October is World Menopause Month, and October 18th marks World Menopause Day. Established by the International Menopause Society and World Health Organization, these events raise awareness and reduce stigma around a life stage that is often misunderstood.
Marking twelve consecutive months without a menstrual period, menopause typically occurs between 45 and 55 years of age and is often preceded by perimenopause. This transition commonly brings about hot flashes, night sweats, sleep troubles, mood changes, and vaginal dryness. If you’re experiencing symptoms at any stage of menopause, effective medical options are available to help you prioritize your comfort.
Your Symptoms Deserve Caring Medical Attention
Women are more likely to report being treated unfairly or with disrespect when seeking medical care, which can become an obstacle to receiving menopause-related care. A healthcare professional may make false assumptions, ignore questions, not believe something a female patient says, blame symptoms on the patient, or refuse to prescribe needed pain medication.
“Women’s health has been under-researched and under-funded for a very long time,” says Vanessa Slowey, President and CEO of TelyRx. In fact, a Mayo Clinic study found that only 6.8% of medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, and internal medicine felt prepared to manage menopause care.
“When you don’t study something, you don’t train for it and you don’t build systems around it,” Slowey says, noting that this oversight in schooling has led to a widening blindspot in caring for a condition that half the population eventually experiences. The signs of the care gap can be seemingly innocuous. Last year, the U.S. government acknowledged that many women may not be receiving treatment for menopause symptoms as a result of the way certain drugs were labeled.
Fortunately, the labeling on these therapies has since changed because women’s pain and discomfort deserve medical support rather than dismissal. “It was never really about biology being hard to understand,” Slowey says, “it was about whose pain we decided to take seriously.”
Ask a Pharmacist
What’s one small thing you wish more women knew about caring for themselves during menopause?
One thing I wish more women knew is that menopause symptoms can be treatable. You don’t have to just push through hot flashes, sleep loss, or mood changes because you assume it’s ‘just part of getting older.’
As a pharmacist, I talk to so many women who’ve been managing symptoms alone for months, sometimes years, before asking for help.
Your comfort matters. Talk to your pharmacist or your doctor about what you’re feeling, and if you don’t feel seen or heard by your doctor, keep pushing, keep notes, or get a second opinion. You deserve to be taken seriously.
– Ashley Robinson, PharmD
Pharmacy Manager at TelyRx
Prescription Care to Beat Menopause Maladies
When the hormonal shifts that occur in perimenopause and post-menopause bring about unpleasant symptoms, there are prescription treatments available that may provide relief. A licensed healthcare provider can help you identify the treatments that might work best for you, given your unique symptoms and health history. Options include:
- Birth control: Low-dose birth control like hormonal pills, patches, or rings can stabilize shifting estrogen and progesterone levels during perimenopause. This may regulate irregular periods and reduce hot flashes.
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): Hormone replacement therapy like systemic estrogen, paired with progesterone when the uterus is still present, can replenish dropping hormonal levels before and after menopause. This may relieve hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep disturbances.
- Vaginal estrogen: Creams, tablets, or rings deliver low-dose estrogen directly to vaginal tissues in an effort to relieve dryness and pain during intercourse, while minimizing systemic hormonal absorption.
- Non-hormonal hot flash prescriptions: Neurokinin 3 receptor antagonists, such as Veozah, block brain signals related to temperature regulation, which reduces hot flashes without exposing a person to additional hormones.
- Osteoporosis prevention and treatment medication: Because lower estrogen levels can accelerate bone loss, osteoporosis prescription therapies like bisphosphonates can slow mineral loss and preserve bone. As a result, the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures is reduced.
- Antidepressants: Low-dose selective serotonin or norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, SNRIs) can reduce hot flashes by altering neurotransmitters that play a role in body temperature.
Over-the-Counter Strategies to Combat Menopause Misery
Alongside prescription menopause treatments, non-prescription approaches and lifestyle changes can also support improved wellness during this transitional period. The following adjustments may ease daily discomfort and improve resilience:
- Menopause supplements: Menopause supplements may contain natural plant extracts or synthetic compounds created in a lab, marketed toward common midlife concerns like joint discomfort or fatigue. People may take individually packaged supplements or those bundled into a menopause-specific supplement formula.
- Nutrient-dense diet: Prioritizing ample amounts of foods high in calcium, vitamin D, and lean protein may help protect bones and metabolic health as estrogen levels decline.
- Mind your sleep environment: If night sweats are an issue, keeping the bedroom cool, choosing breathable cotton bedding, and opting for light sleepwear may help keep body temperatures low throughout the night.
- Engage in exercise: Regular strength training may protect both bone density and muscle mass, while cardio exercises support heart health and help stabilize mood.
- Consider overall weight loss: Maintaining a moderate body weight may reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes in some people, while reducing strain put on joints.
TelyRx Can Cool Your Personal Heatwave
Navigating the discomfort of perimenopause and post-menopause may feel overwhelming, but many find that seeking treatment is worth it. You deserve relief from persistent night sweats, hot flashes, disrupted sleep, mood changes, and any other symptoms you may be experiencing. While menopause runs its own course, a variety of menopause treatments can ease daily symptoms. At TelyRx, we take menopause seriously and believe you deserve reliable care.
“What we see every day are women who already know exactly what they need,” Slowey says. “They’ve done the hard part: they’ve had the conversation with their doctor … then they fall at the final hurdle simply trying to get the medication into their hands.” Accessibility obstacles to much-needed menopause treatment is what we endeavor to solve.
TelyRx is a full-service digital pharmacy platform, which means we bridge telehealth access and prescription medication delivery to bring evidence-based symptom relief directly to your door. You can browse our FDA-approved menopause therapies online.
Whether you have an existing prescription or require a new one, TelyRx can help. You can transfer existing prescriptions from your current pharmacy or doctor. If you need a new prescription, the TelyRx platform coordinates with independent licensed healthcare providers in your state to review your health history and attestation to confirm whether the treatment is safe for your needs.
Once approved, the licensed provider issues your new prescription, which is then fulfilled in house by our licensed pharmacists in either our Clearwater, Florida or Irving, Texas pharmacy. To maintain our high standards, we never outsource medication fulfillment to third-party pharmacy partners. Orders are packed in discreet packaging and shipped quickly, with next-day, two-day, and standard delivery options.
“Here is what I want every woman reading this to hear,” Slowey says. “You are not ‘losing it,’ and you are not ‘too late.’ You have a treatable condition and every right to be taken seriously.”
Menopause symptoms can disrupt life, but managing them is possible. TelyRx makes it easy to get evidence-based symptom relief on your terms.ation with their doctor … then they fall at the final hurdle simply trying to get the medication into their hands.” Accessibility obstacles to much-needed menopause treatment is what we endeavor to solve.
TelyRx is a full-service digital pharmacy platform, which means we bridge telehealth access and prescription medication delivery to bring evidence-based symptom relief directly to your door. You can browse our FDA-approved menopause therapies online.
Whether you have an existing prescription or require a new one, TelyRx can help. You can transfer existing prescriptions from your current pharmacy or doctor. If you need a new prescription, the TelyRx platform coordinates with independent licensed healthcare providers in your state to review your health history and attestation to confirm whether the treatment is safe for your needs.
Once approved, the licensed provider creates your new prescription, which is then filled in house by our licensed pharmacists in either our Clearwater, Florida or Irving, Texas pharmacy. To maintain our high standards, we never outsource medication fulfillment to third-party pharmacy partners. Orders are packed in discreet packaging and shipped quickly, with next-day, two-day, and standard delivery options.
“Here is what I want every woman reading this to hear,” Slowey says. “You are not ‘losing it,’ and you are not ‘too late.’ You have a treatable condition and every right to be taken seriously.”
Menopause symptoms can disrupt life, but managing them is possible. TelyRx makes it easy to get evidence-based symptom relief on your terms.
