Hi, Anon, and welcome to Empowher. Thanks for a great question!
Amberen is still fairly new in the United States; I found one source that said it was developed in Russia and introduced here in 2007. I did find women taking it who were in both menopause and perimenopause, which it sounds like you may be; however, it seems to focus on stronger symptoms of perimenopause, like hot flashes, moodiness, the "fog," etc. And it's a bit pricey, so it may not be what you want for such mild and early symptoms.
Amberen is succinate-based. Here are the ingredients:
What's all that mean? I had no idea either. Wikipedia (not my favorite source, but it was helpful here) says that succinate plays a biochemical role in the citric acid cycle, which has to do with the health and energy of our cells and is explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle
One web site says this: "In clinical trials, Amberen actually reversed all symptoms in perimenopausal women, including regular periods and thickening endometrium, and basically delayed the onset of menopause." I don't know about you, but when any company starts telling me that their product will solve all my problems, just as easy as pie, I get cautious in a hurry.
That said, I'm curious, and interested to keep up with it. Here's one medical study. It's a bit dense to read, but has good information about this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study:
http://www.medline.ru/public/pdf/8_046e.pdf
It's a good study, but it's done on a small sample -- 70 women, with the following breakdown of age: 40-45 years (9 patients), 46-50 years (28), 51-55 years (25), 56-61 years (8). 50 women were assigned to the experimental group and 20 control women were given placebo. It was a 21-day treatment. So you're basically looking at results experienced by 50 women over 3 weeks when on this formulation.
Here's a forum where women are discussing taking it, or whether to take it:
And here's a pretty good explainer story about how Amberen functions, with doctors both for and against it for various reasons:
http://www.sanangelolive.com/node/2906
My advice? Watch and wait. If it's good, there will be more studies, more doctors familiar with it, and the quantity and quality of the ingredients will be supervised. But if you're interested personally and don't want to wait to investigate it, print out the info and take it to your doctor -- or a compounding pharmacist -- for her or his opinion.
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Hi, Anon, and welcome to Empowher. Thanks for a great question!
Amberen is still fairly new in the United States; I found one source that said it was developed in Russia and introduced here in 2007. I did find women taking it who were in both menopause and perimenopause, which it sounds like you may be; however, it seems to focus on stronger symptoms of perimenopause, like hot flashes, moodiness, the "fog," etc. And it's a bit pricey, so it may not be what you want for such mild and early symptoms.
Amberen is succinate-based. Here are the ingredients:
Ammonium Succinate
Calcium Disuccinate
Monosodium L-Gluatamate
Glycine
Magnesium Disuccinate Hydrate
Zinc Difumarate Hydrate
Tocepherol Acetate
What's all that mean? I had no idea either. Wikipedia (not my favorite source, but it was helpful here) says that succinate plays a biochemical role in the citric acid cycle, which has to do with the health and energy of our cells and is explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle
One web site says this: "In clinical trials, Amberen actually reversed all symptoms in perimenopausal women, including regular periods and thickening endometrium, and basically delayed the onset of menopause." I don't know about you, but when any company starts telling me that their product will solve all my problems, just as easy as pie, I get cautious in a hurry.
That said, I'm curious, and interested to keep up with it. Here's one medical study. It's a bit dense to read, but has good information about this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study:
http://www.medline.ru/public/pdf/8_046e.pdf
It's a good study, but it's done on a small sample -- 70 women, with the following breakdown of age: 40-45 years (9 patients), 46-50 years (28), 51-55 years (25), 56-61 years (8). 50 women were assigned to the experimental group and 20 control women were given placebo. It was a 21-day treatment. So you're basically looking at results experienced by 50 women over 3 weeks when on this formulation.
Here's a forum where women are discussing taking it, or whether to take it:
http://www.power-surge.com/php/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t14152.html
And here's a pretty good explainer story about how Amberen functions, with doctors both for and against it for various reasons:
http://www.sanangelolive.com/node/2906
My advice? Watch and wait. If it's good, there will be more studies, more doctors familiar with it, and the quantity and quality of the ingredients will be supervised. But if you're interested personally and don't want to wait to investigate it, print out the info and take it to your doctor -- or a compounding pharmacist -- for her or his opinion.
July 17, 2009 - 8:47amThis Comment
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