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Pharmacy Links

HRT AND MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOM CONTROL:PALPITATIONS AND HEADACHES,LOWER URINARY TRACT PROBLEMS AND

21st April 2009

LOWER URINARY TRACT PROBLEMS Urinary frequency (going to the toilet more often), the pressing urge to go (known as urgency), and bladder incontinence (escape of urine when the need to urinate is very strong or when coughing or sneezing occurs) are more likely with increasing age and may be accentuated at menopause. Studies indicate that up to 50 per cent of women attending menopause clinics have some lower urinary tract symptoms. Treatment with HRT may relieve some of these symptoms, including urinary incontinence, frequency and urgency, by increasing the collagen of the urethra and vagina, and by improving muscle tone in the pelvic floor.

PALPITATIONS AND HEADACHES You may be one of the many women who experience palpitations and headaches around the time of menopause. A Dutch study found that one in four women had palpitations at menopause, and headaches affect nearly a third of Australian-born women aged forty-five to fifty-five. For reasons that are not clear, some women have more frequent and severe tension-type headaches around menopause; for others, headaches, and particularly migraine, become less of a problem. Oestrogen appears to be effective in treating palpitations. It may alleviate migraine in some postmenopausal women too.