Menopause symptoms

I often get asked by my patients if I think they may be approaching menopause. Signs of menopause are pretty common for women between 46 and 53. It’s during this time that you’re likely to experience less frequent, lighter periods, (this is called late perimenopause) or stopped periods altogether (this is menopause).

By the time your periods have stopped, your estrogen production will have dropped by 75–90 percent. Meanwhile, your progesterone production has stopped entirely. These hormone drops occur because your ovaries and the follicles containing your eggs are aging.

Although your ovaries and adrenal glands continue to produce estrone (a lower potency estrogen) and some estriol (an estrogen metabolite) is produced by your liver, these amounts don't support bone, breast, brain, heart, and vaginal tissues the way your premenopause hormone production does.

Simply put, menopause is a hormone deficiency condition that causes symptoms such as  menopause hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, painful intercourse, loss of libido, vaginal infections, loss of muscle and skin tone, achy joints and brittle bones, fatigue, and mental confusion.

Fortunately, through this blog, I will provide you with some of my best solutions for menopause relief.  So keep reading!

My #2 recommendation for fighting fibroids naturally is to use supplements that are known to fibroids heal and resolve. 

Start by taking a top-quality, broad-spectrum multinutrient that contains at least 50 mg of B complex vitamins, 100 mg of vitamin B6, 1,000 mg of buffered vitamin C, 700 mg of bioflavonoids, 600 IU of vitamin E, 800 mg of calcium, and 400 mg of magnesium every day. These nutrients help support the liver’s ability to metabolize estrogen (and therefore balance estrogen levels), block its fibroid-stimulating effects, maintain healthy uterine muscle tone, and help reestablish healthy balance of female hormones.

For more hormone-balancing recommendations, visit my Web site. 

Uterine fibroids affect 30–40 percent of women by age 50. However, fibroids rarely cause symptoms, so they’re often overlooked. Their growth is triggered by estrogen dominance, since estrogen is a growth-stimulating hormone. Estrogen dominance is a common hormonal imbalance during perimenopause, and fibroids often disappear on their own after menopause.

The problem with fibroids occurs when they get big enough or numerous enough to cause pain or increased bleeding during or between periods. Some women also experience more frequent urination or changes in bowel habits because of the enlarged fibroids pressing against the bladder or colon.

Many doctors recommend a hysterectomy to remove fibroids and prevent new ones from forming—after all, if you don’t have a uterus, you can’t have uterine fibroids. But hysterectomies can cause so many other problems in the long term, that I truly believe that they should be reserved only for extremely severe cases that cannot be resolved with any other treatments. Today and in the days to come, I am going to give you my top 5 recommendations for safely, naturally, and effectively dealing with uterine fibroids. 

#1: Eat for hormonal balance. One key to bringing estrogen levels back into balance is to avoid foods that stimulate estrogen production and raise estrogel levels, such as alcohol, sugar, and saturated fats. Let your meals revolve around phytoestrogens—substances that are chemically and functionally similar to a woman’s own natural estrogen, except that natural plant estrogens are much weaker and less potent. Phytoestrogens soften estrogen’s effects. Fibroid tissue is studded with estrogen receptors, and phytoestrogens bind to those receptors, displacing the more potent estrogen.

Colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains such as buckwheat and ground flax meal are great phytoestrogen sources that are also rich in the vitamins and minerals needed to balance estrogen levels, strengthen capillaries, and reduce uterine bleeding. As for supplements, I recommend 4–6 tablespoons of ground flaxseed, or 700–3,000 mg of bioflavonoids taken in divided doses.

Did you know that taking conventional hormone replacement therapy increases your risk for stroke?  In fact, preliminary studies show that in younger females, estrogen actually protects brain tissue traumatized by stroke, but after menopause estrogen becomes neurotoxic: It takes the area of the brain damaged by stroke and actually enlarges it.

It is important to remember that conventional hormone replacement therapy does not cure menopause symptoms, it only postpones them. For the majority of women, menopause symptoms come back when they discontinue hormone therapy, whether they quit cold-turkey or gradually wean off. But alternative therapies, such as supplements and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, actually target the causative hormonal imbalance, rather than the symptoms.

Review all my menopause-related entries in this blog, and my Web site, for more information about natural solutions for menopause relief.
 

Considering how much news comes out on the consequences of taking conventional hormone replacement therapy, I think it is important to stay abreast of the latest research on the subject. Ovarian cancer and asthma are just two more reasons to choose natural hormone therapy methods, like bioidentical hormone replacement.

A study of nearly a million women showed that even if hormone replacement therapy is taken for less than a year, and even if it’s low dose, it brings a significant increase in ovarian cancer risk. That’s irrespective of dosing frequency (daily vs. cyclic), mode of delivery (skin patch, pills, vaginal preparation, or hormone intrauterine device), and whether the formula’s estrogen is countered by progesterone. The cause-and-effect relationship between hormone replacement therapy and ovarian cancer was confirmed by the finding that after a woman has been off of it for two years, her increased ovarian cancer risk drops back to her original risk level. Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest of a woman’s hormone-sensitive cancers.

As for asthma, it has been known for several years that conventional hormone replacement therapy significantly increases a woman’s odds of developing asthma after menopause, even if she has no respiratory allergies. In a recent study of nearly 60,000 asthma-free women entering menopause, taking conventional hormone replacement not only increased their risk of developing asthma by 20 percent, but that risk rose to 54 percent if the hormone therapy consisted of estrogen without progesterone. And, if a woman already had some form of allergies before starting estrogen replacement therapy, her risk of developing asthma went up by a whopping 86 percent.

All the more reason to use natural hormone replacement therapy, or safe, effective alternatives for menopause releif, like black cohosh and the many other nutrients I discuss in this blog!

 

Vaginal dryness and loss of tone in the vagina are some effects of menopause that many women don't like to take about. In fact, a reader of my newsletter recently wrote in asking for my opinions on vaginal rejuvenation, which is a procedure that surgically tightens up the vaginal muscles to enhance sexual pleasure.

It is true that vaginal muscles can become stretched after birthing babies, and also due to age and fluctuating estrogen levels. However, libido and sexual pleasure are influenced by many factors, not just the "tightness" of the vagina. If you feel you need to enhance your sexual pleasure, I suggest trying natural methods first before resorting to risky surgeries like vaginal rejuvenation.

Some of the best nutrients to try include Mucuna pruriens, a concentrated natural form of L-dopa (300 mg per day in capsule form, standardized to 60 mg L-dopa; L-arginine (500 mg one to three times daily); and maca (2 to 10 grams per day). 

To learn more about how to achieve menopause relief naturally, visit my Web site.

The media today are reporting on new research that says that girls are starting puberty earlier than ever--some as early as age 7. Researchers speculate that rising obesity plays a role, since fat increases estrogen levels in the body. Environmental toxins, such as BPA and pthalates, and even common ingredients found in beauty and personal care products, like parabens, also cause changes in estrogen levels in the body.

According to researchers, not only does early puberty have negative emotional and mental affects on girls, but it can also increase their risk of breast and endometrial cancers when they get older, due to the fact that they have a longer lifetime exposure to estrogen.

This study is quite disturbing, but there are things you can do to protect yourself and your daughters and granddaughters. First, choose the most natural beauty care products you can because these are the ones that tend to be free of estrogen-like chemicals. Second, choose organic (and, if possible, locally-grown) produce. It may be a bit more expensive than conventionally-grown food, but the peace of mind you get knowing you and your loved ones are eating more nutritious, cleaner, purer food is worth those extra few cents.  And finally, make exercise fun! Go to the park and kick a ball around, play on the monkey bars, or go for a walk to your local store or library. Anything that gets you and your kids or grandkids moving will help prevent obesity.

For more information on estrogen levels and natural weightloss, visit my Web site. 

Research shows that watching what you eat--and, in particular, eating certain types of foods--can help relieve and prevent menopause symptoms. Today and in the coming days, I will give you my top 3 food recommendations for menopause relief. Let's start with the first:

#1 Food for Menopause Relief: Beans and Legumes

Soybean-based products actually help reduce and prevent menopause symptoms. Soybeans are loaded with plant-based phytoestrogens  called isoflavones. These compounds bind to estrogen receptors in the body and act as a substitue form of estrogen in estrogen-deficient women.

Legumes are also excellent foods for menopausal women. Common types are garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lima beans, black beans, and lentils. These foods provide essential nutrients needed by women in menopause, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, and zinc.

For more information on diet and foods for menopause relief, visit my Web site. 
 

Acupuncture (usually a minimum of six treatments) reduces the frequency and severity of hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and sleep disturbances by about 50 percent. An impressive 80 percent of people who try acupuncture significantly benefit—which makes it more than worth your while to give it a shot if you suffer from difficult menopause symptoms. Consider these statistics from recently published studies:

• A Swedish university study found that electroacupuncture reduced hot flashes by half.
• In Norway, individualized electroacupuncture reduced hot flashes by 77 percent.
• At Harvard and Stanford medical schools, university clinicians of Chinese descent collaborated on a study of acupuncture for nighttime hot flashes. Compared to placebo’s 6 percent improvement, acupuncture reduced nighttime hot flash severity by 28 percent.
• In another Stanford study by clinicians of Chinese descent, women who averaged seven moderate to severe hot flashes per day were randomized into seven-week sham versus real acupuncture treatment. The sham group had only a 4.4 percent reduction in severity of hot flashes, versus 24.5 percent in the real treatment group.

This exercise helps relieve menopause hot flashes by stimulating the entire endocrine system. It involves a very powerful point for the pituitary gland, the master regulator of your ovaries. This point also helps relax the emotional tension that you may feel as an effect of menopause. Finally, you may also experience relief from eye strain and headaches using this pressure point.

1. Sit upright in a chair.
2. With your right hand, hold the point directly between your eyebrows, where the bridge of your nose meets your forehead.
3. Hold for one to three minutes.