Most people are familiar with premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, symptoms. But a Montgomery County, Maryland-based integrative gynecologist wants people to know more about changes that come with menopause.
Most people are familiar with premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, symptoms. But a Montgomery County, Maryland-based integrative gynecologist wants people to know more about changes that come with menopause.
The Other PMS: Menopause
Outside of the changes that come ahead of menstruation, integrative gynecologist Dr. LaKeischa McMillan said “there’s another PMS that we don’t talk about.”
McMillan said she coined the term “The Other PMS,” which is also the title of her book.
Known colloquially as “the change,” menopause is a significant middle-age hormone shift that impacts women’s health.
The ‘other’ PMS encompasses the changes surrounding the drastic life changes of perimenopause (which is the transitional phase) and menopause which LaKeischa said shows up “as everyday symptoms such as brain fog, weight gain, fatigue for seemingly no reason, itchy skin, ringing in the ears, dizziness.”
So, how do you know if you’re in menopause?
Patients who go 12 consecutive months without a period are “technically menopausal,” she said.
“I will have patients that come to me and say ‘well I haven’t had my period in six months, I must be menopausal,’” LaKeischa said. She tells such patients “No, ma’am.”
This designation is important, she said, because there are other things that could be causing symptoms that can be mistaken for menopause.
What if it’s not menopause?
“No period, no cycle, you’re not on hormone therapy, you’re not on anything else … and you have a postmenopausal bleed,” she said. “We need to evaluate the uterine lining and see what caused it.”
LaKeischa said there are other, sometimes more nefarious causes for menopausal symptoms.
“Was it a polyp, which is usually benign? Was it a fibroid, which is usually benign? Or was it the big bad ‘C,’ which is uterine cancer?”
LaKeischa talks more about the perimenopausal journey on her Hormone Hottie Hotline podcast.
Her book comes amid a push by some women to remove the stigma around menopause. Last week, Academy Award winning actress Halle Berry was on Capitol Hill joined a group of bipartisan senators pushing for legislation that would put millions of dollars toward research and education on menopause.
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Liz Anderson
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