48, Jalan Lang Kuning, 52100 Kepong Baru, Kuala Lumpur

Daily, 9:00am to 8:00pm

011-2615 1500

Menopause and HRT in Kepong, KL

Hot flushes, poor sleep, low mood and brain fog often start years before the last period. A doctor can usually tell whether it is the menopause from your symptoms, and there is more than one way to treat it.

  • Around 51the average age of the last period
  • Over 45usually diagnosed without a blood test
  • Doctor-ledreviewed at 3 months, then yearly

Is this the menopause?

Periods usually change first, often from the mid-forties, and the other symptoms can start years before they stop. Many women do not connect them, because none of them says menopause on its own.

  • Hot flushes and night sweats
  • Sleeping badly, or waking at 3am and not getting back to sleep
  • Low mood, anxiety or irritability you did not used to have
  • Brain fog: losing words, losing your train of thought
  • Aching joints
  • Vaginal dryness, painful sex, or needing to pass urine more often
  • Periods that are heavier, lighter, closer together or further apart

Over 45 with symptoms like these, the doctor can usually diagnose it from your history alone. Hormone levels swing from day to day in the years before the last period, so a single blood test often says less than your symptoms do.

The treatments, and who each one suits

Which one fits depends on your symptoms, your history and what you would rather take. Most women are offered a choice.

HRT
Oestrogen, given as a tablet, a patch, a gel or a spray, with a progestogen if you still have a womb. The most effective treatment for hot flushes, night sweats and the mood and sleep they disrupt.
Vaginal oestrogen
A low-dose cream, tablet or ring for dryness, painful sex and urinary symptoms. Very little reaches the bloodstream, so most women can use it, including many who cannot take HRT.
Non-hormonal medicines
For women who cannot or would rather not take hormones. Some antidepressants and gabapentin reduce hot flushes, though less than HRT does.
Lifestyle and talking therapy
Regular exercise, less alcohol and caffeine, and cognitive behavioural therapy all help with flushes, sleep and mood. Worth doing whatever else you choose.

What helps day to day

Walking shoes, a water bottle and a rolled yoga mat by a sunlit doorway.

Alongside any treatment, a few changes make flushes and broken sleep easier to live with for many women.

  • Keep the bedroom cool, and dress in layers you can take off
  • Notice whether alcohol, caffeine or spicy food sets off your flushes, and cut back on what does
  • Exercise regularly, which helps sleep, mood and bone strength
  • Smoking is linked to more frequent flushes, which is one more reason to stop

What HRT does, and what it risks

For most women under 60, or within ten years of their last period, the benefits outweigh the risks. That balance is personal, and the doctor will go through yours.

What it does

  • Reduces hot flushes and night sweats, usually within a few weeks
  • Helps sleep, mood and concentration when the flushes were disturbing them
  • Protects against the bone loss that follows the menopause
  • Eases vaginal dryness and painful sex

What it risks

  • A small rise in breast cancer risk with combined HRT, which grows with the years it is taken
  • Blood clots with tablets. Patches and gels carry less of this risk
  • Side effects early on, such as breast tenderness or spotting, which usually settle
  • It is not suitable after breast cancer, with a clot history on tablets, or with unexplained bleeding

What happens when you come in

  1. Your history

    Your symptoms, your periods, and your own and your family's history of breast cancer, clots, stroke and heart disease.

  2. Blood pressure and weight

    Checked before anything is prescribed. Blood tests only where they help: under 45, or to rule out the thyroid, which can mimic the menopause.

  3. Your options

    HRT and the alternatives, with what each would mean for you. You can take the decision away and come back.

  4. Review at 3 months

    To see whether it is working and to adjust the dose or the type. After that, a review once a year.

Bleeding after the menopause

Any bleeding a year or more after your last period needs to be seen by a doctor, even if it is light and happens once. Most of the time the cause is harmless, such as thinning of the vaginal lining. It is still the symptom that most needs ruling out, because it can be the first sign of a problem in the womb.

On HRT, some irregular bleeding is common in the first few months. Bleeding that starts later, or keeps going past six months, should be checked.

Often looked at alongside

Who you are dealing with

Your doctor
Every doctor here is named on this site with their training, and one of them is a Family Medicine Specialist on the National Specialist Register. You are seen by a doctor rather than assessed at a counter.
Your records
Held in the clinic's own encrypted system rather than on paper in a drawer, so the doctor seeing you has the rest of your history in front of them.
Your follow-up
Questions afterwards and repeat prescriptions go to the doctor who saw you, directly on WhatsApp rather than through a front desk.
Your time
Walk in any day until 8pm. The clinic has served Kepong Baru since 1981 and most of what is on this page is done in one visit.

Come in, or ask first

Walk in any time we are open (daily, 9:00am to 8:00pm), or send a message and ask whatever you need to ask before you do.

From our patients

What people say about coming here

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Common questions

Do I need a blood test to know it is the menopause?
Usually not if you are over 45 and have typical symptoms. Hormone levels change from day to day before the last period, so a single test can mislead. Under 45, blood tests are part of the assessment.
Is HRT safe?
For most women under 60, or within ten years of the menopause, the benefits outweigh the risks. The risks are real but small for most, and they depend on the type of HRT, how it is taken and your own history. The doctor will go through yours.
How long can I take HRT?
There is no fixed limit. You review it with the doctor every year and decide together whether to continue, based on your symptoms and your risks at that point.
Can I still get pregnant?
Yes, until you have gone 12 months without a period after 50, or two years if under 50. HRT is not a contraceptive, so you need contraception until then.
What if I cannot take hormones?
There are non-hormonal medicines that reduce hot flushes, and vaginal oestrogen is suitable for many women who cannot take HRT. Exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy help as well.

Talk to a doctor about the menopause, Kepong, until 8pm

48, Jalan Lang Kuning, 52100 Kepong Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

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