Women Seek Hormone Alternatives

BOSTON -- Hormone replacement therapy has long been used to treat menopause side effects.

But when an alarming study last summer warned the therapy may be harmful, women abruptly stopped taking it.

For some, their suffering quickly returned. But many are now finding different kinds of relief.

For 54-year-old Carol Jacobson, acupuncture was an answer to back pain. But it wasn't long before she discovered an unexpected benefit -- fewer symptoms of menopause.

"The hot flashes and the night sweats and being tired and irritable, and not being myself ... they began to disappear after I was having acupuncture," Jacobson said.

Acupuncturist Jonathan Ammen wasn't surprised. He's seen a growing number of women like Jacobson turn to acupuncture after discontinuing hormone replacement therapy. The Chinese have used hair-fine needles to treat women's change of life for thousands of years.

"We often look for people to feel more relaxed, have a little bit of improved energy level, start sleeping better, a bit less anxiety, slightly improved mood, those are often early signs of some improvement," Ammen said.

Since last summer's warning about the risks of HRT, sales of alternative treatments skyrocketed. Natural substitutes called phyto-estrogens are big sellers.

"That does give relief, but a lot of women find over time it stops working because you're not fixing the imbalance or helping the body deal with it, you're just putting a Band-Aid on the problem," Johnson Drug spokesman Gary Kracoff said.

The hottest seller, Monthly Relief, contains no estrogen.

"It's a traditional Chinese herbal blend that you adjust according to how you feel. It helps the body get used to your levels of estrogen and progesterone," Kracoff said.

Your doctor or pharmacist can help you pin down the best option for you. Finding the relief came accidentally to Jacobson, and she's sticking with it.

"I can only attribute it to acupuncture. There's nothing else that I've changed," Jacobson said.