Amberen Perimenopause Review: Is It Safe and Effective?

What Is Amberen Perimenopause?

Amberen Perimenopause (AP) is an over-the-counter menopause-relief supplement marketed as an alternative to conventional hormone therapy.

AP claims to reduce up to ten symptoms of perimenopause, help restore hormone balance and menstrual regularity, be hormone-free, and clinically proven as safe and effective.

The perimenopausal symptoms that AP claims to ease include hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability, headaches, lack of sexual interest, muscles and joint aches, and anxiety.

The life stage prior to menopause is defined as perimenopause, the beginning of which may be signaled by some of the above symptoms.

Perimenopause normally begins after age 35 and usually lasts for several years.

Menopause is defined as the point when a woman has gone 12 months without menstruation.

The possible symptoms a woman may experience during perimenopause and menopause are the same.

Amberen makes menopause and perimenopause products. Their ingredients are comparable, except the perimenopause formula adds B vitamins and Disodium Fumarate for reasons that are unclear.

AP lists succinates, amino acids, and minerals as the primary active ingredients. These ingredients total 555 mg per dose, but there is no value placed on each ingredient to know how much of each is in a capsule.

This makes it impossible for medical professionals to evaluate safe or effective doses of each ingredient.

AP also lists vitamin E and B vitamins as active ingredients. The amounts of these vitamins are indicated on the label and are within tolerable upper intake levels (UL) of each.

However, there is no seal on the product to indicate it has been third-party tested, so there’s no certainty of the product’s content.

Amberen offers a toll-free phone number to a “menopause specialist” who they claim is overseen by a licensed nurse.

I called and spoke with a knowledgeable representative who referred me to a nurse’s email for additional questions.

Clinical Studies of Amberen Perimenopause

The website shows a timeline on its clinical history page summarizing Amberen studies, including an AP-specific 180-day study of 105 women in perimenopause in 2020.

However, the study that used AP specifically could not be found in PubMed (a public search engine for biomedical literature) even with help from a company representative.

Because AP is so like the original formula, Amberen Menopause, it’s worth sharing the following studies.

A study in 2007 with Amberen involved both mice and a randomized control trial of 70 women. (1)

Results of the mice portion of the study were favorable, with improvements in skin, coat, and fertility.

In the human portion, the Amberen test group showed increases in blood serum estradiol and favorable decreases in other menopause-related symptoms.

Another 2019 review pooled the information from two identical 90-day studies, with a total of 114 postmenopausal women in the treatment group. (2)

Significant improvements were reported in 15 symptoms during the study.

One of the researchers was a paid staff member of Biogix, Inc, the company that owns the rights to Amberen.

Evaluation of Ingredients

Amberen Perimenopause has over a dozen active ingredients. The individual dosages in the proprietary blend are not listed individually.

The ingredients fall into the following categories:

Antioxidants: Ammonium Succinate and Disodium Fumarate

Succinates go by many names but are generally regarded as safe in the right dosages.

Succinates are made during our metabolism of carbohydrates. They are not well understood but play a role in many different functions, including use as an antioxidant.

The AP clinical research page indicated that there were animal and human studies regarding succinates and their effectiveness on menopause symptoms. I was not able to locate these studies.

I found a paper that describes how succinates impact the hypothalamus and the endocrine system as we age. The research included the discussion of easing several menopause symptoms via hormone balance. (3)

Disodium Fumarate is generally recognized as safe by the FDA. Amberen describes this ingredient as a mitochondrial antioxidant, but I couldn’t find literature to explain this process. (4)

Minerals: Calcium Disuccinate, Magnesium Succinate, and Zinc Difumarate

Calcium is a mineral known for its importance in bone structure. While AP does not claim to increase bone density, osteoporosis is also a common problem during perimenopause. (5)

Magnesium is needed for countless functions, including nerve and muscle function, protein and DNA synthesis, and blood sugar regulation. (6)

A study of 46 elderly patients performed in 2012 showed magnesium’s potential as a sleep aid. (7)

Results indicated that magnesium treatment not only improved subjective sleep quality but showed favorable blood serum changes in melatonin and cortisol levels.

Zinc has many roles in the body and is important for immunity, DNA synthesis, and wound healing. (8)

Zinc may also have an impact on mood. A systematic review found that treatment with zinc improved mood in pre-menopausal women with depressive symptoms.

Amino Acids: Monosodium L-Glutamate and Glycine

Amino acids may help ease menopause symptoms. Monosodium l-glutamate is a component of glutamic acid, one of the non-essential amino acids.

It is a neurotransmitter, a form of communication between cells in the brain. (9)

This 2015 animal study found that glutamic acid increased estrogen and improved bone density. It also helped regulate weight gain and vaginal changes associated with menopause. (10)

Glycine is another non-essential amino acid that also acts as a neurotransmitter.

Glycine plays a role in sleep by helping regulate body temperature changes associated with menopause.

In a 2015 rat study, glycine lowered body temperature, which improved the quality of sleep. (11)

B Vitamins

Amberen Perimenopause lists five of the eight B vitamins as active ingredients.

B vitamins are collectively responsible for thousands of functions in the body, a handful of which are mentioned below:

• B1 (Thiamin) 1.5 mg: Important for the growth and function of cells and helps turn food into energy.
• B2 (Riboflavin) 1.8 mg: Plays a major function in making energy from food and is essential for cell growth and function.
• B6 (Pyridoxine) 2 mg: Helps with over 100 known enzyme reactions.
• B9 (Folic Acid) 333 mcg: Aids in DNA and RNA synthesis.
• B12 (Methylcobalamin) 3 mcg: Important for central nervous system function, red blood cell formation, and DNA synthesis.

B vitamins have been utilized as a treatment in menopausal women for their important roles in avoiding osteoporosis and cognitive decline. (12)

However, a 2020 systematic review regarding vitamin B supplementation and its ability to prevent cognitive decline did not result in significant findings. (13)

Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) 5.04 mg

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant in the body. Antioxidants protect against damage from free radicals in the body.

Vitamin E was theorized to help reduce hot flashes, but results from recent studies have been weak. (14)

In a randomized control trial in 2009 of vitamin E, subjects experienced a 7–10% reduction of hot flashes. (15)

Side Effects, Safety, and Dosage

Hormones are tightly regulated by a cascade of complex processes in the body, and there is potential harm in trying to adjust them by using over-the-counter supplements.

Signs and symptoms of hormone imbalance warrant a visit to a skilled practitioner.

As always, consult your primary care doctor before beginning any supplement to make sure that it’s safe for you.

Studies involving the original Amberen Menopause formula reported no side effects. (2)

However, because Amberen’s blends are proprietary and not listed, we don’t know if the studies used the same amounts of ingredients.

In addition, the studies were for 90 days or less. Because menopause symptoms can last for years, studies are needed to show long-term safety.

The product label directs consumers to take one white and one orange capsule each morning after eating their morning meal.

Cost and Where to Buy

A three-month supply of Amberen Perimenopause costs about $76 on Amazon, which works out to about 85 cents/day.

This may be worth the price for women to feel relief from symptoms of menopause, which can be severe and life-altering.

Amberen Perimenopause is widely available and can also be purchased at most drug or warehouse stores, including CVS, Target, and Walgreens.

Buy Amberen Perimenopause on Amazon

Comparison to Alternatives

While several over-the-counter supplements on the market offer hormone replacement alternatives for menopause symptoms, Amberen reports that there are no other supplements containing their exact proprietary ingredients.

Another popular supplement on the market, Estroven Complete Menopause Relief, uses a completely different ingredient, Rhapontic Rhubarb Extract ERr 731.

The long-term safety of this product has been established. In a safety review of ERr 731, during a 20-year time span (1993–2014), only 124 adverse effects were reported compared to the 140 million doses on the market in Germany. (16)

Black cohosh is another popular herbal supplement used to treat menopause symptoms. Countless brands sell this herb, often combining it with other herbs to treat different symptoms.

There is no standardization of this ingredient, which makes it difficult to study, according to the National Institutes of Health. (17)

There are several different perimenopausal supplements on the market, and they all work in different ways.

It’s best to discuss your symptoms with your doctor so that you can determine together which product is right for you.

The Bottom Line

While the effectiveness for Amberen Perimenopause may be just as effective as its sister product, Amberen Menopause, no studies on this exact product are available for review.

Furthermore, no long-term studies are available to the public for either product. While these studies may have been performed as Amberen describes, they should be made public.

It is not possible for health care professionals to recommend products without evidence and third-party testing to back their safety.

Hormone regulation is a complicated component of human health. Imbalances should be discussed with a skilled health care professional before trying a new medication or supplement to make sure it’s safe for you.