Has your doctor recently diagnosed you with menopause? If so, it means your body is in a new stage of your life. Typically, this new start happens several years after you hit the age of 40. But it can happen much earlier in some cases.

There are three natural stages of menopause that you’ll go through: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.

Perimenopause takes place several years before menopause. It happens when your ovaries start to make less estrogen, and eventually, it hits the menopause stage, where symptoms from the loss of estrogen are more prominent.

Gradually, through the process of menopause, your body will naturally stop being able to get pregnant or have periods.

While a normal part of life that should not be cause for concern, menopause and even your time after it during postmenopause, can cause unwanted vaginal symptoms. As you go through the condition, you might experience some of them, and they could include dryness, burning, irritation, and painful sexual intercourse.

To make your experience with menopause less irritating, your doctor may offer you a prescription for conjugated estrogens.

The medication is typically applied in the vagina to help deal with unwanted vaginal symptoms that come from menopause. It is a mixture of estrogen hormones concentrated in cream form. And it works by delivering estrogen directly to the source of your vaginal irritation. This treatment then allows your body to easily rebuild vaginal tissue.

Because of the placement for this medication, you should avoid taking conjugated estrogens if you have undiagnosed vaginal bleeding. The same applies to when you are dealing with liver disease, a bleeding disorder, or a planned major surgery.

You should be similarly cautious if you have ever previously experienced a heart attack, stroke, blood clot, or cancer of the breast, uterus/cervix, or vagina.

If you have any concerns about conjugated estrogens, talk to your doctor.

While using a cream form of any medication, including conjugated estrogens, can seem harmless, it’s best to follow the dosage directions that your doctor and prescription label provided. Doing otherwise could lead to an unintentional overdose. And an overdose of conjugated estrogens can cause drowsiness, vomiting, stomach pain, breast pain, or even vaginal bleeding.

Your dosage instructions will likely involve a cyclic routine, where you apply half a gram of conjugated estrogens daily for 21 days and then stop doing so for seven days. However, your doctor may change your routine or dosage depending on your particular condition.

Once you’ve looked over your dosage instructions thoroughly, you should be ready to apply the recommended dose.

When applying conjugated estrogens, make sure you only use the vaginal applicator, which should be supplied alongside your medication. Then, afterwards, take care to keep the vaginal applicator clean. You can do so by taking the applicator apart and cleaning it with mild soap and warm water. Be sure to avoid using hot or boiling water when cleaning the applicator.

Once you’ve taken your dose and cleaned the applicator, make sure you put your medication away properly. Store it at room temperature and away from moisture and heat.

Throughout your time on conjugated estrogens, your doctor will likely check your progress routinely. This regular check-up will give your doctor a better idea on how long you’ll need to continue this treatment.

In addition to your doctor’s examinations, make sure you look out for any breast complications. So self-examine your breasts for lumps, and request regular mammograms.

Because conjugated estrogens can increase your risk of blood clots, stroke, heart attack, and cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovaries, you should be careful to avoid activities that may increase your risk further. So try to avoid activities like smoking.

Please note that your risk for such health concerns may already be quite high if you deal with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, or weight issues.

Additionally, make sure your doctor knows all the medication you’re taking before you apply conjugated estrogens. Many other medications can interact poorly with this cream, and they can include prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbal products. So you want to make sure anything you take does not cause any unwanted reactions from your conjugated estrogens.

A less likely concern that is still something you should bring up to your doctor is anything surrounding pregnancy. If you plan on becoming pregnant or think you might already be pregnant, conjugated estrogens might not be the medication for you, as it’s not suitable for use during pregnancy.

It’s recommended that you use an effective form of birth control if you are not past menopause. But remember that conjugated estrogens can actually weaken the latex from a condom, diaphragm, or cervical cap. So ask your doctor for the best forms of birth control.

While on conjugated estrogens, there’s a chance you might get some side effects. Less serious, but more common ones include the following: headaches, breast pain, irregular vaginal bleeding or spotting, stomach or abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fluid retention, vaginal yeast infection, and vaginal burning, irritation, or irritation.

Other common ones you might encounter could involve a change in vaginal discharge, fever, chills, coughing, lower back or side pain, pain during sexual intercourse, pressure in the pelvis, painful or difficult urination.

You could also encounter more severe reactions. Some of these might include heart attacks; strokes; blood clots; dementia; cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovaries; high blood pressure; high blood sugar; gallbladder disease; liver problems; enlarged benign tumors of the uterus; and severe allergic reactions.

Other side effects are possible. And if you notice any of the following, call your doctor right away: new breast lumps, unusual vaginal bleeding, changes in vision or speech, sudden new severe headaches, severe pains in your chest or legs, or swollen facial features.

What should I do if I miss a dose of Premarin?

If you miss a dose of Premarin, you should take it as soon as you remember. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, then skip your missed dose.

What is the strength of Premarin Cream?

Premarin Vaginal Cream comes in a strength of 0.625mg/g.