Menopause Q&A by Dr. Stöppler

All Menopause Q&A's:

Menopause and Perimenopause Slideshow

• I have been having severe night sweats for the past few months. I am 46 years old and am wondering if this is a sign of menopause.
• I am a man, and I would like to know if all women go through menopause. My sister says that all women go through menopause. Please let me know if this is true.
• I've heard that a woman's memory is worse after menopause, is this true?
• I read that isoflavones help ease menopause symptoms, is this true?
• My wife suffers from depression, will perimenopause aggravate her mood swings?
• Can you still have menopause/menopausal symptoms after having a hysterectomy?
• I'm 43 and having hot flashes and irregular periods. My doctor says these are symptoms of perimenopause. Since I am not having regular periods, can I stop using birth control?
• I have never had a urinary tract infection until I began experiencing symptoms of perimenopause. Does menopause increase the likelihood of developing urinary tract infections?
• I've heard that sexual intercourse becomes painful after menopause. Is this true? How can I prevent this from happening?
• Can I be going through menopause even though I'm only 40 years old?
• Explore More Menopause Articles

Dr. Stöppler's Message:

Dr. Melissa Stöppler serves on the Medical Editorial Board of MedicineNet.com. In the Ask the Experts section, Dr. Stöppler hopes to bring you concise and accurate answers to your pressing questions about women's health. As a woman and mother of three children Dr. Stöppler has both a personal and professional interest in the area of women's health and is enthusiastic that more and more women are seeking information online about health and medical conditions.

"The availability of health information on the Internet has changed the scope of physician-patient interactions and brought about a new era of patient education and empowerment," Dr. Stöppler says. "No longer are individuals exclusively dependent upon the information they receive at doctor visits or forced to access medical libraries for information about specific conditions or health topics in general."

Providing medical information that is readily available to the public in an understandable and accessible environment is what Dr. Stöppler finds most rewarding about her role as a patient educator.

In her free time Dr. Stöppler enjoys volunteering at her children's schools, reading, tennis, scuba diving and cooking.