HELP FOR
HORMONAL HEALTH In our younger years, we believed menopause happened to women who looked like The Golden Girls. We were wrong. Despite the 1.3 million women entering menopause each year (at an average age of 52.5), it’s one of the last taboos in women’s health. Enter Dr. Angela McCool-Pearson, FACOG, a gynecologist at Southern Women’s Specialists, who’s unapologetically candid about her own menopause experience and how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) provided relief. By Amber Wielkens Photos Stevye Photography, StevyePhotography.com Makeup Tessa Moody, TessaRayMoody@gmail.com Hair Felisha Allen, Identity Salon, 251.478.2409
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ot flashes, fatigue, poor memory, mood swings, depression, low libido, trouble concentrating, sleep issues—the list goes on. Whether you’re in perimenopause (the transitional period before menopause) or menopause (when you’ve gone a year without a period), symptoms like the ones above can affect every aspect of your life. It’s only recently that the medical community at large has awakened to the idea that the women in this age group complaining of deep sadness, memory loss, and brain fog might not need antidepressants, a good therapist, or sleeping pills, but rather a hormone check-up.
Dr. Pearson has been at the forefront of women’s health for over 25 years, and she is more than willing to share her long experience with compounded hormone replacement therapy via pellets in the hopes of reaching women who might feel they need to “just get through” what can be a miserable time. We applaud her open-book approach on a subject many women were taught was not to be discussed in polite company. Now 53, Dr. Pearson says, “I began experiencing perimenopausal symptoms when I was 43 and true menopause began for me at age 51.” Surprised to hear how long her perimenopause lasted, we learned every woman is different, and though the average length is four years, it’s not rare for it to last a decade before menopause arrives, all while keeping in mind that the unpleasant symptoms can be present through both. No woman should have to suffer or “tough it out” for years because they’re unaware help is available. “I was experiencing hot flashes, decreased libido, decreased energy, and insomnia,” she says. “I hear so many of my patients with these symptoms in the office every day. The great thing about modern medicine is that women no longer have to ‘just live with’ the symptoms like our mothers and grandmothers,” she explains. Choosing compounded hormones was an informed decision for her. “I feel they are the most physiologic way to maintain hormone levels in the body. I never tried any other treatments because through my training, I felt that pellets were the best option for myself and my patients,” she claims. Apart from her extensive training and experience as a gynecologist, Dr. Pearson’s been treated with hormone pellets for 10 years now, making her the perfect choice to explain how the process works. “Just like a normal patient would, I had blood drawn to start. I made sure my mammogram— it’s crucial and without one we will not proceed—and gynecological wellness exam were up to date, and my bloodwork lab results were used to determine the dosage for my pellets,” she says, adding, “The procedure is quite easy. It takes about three minutes for the pellet insertion. After the area is sterilized, a lidocaine shot is administered to numb the skin, then a tool is used to insert the pellet, which is smaller than a grain of rice, under the skin. A small bandage covers the area and we ask that patients not to excessively exercise for three days afterward.” Pellets aren’t one-size-fits-all but “are tailored and based on symptoms and the lab results of each patient. We have been using the same compounding pharmacy for a decade and have found that their pellets are the most effective and consistent,” she says. “As we age, hormone shifts will happen, so dosages of testosterone or estrogen are changed when needed.” After ten years, did she have any side effects? “Not personally,” she answers, “but I’ve had patients experience unwanted facial hair growth or acne due to testosterone, both of which can be treated with laser hair removal and topical treatments we offer our in our practice.” When we think of women’s hormones, our minds go to estrogen, but Dr. Pearson explains that’s not always the case, saying, ”Testosterone is the most predominant hormone in women, and its decrease in menopausal women has not been replaced until the last decade in the U.S., while other countries have been using testosterone therapy for years with great results. We provide testosterone with estrogen if a patient needs it.” All of which adds yet another advantage to seeing the forward-thinking doctors at Southern Women’s Specialists.
72 ACCESS Magazine / April 2022
Dr. Angela McCool-Pearson, FACOG
SWS Aesthetics and Southern Women’s Specialists 7540 Cipriano Court, Suite C, Fairhope 251.990.1985 SouthernWomensSpecialists.com