Menopause - Health Promotion Unit

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Can I get pregnant during the menopause? During the menopause it can be diffi cult to know when you are ovulating, especially if your periods are irregular. You can get pregnant around this time. MENOPAUSE If you don’t want to become pregnant, you should use contraception until you have not had a period or any bleeding for: • two years if you are aged under 50, or • one year if you are aged 50 or over. Talk to your doctor or family planning clinic about what contraception to use. What to expect from your doctor When you visit your doctor to discuss the menopause you can expect to: • talk about your medical history – when you had your last period, what symptoms you are experiencing, what contraception you use, any other conditions you have and medication you take and your family history of certain diseases such as breast cancer; • talk about how your menopause symptoms are affecting you; • discuss your options such as lifestyle changes, HRT and complementary therapies; • discuss other health issues, such as osteoporosis and heart disease, as well as breast and cervical screening; and • discuss contraception – because you may still be ovulating and could become pregnant. 11
Your doctor can usually confi rm you are menopausal based on your clinical history. In some cases, your doctor may take a blood test to check your hormone levels, but this is not routinely done. You may need more than one visit to monitor your symptoms and to discuss all the issues you have. You can use this booklet to identify issues that you want to discuss with your GP. 12
Page 1 and 2: Menopause A Guide
Page 3 and 4: Contents Introduction .............
Page 6: Introduction Menopause is a normal
Page 9 and 10: What is the menopause? Medically sp
Page 11: How do I know if I’m menopausal?
Page 15 and 16: How the menopause affects your body
Page 17 and 18: • Certain food and hot drinks may
Page 19 and 20: How the menopause affects your mind
Page 22 and 23: Section 3 Managing your menopause 2
Page 24 and 25: Are you an apple or pear shape? As
Page 26 and 27: Increase your fibre Soluble fi bre
Page 28 and 29: Flexibility or stretching activitie
Page 30 and 31: What you can do A good calcium-rich
Page 32 and 33: Managing your other symptoms The lo
Page 34 and 35: Section 4 Hormone Replacement Thera
Page 36 and 37: How do I take HRT? You can take it
Page 38 and 39: indicates that some of the risks ma
Page 40 and 41: Section 5 Complementary and alterna
Page 42 and 43: Questions you should ask your thera
Page 44 and 45: General health organisations Aware
Page 46: Published by: The Women’s Health

Menopause - Health Promotion Unit

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?