Can you answer joe’s question about Menopause?:

I would like to check my levels to determine if my problems could be premenopause, but I have been told I would have to discontinue my birth control pills to get the true results. Any information would be appreciated.

Herbal Remedies For Hot Flashes

Can you answer Squirrel’s question about Menopause?:

Doctor tells her that her hormone levels are “too high” to get pregnant. She didn’t have a menstruation for 8 months and then suddenly had a heavy flow. She is overweight, diabetic, hypertensive. She is willing to try InVitro if pregnancy is possible. What should she do to increase her chances of getting pregnant?

If you have any private comments/advice, please e-mail appleslicess@yahoo.com
she is 43 years old

Herbal Remedies For Hot Flashes

Menopause means the permanent ending of fertility and menstruation in females. The hormonal changes that happen during this cycle can trigger all kinds of disruptions in the body. It can disrupt sleep, give feelings of sadness and loneliness, and give a feeling of lack of energy. It is not an illness, it just means your not going to periods anymore and you don’t have to worry about getting pregnant either.

You don’t actually start menopause until it’s been one year from your last period. Most women normally hit menopause between the ages of 41 and 51. The signs and symptoms of menopause can star before you reach the one mark of your last period. The signs of menopause can be a combination of irregular periods, hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, sleep disruptions, increased abdominal fat, thinning hair, and loss of breast fullness.

Estrogen and progesterone are the hormones that regulate menstruation. When the ovaries start producing less of these hormones is when menopause happens. Fewer fertile eggs are developing in the ovaries each month and ovulation is less predictable. The post ovulation rush in progesterone becomes less dramatic and fertility declines.

There are 2 stages in menopause, perimenopause and post menopause. Perimenopause is the time when you begin to notice signs and symptoms of menopause even when you’re still menstruating. Hormones fluctuate unevenly and it may last 4 to 5 years maybe longer. Post menopause happens when it’s been one year since your last period. Your ovaries stop producing eggs and hormone levels decrease.

There are a few things that can cause menopause to happen earlier than expected. Chemo therapy and radiation therapy can cause the symptoms like hot flashes and induce menopause early. Premature ovarian failure is when your ovaries stop working before the age of 40 mostly due to genetics. Having a hysterectomy removes the uterus and not the ovaries, it does not cause menopause. Having a total hysterectomy where they remove both ovaries and uterus can cause menopause. With this your period just stops and there is no transition phase into menopause. The body just goes directly into menopause and all the symptoms should occur.

Treatments for menopause are just based on relieving the symptoms of menopause since it is not a medical condition and there is no cure. Hormone therapy is the most effective of all the treatments. This is where estrogen is given in the lowest dose needed to relieve the symptoms of menopause. Estrogen can also be given in the form of a ring, cream or vaginal tablet to decrease vaginal dryness. Low dose anti depressants can be given to decrease menopausal hot flashes.

There is something that can be done to reduce and prevent the effects of menopausal symptoms. Try to figure out what triggers your hot flashes. For many women hot beverages, spicy food, alcohol, and hot weather can be triggers. Strengthening pelvic floor muscles will help with urinary issues. Eating a healthy diet, exercise every day and not smoking can reduce the symptoms as well. Vitamin E can provide relieve from hot flashes and so can black cohosh.

Alternative Health Supplements offers a number of products that are all natural and can provide relief from menopause. EstroSym XR is a great product for menopause relief. EstroSym XR can help with many of the menopause symptoms including night sweats, irritability, moodiness, thinning of hair, hot flashes, vaginal moisture, control the urgency to urinate, improve sleep, helps you feel younger and have more energy and it has zero side effects so it is perfectly safe for you to take!



Thanks to Steven A Johnson for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:

Hair Loss And Menopause

Natural progesterone can assist you by balancing your hormones and therefore reducing highly uncomfortable and life altering hormonal induced symptoms and complications.

Progesterone can also help you with issues that you may not even know you had! For example, did you know that natural progesterone can improve the quality of your hair? Or your skin?

This is entirely possible and in fact, very likely through the use of a progesterone cream like NatPro.

Progesterone supplementation will balance your body, leaving you feeling healthier and stronger than ever.

Progesterone creams like NatPro contain a hormone which is the same as the one found in the human body. When a woman goes though menopause, her hormone levels drop. This brings about the symptoms of menopause like moodiness, skin irritation and generally not feeling yourself.

It is important that you stick to the recommended dosage of progesterone to ensure that you receive the greatest benefits. There is no benefit in using higher than the maximum recommended dosage; in fact the benefits may even be reduced if you do this. It can even cause your body to become estrogen dominant again, which is the opposite of what you want to achieve when balancing your hormones.

Natural progesterone cream should only be used to balance your hormones after a doctor has confirmed that you are deficient. This can be achieved through saliva testing.

Progesterone cream replaces hormones through the skin (transdermally) and this ensures that it enters straight into your blood stream.

What else can progesterone cream do? It will assist in balancing your hormones which in effect can help with the following hormone related symptoms:

Irritability

Migraines and headaches

Low libido

Fatigue

Mood swings

Bloating

Fluid retention

Hot flushes

Sore joints

Vaginal dryness and itching

Bladder problems

Anxiety

Depression

Backache

Sore breasts

All of the above are symptoms of menopause, PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) or both. These problems generally occur due to estrogen dominance in the body. The goal of natural progesterone is to introduce more progesterone back into the system to create the balance that is needed to restore “regular” body patterns, as it is before menopause begins.

It is not only menopausal women who need progesterone. Other situations may require it as well.

Women are on estrogen replacement therapy may have a drop in progesterone which can be “topped up” with natural progesterone cream.

Women on birth control pills which have too much estrogen in them can also be at risk of estrogen dominance and lack of progesterone.

Women who have undergone a hysterectomy are also candidates for natural progesterone treatment as well as post menopausal women, particularly those who suffer from insulin resistance or who are overweight.

It is even thought that people who are over exposed to a substance found in the air called xenoestrogens may be estrogen dominant.

Most women use progesterone for around three months before feeling normal again and this is a good point of reference to go by once you start using a progesterone cream like NatPro.



Thanks to Jean Morgan for contributing this article to our Menopause blog:

Brown Spotting And Perimenopause

Can you answer joe’s question about Menopause?:

I would like to check my levels to determine if my problems could be premenopause, but I have been told I would have to discontinue my birth control pills to get the true results. Any information would be appreciated.

Early Onset Menopause Symptoms