New Pills treatment for Menopause without Hormones
At menopause, changes in hormone levels can cause symptoms of hot flushes, mood and sleep changes. Most common way to alleviate the symptoms is by using HRT. However, for women who are not willing or unable to take HRT due to the medical reasons, couple of new pills are now available to treat primarily hot flushes.
What are the new non hormonal pills?
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the most effective way of controlling menopausal symptoms although this may not be suitable for all women especially those with a history or suffering from breast cancer. Adding HRT may fuel their breast cancer.
There are two new non-hormonal pills available in the market.
- Veozah (fezonlinetant), a neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist medication designed to reduce moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS). Up to 80% of post-menopausal women experience hot flushes and night sweats. (“Global cross-sectional survey of women with vasomotor symptoms …”)
Veozah works by specifically blocking neurokinin B (NKB). NKB is a chemical that binds to receptors in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for regulating body temperature.
How effective Veozah is?
A large clinical trial of fezolinetant (Veozah)published in March 2023 showed that after 12 weeks of use it reduced the frequency of hot flushes by about 60% in women with moderate or severe symptoms, compared with a 45% reduction in those who received a placebo.
Any precautions:
It is recommended to check the liver function before Veoza is started. If the liver function tests are abnormal, you may be able to take Veoza as long as it is not severely abnormal.
Once Veoza has been started, the liver function should be checked monthly for the first 3 months and then periodically thereafter, based on the judgement of your doctor.
That is why you will need a follow up appointment up to 3 months after the initial prescription, including monitoring of liver function blood tests, and ongoing follow up during treatment as advised by your doctor.
- Lynkuet (elinzanetant), a new NK1 and NK3 receptor antagonist medication is now approved by TGA on 11th September 2025. This significantly” reduced the number and severity of hot flushes — intense bursts of body heat that can occur day or night — among women in clinical trials. Most women slept better.
How safe it is?
In contrast to Veozah, Lynkuet has a better liver safety profile possibly because it acts against both NK1 and NK3 receptors whereas Veozah only acts against NK3 receptor.
This difference may be advantageous for Lynkuet as Liver monitoring may not be required.
When to see the Gynaecologist?
If you wish to discuss more about this, Please contact Rockingham Women’s Health Centre on 0895918943 to book an appointment or www.rockinghamwomenshealth.com.au.
