Monday, February 20, 2012

Put menopausal women back on medication!!

Jeez, I wonder what industry is behind THIS? 

"DENVER, Colo. – Memory lapses and changes in mental functions occur naturally as we get older. But for many women going through menopause, these memory lapses occur more frequently.
A recent report offers hope for women suffering with these symptoms. In a study published in Menopause, Feb. 2011, researchers at University of Pennsylvania found that atomoxetine (brand name Strattera), a medication for attention deficit disorder, may restore organizational skills and reduce memory difficulties in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women."

Now that so many women have chosen to go through menopause naturally (or on compounded hormone therapy), the drug companies have to find a way to get us hooked again like before the WHI study. A survey shows 58% of women stopped taking HRT after the results of a major trial were published in 2002.

This sounds like an afterthought to me....


Strattera was originally intended to be a new antidepressant drug; however, in clinical trials, no such benefits could be proven. Since norepinephrine is believed to play a role in ADHD, Strattera was tested – and subsequently approved – as an ADHD treatment.


Ok, let's find some way to use it to help all those confused and frustrated menopausal women!
I've got steam coming out of my ears, Ladies!! Did you see the possible side effects? Granted, every medication has a sometimes scary list of side effects, but usually it's not the very problem you're trying to eliminate by taking the medication! Do any of these side effects sound like your typical menopause symptoms?

  • dry mouth
  • tiredness
  • irritability
  • dizziness
  • sweating
  • decreased libido
  • increased obsessive behavior (that is the LAST thing we need)
  • weight changes
  • palpitations
Then the best of all...this would really make me want to take it to help with normal menopausal brain fog:

Occasionally after prolonged use some patients have experienced slow onset mild depression, tiredness and forgetfulness while using Strattera. There were also reports of this medicine causing indications of short-term memory loss from some patients


AND....look at this! To date, the potential for abuse of Strattera has not been researched extensively. The two studies that have been performed suggest that atomoxetine has a low to moderate risk for abuse, since it has a long titration time (meaning that it may have no effect on the user unless they've been taking it regularly for days) and does not produce strong stimulating effects like most other ADHD medications. Monkeys will not self-administer atomoxetine at the doses tested. However, rats, pigeons and monkeys trained to distinguish cocaine ormethamphetamine from saline indicate that atomoxetine produces effects indistinguishable from low doses of cocaine or methamphetamine, but not at all like high doses of cocaine. Check out Wikipedia for complete info.

I'd really like to know.....are you tempted to try something like this or are you fed up with the medical world only focusing on drugs as solutions?

4 comments:

  1. I was able to cope with menopause by eliminating caffeine from my diet. I refused to take hrt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Coping with menopausal struggles is far less easy than budgeting household expenses. But, this isn’t enough reason to take med just to endure the stress or depression a woman may experience. There are more natural, safe ways to fight for this symptom. A 3 times a week of exercise will do well. Meditation can also help, and lastly, reach out! Enjoy every day as if it were your last!

    Jennifer West

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is truly a great and helpful piece of information.
    I am satisfied that you simply shared this useful information with us.
    Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.

    Menopause manual

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was on straterra for a year and a half for ADD. I had wicked bad anxiety from my second pregnancy that never went away that Strattera cured. Every time my I told my kids to do something they would go to the bathroom for a few minutes knowing that I would forget about it and the Strattera helped. The only reason I went off of it was because my perimenopausal headaches were getting worse. I do not believe that this medication would be appropriate for menopause.

    ReplyDelete

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