Natural Menopause Relief

The Menopause has become a dreaded word these days, but the truth is that not all women have problems during the menopause. Many women sail through the menopause without any problems. However quite a few do not and suffer from one or several of the symptoms associated with the menopause ie hot flashes (or hot flushes), night sweats, headache, insomnia, depression, weight gain, fatigue etc. The good news is that things do get better, the bad that it takes a while and you do have to take care of yourself if you want to continue to feel fit and young...

Menopause Symptoms

Menopause symptoms are varied but are far reaching. The list is long and it can seem disheartening, but they are not inevitable, they don't affect all women and they can come and go randomly during menopause.

Menopause symptoms include hot and cold flashes, depression and anxiety, irritability, irregular periods, memory loss, mood swings, insomnia, fatigue, and a wide range of physical body changes.
The physical changes are caused by the changing hormones in the body and include headaches, weight gain, teeth and gum problems, sore joints, achy muscles, digestive problems and itchy and dry skin.
For me the most upsetting symptoms were the hot flashes, headaches, weight gain and mood swings.

All these menopause symptoms can be transient or more chronic - do contact a doctor if these symptoms become persistent or severe.
Many times women put things down to the menopause when it could be something else.

What Is The Average Age Of Menopause

The average menopause age in the western world is 51 years and most women go through the menopause between 45 years and 55 years. Any younger than 45 years and its termed an early menopause and before 40 years it is called a premature menopause. I'm not sure what the average age of menopause is elsewhere in the world.

Early Menopause

According to the stats, 1 woman in 1,000 goes through early menopause while still under 30 years old, 1 in a 100 whilst under 40 and 5 in a 100 when they are under 45. Not a lot is known about early menopause, what causes it and how to treat it.

Why Natural Remedies For Menopause

Having personally been through the menopause myself, I am well aware of the risks associated with all medication and in this case Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for the menopause and so have been looking to alternative ways of alleviating menopause symptoms using herbs, relaxation treatment like massage and reflexology, and bioidentical hormones can enable you to have a natural menopause.

Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy

Bio-identical hormones eg progesterone cream is something which I find very useful especially with menopause related headaches. It restores progesterone levels so that it is in balance with a woman’s estrogen level without causing the side effects of synthetic progesterone. To find out if Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy is right for you download this free Bio-identical hormones ebook and audio interview.

Herbal Remedies For Menopause   

The two main herbs are used for the menopause and it's symptoms are Black Cohosh and Vitex.

Vitex Agnus Castus which is also called the chaste berry has been used for centuries as a tonic for general female health. It seems to nourish the pituitary gland which is the control centre for balancing hormonal activity. See What is Vitex for more info.

And Black Cohosh which is one of the most widely used and studied natural alternatives to HRT. Standardised extracts of black cohosh have been shown to produce better results in relieving hot flushes, vaginal thinning and dryness, depression and anxiety compared to standard HRT.

Theanine is also an excellent adjunct for controlling the stress associated with the menopause.

Milk thistle is another herb that can help you to have a natural menopause, and can help you deal with the hormonal changes in the body which can place an additional load on your liver, which can in turn intensify symptoms. Milk thistle is an excellent remedy for the liver.

Relief Of Menopause Symptoms

Other ways of managing the menopause include exercising and finding the right fitness program for you, eating a well balanced nutritional diet and talking to a therapist in order to help you with the anxiety caused by the changes in your life and body. Acupuncture and acupressure are also known to help some women.

Male Menopause or Andropause

Men too can suffer from the menopause (man o'pause) and this is called Andropause. It is thought to be caused by a deficiency in testosterone levels and can result in irritability, fatigue, depression, reduced libido and erection problems.