevention for Teenage Women

Bone Health: As Simple as ABC! The teen years are a time of major change occurring before and after the first menstrual period. During these years bone not only increases in size (with growth) but also becomes stronger to reach peak bone mass. This is the best time in your life to build strong bones…
The ABCs of Osteoporosis Prevention for Premenopausal Women

Bone Health: As Simple as ABC! Bones are complex and important parts of us—carrying us around and protecting our vital organs as well providing a store of calcium. The premenopausal years are a time of gain to peak bone in the spine and to preserve maximum bone through until normal bone loss begins in perimenopause…
Documenting Ovulation with Quantitative Basal Temperature (QBT)

If our cycles are regular – about a month apart we assume we are ovulatory – meaning releasing an egg and making normal amounts of progesterone. However, ovulation is highly variable for all women. Progesterone raises our first morning (or basal) temperature a little bit. But so do many other things. Thus “basal body temperature”…
Beyond “Estrogen Deficiency”—news from Women’s Health Initiative

The USA’s National Institutes of Health just announced that the Estrogen arm of the Women’s Health Initiative was stopped early (1). Estrogen treatment in women who had undergone hysterectomy was associated with neither benefit nor harm for heart disease and caused a 40% increase in stroke (1). No one can ever again say that estrogen…
Perimenopause is a time of “Endogenous Ovarian Hyperstimulation”

“Perimenopausal endogenous ovarian hyper-stimulation” is the exact opposite of “The Myth of the Shriveling Ovary”: High estrogen levels during perimenopause, coupled with characteristically intermittent ovulation, can explain much of the misery of perimenopause. My hypothesis is based on the assumption that inhibin production decreases while there are still viable follicles (capable of producing both estrogen…