Symptoms of Menopause

Menopause is said to be a disorder in women occurring after the age of 50 years where the ovaries ability to produce the hormone named estrogen decreases significantly and gradually stops. As a result treatment has to be started immediately by the doctor in the form of medications, hormone replacement therapy or surgically removing the uterus. Let us delve further into the symptoms of menopause.

The most common symptoms of menopause are vaginal dryness, irregular periods and pain in vagina during intercourse and psychological problems like depression, insomnia and mood swings. The symptoms of menopause can be divided into early symptoms and later stage symptoms.

The early symptoms of menopause are:

1 Irregular Vaginal Bleeding – This is one of the most common symptoms of menopause. Some women have excess vaginal bleeding while some women might have minimal vaginal bleeding. The period cycle either gets delayed or gets shortened in the case of menopause. There is no fixed length of time when the woman completes her menopausal transition. Also women who develop irregular menses should get themselves immediately evaluated by their doctor.
2 Hot Flashes and Sweat – Hot flashes may occur at night along with breaking in sweat. As a result sleep is not completed. It is observed that women with hot flashes sweat more at lower temperatures than women who suffer from hot flashes. There is currently no method to predict when the next attack of hot flash will occur. Hot flashes tend to decrease over a period of time.
3 Mood Symptoms – Women suffering from menopause suffer from mood symptoms like depression and sleep disorders. Women are not able to sleep at night due to hot flashes and extreme sweating. As a result women get tired easily. Researchers are trying to bring the symptoms of mood disorders under control.

Advanced stage symptoms:

1 Vaginal Symptoms – Vaginal symptoms tend to start after some years of the cessation of menses. Postmenopausal women might experience vaginal dryness, irritation in vagina, pain during intercourse.
2 Osteoporosis – Osteoporosis is said to occur when the bones and the joints become weaker and weaker. Menopause, along with age and hormonal changes leads to osteoporosis. Many times osteoporosis is only detected at the advanced stages of its development and hence is said to be a silent disease disorder till it develops fully.

In addition to the above mentioned symptoms of menopause the other symptoms that people suffering from menopause can experience are thinning of hair, increased risk of allergies, excessive weight, irregular body odor and itchiness of skin.

Menopause is not a disease or an illness. It is a transition between two phases of a woman’s life. Menopause occurs when a woman permanently stops menstruating (having periods). Many women experience a variety of symptoms as a result of the hormonal changes associated with the transition through menopause. Around the time of menopause, women often lose bone density and their cholesterol may worsen, increasing their risk of heart disease

Menopause is a natural process that occurs because of a decrease in the function of the ovaries, which also control estrogen production. In addition to a decrease in estrogen levels, menopause results in decreased progesterone levels, meaning that any eggs that are released are less likely to be fertilized.

Menopause management should encompass a holistic approach to include discussion on life-style and dietary factors, as well as specific menopause treatment options. For many women, hormone replacement therapies can provide very effective relief of distressing menopausal symptoms, significantly improving their quality of life, and can provide an important preventive role, reducing the risk of debilitating disease such as osteoporosis.

When does Menopause occur?

The occurrence of menopause is different for each woman. Menopause usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 55. The age of when menopause occurs is affected by several factors, including Nutrition. Malnourished women begin menopause about 4 years earlier than well-nourished women. Early onset of menstruation. Women who begin menstruation at an early age are more likely to begin menopause later

Menopause is a natural event that normally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55.Once menopause is complete (called postmenopause), you can no longer become pregnant.The symptoms of menopause are caused by changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. As the ovaries become less functional, they produce less of these hormones and the body responds accordingly. The specific symptoms you experience and how significant (mild, moderate, or severe) varies from woman to woman.

Symptoms

Symptoms of the menopause can include hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, mood swings, declining libido, osteoporosis, ageing skin, lack of energy, joint pains, weight gain, headaches and changes in hair quality. Interestingly, men also experience a lot of these symptoms, with irritability, a declining libido, changes in weight, ageing skin and hair, depression and anxiety.

Treatment

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was the main treatment for menopause symptoms. Many physicians believed that HRT was not only good for reducing menopausal symptoms, but also reduced the risk of heart disease and bone fractures from osteoporosis. However, the results of a major study called the Women’s Health Initiative has led physicians to change their recommendations.

Menozac is a herbal menopause treatment that has been specially developed to ease the transition period of perimeopausal and menopausal women and to smooth and eliminate symptoms of menopause and early menopause almost immediately. It contains special herbs for menopause and other natural botanical extracts and additives. Among them are: Soy seed, Damiana leaf, Black Cohosh root, and Vitamin E.

Estrogen

Pros: Helps prevent vaginal tissue from thinning; also helps prevent bone loss; very effective against hot flashes

Cons: Increased risk of ****** cancer if taken with a progestin; increased risk of uterine cancer if estrogen is taken without progesterone; increased risk of blood clots.



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Horses Urine

After the recent scares in the media about the risks associated with HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) there is a strong case for using alternative medicine to balance the body in menopause, especially when you get to supply your body with plant hormones rather than ones derived from horse’s urine. Recent research has highlighted the side effects of taking HRT to include breast cancer and heart disease. HRT has also been linked to gallbladder diseases.

Menopause is the point at which a woman stops ovulating and menstruation ceases, indicating the end of fertility. Many years before the menopause, levels of estrogen production slow down. This can start fifteen years before the menopause and is called the ‘circadian’. Apart from being a sex or reproductive hormone, estrogen acts on many organs and systems in the body. Cells in the vagina, bladder, breasts, skin, bones, arteries, heart, liver, and brain all contain estrogen receptors and require this hormone to stimulate these receptors for normal cell function. Estrogen is required to keep the skin healthy and contributes in the bone formation process.

Many women experience few if any symptoms during this time but others may suffer from some or all of the following; anxiety, hot flushes, dry skin, fatigue, feelings of bloating, headaches, heart palpitations, insomnia, irritability, decreased interest in sex, loss of concentration, vaginal dryness and weight gain.

Twenty five per cent of women go through the change without as much as a night sweat so not all menopause experience has the commonly known symptoms so it is possible to just sail through if you are in that lucky quarter.

The Menopause Vitamin E

Supplementation with vitamin E has been known to be effective since 1954 and reports from several authors say vitamin E eradicates most of the menopausal symptoms. Gamma-oryzanol, a nutrient derived from rice bran has been shown to be effective in treating symptoms of menopause. A daily dose of 20 milligrams reduced symptoms by 50% in 67% of the women studied.

When the menstruation stops altogether most of the acute problems a woman will face are over and a new balance between hormones is established. This is the stage when she may be vulnerable to potentially serious health problems such as cardio vascular disease, osteoporosis and vaginal atrophy.

Take StarGate Nutrition Calcium – Not Calcium Carbonate

Osteoporosis in particular is a major problem for women with an estimated 80% of all the 250,000 hip fractures that occur in the US being due to osteoporosis. Over 40% of women post menopause have alkaline somach fluid. Normally the stomach is slightly acidic which helps the absorbtion of calcium into the body. Calcium carbonate is actually not good for you as an isolated chemical. The calcium will end up in your heart and the carbonate in your bowl as cancer. You need to be taking a food state form of calcium as found in StarGate Nutrition Vitamin products.

Many GPs have recommended hormone replacement therapy HRT to control sever symptoms caused by estrogen deficiency in menopausal and post menopausal women. Basically a molecularly similar estrogen is taken by the woman but this estrogen is synthetic and only close to the natural estrogens produced in the body.

No Word For Menopause In Japan

Japanese women generally experience far fewer symptoms of menopause than western women. An article in The Lancet reported that the reason may be that Japanese women consume more phytoestrogens or plant estrogens. Plant hormones are very similar in chemical design to human hormones and may provide a safe alternative to the HRT that is being offered to women up to now. These estrogen like compounds are found in foods such as soybeans, tofu, miso, flaxseeds, pomegranates and dates. When these plant estrogens are eaten they act like the estrogens produced in the body. Plant hormones can be used in childbirth to start the contractions of labour!

Half of all postmenopausal women between the ages of forty five and seventy five show signs of some degree of osteoporosis. There is a connection being drawn to the possible cause of such high levels of the condition in these women. Forty per cent of all post menopausal women have a change in their stomach pH balance. In these women there stomachs become alkaline as opposed to being acidic. This cause’s poor absorption of calcium as it needs to be converted from the form we ingest, which is calcium carbonate, through the acidity in our stomachs to calcium citrate. This is the form of calcium the body finds most absorbable. Therefore you need to be taking calcium in the same form found in StarGate Nutrition products.

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This may go some way to explaining why there is such and increase of osteoporosis in post menopausal women and perhaps that we should readdress the need for HRT to combat osteoporosis and instead focus on bringing the stomach back to acidity or giving these women calcium citrate supplements. You can make calcium citrate by crushing up a calcium carbonate and mixing it cider vinegar.

Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine menopause is looked at as a period in which the energy of the kidney is declining. For the Chinese doctor the kidney has a corresponding emotion, tissue, sensory organ and element. These are respectively, fear, bone, ear and water. The adrenal glands on the top of the kidney are responsible for producing the hormones that the ovaries used to produce.

Chinese herbal medicine is one of the best ways of treating the menopause as the approach is holistic and this appeals to the condition as it very much a mind body spirit imbalance. The herbal formulas that the Chinese doctor will give will replace the estrogens that you are now not producing with plant estrogens. One of the formulas in Chinese medicine acclaimed for its beneficial effects for the menopause is called four things soup.

Ralph Quinlan Forde – CEO www.stargatenutritionvitamin.com the author and Holistic Medicine Consultant has contributed to the following publications over eight years, The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Herald, IVENUS, Tescos Magazine, The Irish Examiner and The Sunday Tribune. He is also the founder of www.medicinebuddhafoundation.org. His book The Book of Tibetan Medicine is now in 11 languages http://thebookoftibetanmedicine.blogspot.com

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All women under menopause go through many changes physically and emotionally. Changes in sexual patterns are one of the major changes. The women can not ignore these facts but instead try to understand them and act accordingly.

You might notice that a woman under menopause shows lesser signs of interest in sexual intercourse as compared to her previous condition. A women body produces many hormones and one of them is Estrogen. That hormone maintains the condition of the reproductive system and helps in maintaining sexual interest. Once Estrogen level starts dropping, a women’s interest in sexual intercourse drops eventually. This certainly doesn’t mean you are unable to carry out sexual activities but reaching a climax or having an orgasm can be very difficult for a women under menopause. These hormonal imbalance also brings fatigue and weakness thus loosing interest in sex completely.

Some women also experience bleeding and sexual pain during sexual intercourse, this is one of the main reasons why they avoid getting in any sexual contact. That can get unbearable at times and the bleeding may increase over time. As the estrogen levels have decreased, this causes drying of the vagina and decreases lubrication making sexual intercourse a painful experience. In addition to this, menopausal women also experience sudden anxiety attacks, anger, sadness, emotional stress etc. Women go through a lot of mixed feeling, hence concentration on sexual activities reduce drastically. One can not think of having sex if one is depressed or sad.

If you have been sexually active in the past and want to regain sex interest, there are many ways to do it. Emotional changes cannot be treated in a menopausal women. However women experiencing pain and bleeding while having sex can use several strategies to treat the dryness and fragility in vagina. You can use vitamin E cream or bland jelly for the healing. It needs to be applied during or before sexual intercourse. Other products like Replens are used daily especially for such conditions. Replens have effects that stay longer. All theses products are easily available at your nearest drug store even without a prescription.

If you experience menopause at an early age and want to resume your sexual activity after a long gap, you need to first strengthen and restore the vagina by using Hormonal creams that rejuvenate, moisten and thickens mucosal folds and even vagina lining thus improving circulation and restoring orgasm. You can also gently massage the opening and walls of the vagina with a estrogen cream in case you experience shrinking of vagina. This massage can be done for 10 minutes daily.

Menopause is a time when most women need support and understanding from family especially husbands or partners as she is going through a lot of changes.

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Natural Remedies for Coping with Menopause

* Menopause Defined

Menopause is defined as the time in a woman’s life when she has not menstruated for one year, indicating the end of fertility. Menopause typically occurs around the age of 50, but some women menstruate well into their 50s, while others experience menopause sometime in their mid-40s.

Perimenopause refers to the period of hormonal changes leading up to menopause; it can begin as early as the late 30′s. Women in perimenopause may experience such symptoms as irregular periods and hot flashes.

Menopause is not a disease — rather, it is a natural part of the aging process. The hormonal changes which accompany menopause are often responsible for a number of unpleasant physical symptoms, and women may experience some emotional distress as well.

However, it is important to remember that not all women have difficulty coping with the physical changes that occur during this time. Menopause does not signal an end to sexuality or femininity; in fact, many women embrace their new-found freedom from worries about becoming pregnant and the discomforts of menstruation.

For women who do experience uncomfortable symptoms during menopause, there are many options for treatment. While some women opt for hormone replacement therapy, a growing number of women are finding that lifestyle changes and natural remedies are highly effective in easing this mid-life transition.

* Causes of Menopause

As you approach middle age, your ovaries begin producing increasingly lower levels of estrogen and progesterone, two hormones that regulate menstruation and fertility. Fewer eggs are produced, and ovulation becomes less regular during this time.

Throughout this process, your periods may become unpredictable; eventually, your ovaries will shut down completely and menstruation will cease altogether.

Although some women menstruate every month until their final period, it is much more common to experience a gradual cessation of menstrual periods. This process can take several years, and it is not possible to predict which period will be your last.

* Symptoms of Menopause

Menopause symptoms vary from one individual to another; not all women experience the same indicators of the change of life, but the following are the most commonly recognizable signs:

- Irregular periods;

- Vaginal dryness;

- Hot flashes;

- Mood swings;

- Anxiety or depression;

- Sleep disturbances;

- Thinning hair;

- Increased abdominal fat;

- Decreasing fertility.

* Diagnosing Menopause

In the majority of cases, a description of the symptoms should be enough for your doctor to determine that you are going through the process of menopause.

Hormone tests can detect decreasing levels of estrogen and progesterone and confirm the diagnosis; in addition, hormone testing can rule out any other condition, such as impaired thyroid function (which can produce many of the same symptoms as menopause).

* Treating Menopause

In the past, many doctors treated women for menopause using hormone replacement therapy to replenish estrogen levels. However, amid increasing concerns about the dangers of hormone therapy (which include increased risks of heart disease and caner), women are more and more frequently turning to lifestyle adjustments and herbal remedies to treat their menopause symptoms.

- Lifestyle Changes and Home Remedies for Menopausal Women

Some simple adjustments in your day-to-day habits can alleviate many of the unpleasant symptoms and discomforts of menopause:

> Keep hot flashes under control. Dress in layers, so you can remove one or two when hot flashes strike. Exercise regularly, eat right, and try to identify and avoid things that cause them. Common triggers are alcoholic beverages, foods that are spicy, hot coffee or tea, hot rooms, and hot weather.

> Get plenty of sleep. Exercise during the day, but not too close to bedtime; this can increase melatonin levels necessary to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Avoid caffeinated beverages if you have trouble sleeping.

> Eat right. Good nutrition is more important than ever as you grow (gracefully) older, and getting plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lots of calcium can counteract many diseases associated with aging.

> Exercise regularly. Exercise reduces stress, helps to balance the neurotransmitters that regulate mood, controls hot flashes, and helps to prevent many age-related diseases. These include heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

> Don’t smoke. Smoking is never good for you. It increases stress levels, brings on hot flashes, and

contributes to heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. It is never too late to quit smoking.

> Combat vaginal dryness and discomfort with over-the-counter lubricants.

* Herbal Remedies for Menopause

Herbal treatments and natural supplements can effectively ease menopause symptoms safely, without the health risks associated with conventional medications. Many effective natural menopause treatments contain one or more of these herbal extracts:

- Ginseng increases the production of estrogen and protects against hot flashes;

- Dong quai helps to maintain reproductive system function, boosts heart health, and increases the efficacy of other herbs;

- Damiana increases libido and calms hot flashes;

- Black cohosh is a natural pain reliever;

- Aloe gel relieves vaginal dryness naturally;

- Sarsaparilla improves sexual desire;

- Calendula relieves vaginal dryness

- St. John’s Wort relieves mild depression.

In addition, many women find that soy products are extremely helpful in reducing hot flashes. Phytoestrogens are also helpful for relieving menopause symptoms, and they are often available in supplement form.

With herbal remedies and adjustments to your lifestyle, you can cope with menopause and enter the next phase of your life without undue distress or difficulty.

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Estrogen Therapy Has Been Used For 60 Years

Did you know that estrogen was first offered as a prescription therapy for menopause symptoms 60 years ago?  Menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life cycle; yet it often comes with very uncomfortable symptoms.  Not all women suffer with menopause, but some experience symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal discomfort, to name a few.  In 1949 estrogen in the form of “premarin” was a welcome solution.

In 2002, women were shaken by the publication of a study by the National Institute of Health.  This study found that women receiving a particular form of estrogen/progesterone therapy had an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, and blood clots.  Since then there have been four significant changes in our use of estrogen:

  1. We weigh the serious risks against the benefits of estrogen use;
  2. We use lower doses for shorter periods of time;
  3. Our interest in bioidentical hormones has increased; and
  4. More women explore alternative ways to manage symptoms.

Why is Estrogen Therapy Widely Used?

For many women the benefits of estrogen therapy continue to outweigh the risks.  Key benefits of using estrogen are relief or protection from:

  • Hot flashes,
  • Night sweats,
  • Insomnia,
  • Moodiness,
  • Vaginal dryness,
  • Urinary tract infections,
  • Depression,
  • Memory problems,
  • High cholesterol,
  • Osteoporosis, and
  • Colon cancer.

What are the Risks of Estrogen Therapy?

On the negative side of the equation, women have to consider side effects such as breast tenderness, vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge, bloating, nausea, headache, moodiness, hair loss and aggravated endometriosis.  There are also serious risks to consider:

  • Blood clots,
  • Stroke,
  • Heart attack,
  • Breast cancer,
  • Increased triglyceride levels,
  • Gallbladder disease,
  • Increased risk of dementia when started at age 65 or over , and
  • Uterine cancer for women with ovaries (An estrogen/progestin combination is a solution).

Are Bioidentical Hormones Safer?

Some women feel safer with bioidentical hormones. These hormones are made from yam or soy and have the same chemical makeup as human estrogen.  Some can be prescribed and are approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.  Others are unregulated and available over the counter.  Overall, there has not been enough scientific study of bioidentical alternatives for us to know how safe these treatments are.  They may have the same risks as other estrogen medications.

Deciding to Explore Estrogen Therapy

Women with the following medical histories and conditions should not take estrogen:

  • Personal or family history of breast cancer,
  • History of hormone-sensitive cancer,
  • Unexplained uterine bleeding,
  • Liver disease,
  • Blood clots,
  • Cardiovascular disease, and
  • Gallbladder disease.

If you don’t have any of the above conditions and you are very stressed by menopausal symptoms, consider estrogen therapy options.  You may also want to explore lifestyle changes that reduce side effects and enhance the positive effects of medication.

Are you going through menopause and want to stay active, healthy, and feeling like yourself? Don’t wait another minute to relieve menopause symptoms and start a diet plan that works for your life!

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