A 46-year-old, 230lb woman with a family history of breast cancer. She is up to date on yearly mammograms. She has a history of HTN. She complains of hot flushing, night sweats, and genitourinary symptoms. She had felt well until 1 month ago and presented to her gynecologist for her annual GYN examination and to discuss her symptoms. She has a history of ASCUS about 5 years ago on her pap; other than that, Pap smears have been normal. Home medications are Norvasc 10mg QD and HCTZ 25mg QD. Her BP today is 150/90. She has regular monthly menstrual cycles. Her LMP was one month ago.
After analyzing the symptoms, I concluded that the patient is experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms. For many people, menopause begins around age 45 though the onset of symptoms varies across different people. She is undergoing the early stages of menopause which is a stage that begins with experiencing changes in the uterus, breasts, increased fat deposit, and the urogenital tract undergoing several changes such as a shrinking cervix, and reduced muscle tone in the pelvic area. At that age, the level of estrogen production is low hence, leading to hot flashes and night sweats. Therefore, her treatment regime will focus on taking into consideration the patient has Hypertension already. Hormone therapy will be eliminated and prescribe vaginal cream that would help her manage genitourinary symptoms such as vaginal dryness and dyspareunia (Yoo et al., 2020). Mood changes and hot flashes are common symptoms of menopause hence the patient will be prescribed low-dose antidepressants such as venlafaxine and sertraline. Besides, herbal treatment has been proven to be effective in managing vasomotor symptoms hence the patient can be prescribed black cohosh which helps in reducing many menopausal symptoms (Mahady, et al., 2002).
As people continue to age, their bones become weak and this increases their chances of suffering born fractures. Therefore, the patient will be given vitamin D supplements to the increase production of estrogen which reduces with age and reduces cases of bone fractures.
During the clinical interview, I realized that the patient is taking Norvasc 10 mg and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 25 mg. I would advise her to discontinue taking Norvasc since the drug acts as a calcium blocker hence leading to hypertension and besides, its side effects increase menopause symptoms. Since she has hypertension, I would recommend that she takes lisinopril 20 mg daily. This should help alleviate the flushing that the patient has been experiencing (Li et al., 2016). Additionally, the patient has a history of ASCUS, hence I will advise her to continue with her PAP smear exams. With her blood pressure being high currently, and the fact that she is taking Norvasc, she will be encouraged to stop Norvasc but increase the HTCZ dosage to 50mg daily. The patient is expected to come regularly for assessment and examination of the drugs and symptoms.
Patient education has become an effective strategy to influence patients’ behavior to start living a quality life. The patient will be educated on ways to maintain weight through diet modification, become physically active, and practice relaxation as one way to reduce the severity of menopause symptoms and chances of getting breast cancer (Paterick et al., 2017). The patient will be educated about things she needs to avoid such as the use of exogenous hormones to reduce getting breast cancer going to her family history (Stuenkel et al., 2015). All this information will be passed to the patient through her patient portal which is deemed the best instructional method for her as she can access the information from the comfort of her home.
Li, R. X., Ma, M., Xiao, X. R., Xu, Y., Chen, X. Y., & Li, B. (2016). Perimenopausal syndrome and mood disorders in perimenopause: prevalence, severity, relationships, and risk factors. Medicine, 95(32).
Mahady, G. B., Fabricant, D., Chadwick, L. R., & Dietz, B. (2002). Black cohosh: an alternative therapy for menopause?. Nutrition in Clinical Care, 5(6), 283-289.
Order this paper