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Dr. Stengler: Hi, I'm Dr. Mark Stengler from the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine in Encinitas, California. Today I want to talk about the use of pharmaceutical medications to help alleviate menopausal symptoms.
It's astounding to think that in conventional medicine today, doctors are prescribing antidepressants and anti-seizure medications to help women with hot flashes. About 75 percent of women in America who are going through menopause experience hot flashes and want relief. In conventional medicine, they don't have many options. Most women are understandably concerned about synthetic estrogen replacement because of all the concerns surrounding it over the years. So now doctors are turning to these other classes of drugs — antidepressants and anti-seizure medications — which of course can have a whole host of side effects. For example, with antidepressants you may get relief from your hot flashes, but you may also experience headaches, anxiety, insomnia, drowsiness, loss of appetite, decreased libido, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and fatigue. So you can see there are a lot of potential side effects just to get relief from hot flashes.
With natural and holistic medicine, we have many different options we can use with women. We've helped thousands of women over the years relieve their hot flashes naturally and holistically. There are very good herbal extracts available. For example, black cohosh has many good studies showing it relieves hot flashes. The herb vitex can be very effective. There have also been good human studies on the herb maca — spelled M-A-C-A — an herb from Peru, now available here in America, and it works really well in relieving hot flashes. These herbal extracts don't work as quickly, but if you stick with them, after 4 to 8 weeks you can have significant improvement.
For women with more severe symptoms — very intense hot flashes, night sweats — we can and do use bioidentical hormone replacement: natural estrogen, natural progesterone, natural testosterone, natural DHEA, and a variety of other natural hormones. If a woman is found to be low in these based on testing, they can provide very quick relief from hot flashes and help manage many other menopausal symptoms.
In my opinion, I would never use any of the conventional approaches — antidepressant drugs, anti-seizure medications, with all the side effects a woman could be exposed to — when these natural options are available. You can get great relief, and they're much safer.
For a complete list of treatments offered and conditions addressed at the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine, please visit our website, or call or email the clinic with any questions you may have.
Why would your doctor prescribe antidepressants and anti seizure medications for your hot flashes when there are natural, safe, and effective alternatives available?! In this video, Dr. Mark Stengler discusses conventional medicine's use of pharmaceutical drugs for the treatment of menopause symptoms and the unwanted side effects that may accompany them. There are natural, safe, and effective alternatives!
Hi, I'm Dr. Mark Stengler from the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine in Encinitas, California, and today I want to talk about the use of pharmaceutical medications to help alleviate menopausal symptoms. You know, it's astounding to think that in conventional medicine today doctors are prescribing antidepressants and anti seizure medications to help women with hot flashes. About seventy-five percent of women in America who are going through menopause experience hot flashes and they want relief. And, in conventional medicine they don't have many options. Most women understandably are scared of synthetic estrogen replacement because of all the concerns with it over the years. And so, now doctors are using these other classes of drugs like antidepressants, anti seizure medications, which; of course, can have a whole host of side effects. For example, with antidepressants you may get relief of your hot flashes but you may also then experience headaches, anxiety, insomnia, drowsiness, a loss of appetite, decreased libido, or sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and fatigue. So you can see there's a lot of side effects you can have just to get the relief of hot flashes. Now with natural medicine, holistic medicine, we have many different options that we can use with women. We've helped thousands of women throughout the years relieve their hot flashes naturally and holistically. There are very good herbal extracts you can use. For example, black cohosh has many good studies showing it relieves hot flashes. The herb vitex can be very effective. We know there has been good human studies on the herb Maca, spelled M.A.C.A. , an herb we have from Peru, now available here in America and that works really well in relieving hot flashes. Yes, these herbal extracts don't work as quickly; but, if you stick with them, after 4-8 weeks you can have significant improvement. For women who have more severe symptoms, very intense hot flashes, night sweats, we can and do use bioidentical hormone replacement. So, the use of natural estrogen, natural progesterone, natural testosterone, natural DHEA, a variety of different natural hormones. If a woman has low in these based on the testing that we can do they certainly provide very quick relief of hot flashes and manage many other menopausal symptoms. So, in my opinion, I would never use any of these conventional approaches; using antidepressant drugs, using anti seizure medications, and a whole host of side effects a woman could be predisposed to, instead, use these natural options. You can get great relief and they're much safer. For a complete list of treatments offered and conditions addressed at the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine, please visit our website call or email the clinic with any questions you may have.
