Natural Menopause Treatments

Natural menopause treatments are the best way for women to go through what is a natural life transition. For most women, menopause is fraught with rumor and misinformation.

Stories of menopausal hot flashes, vaginal dryness, wrinkles, weight gain, depression, anxiety, thinning hair, and loss of sex drive may have you dreading menopause.

Instead, take control of your transition. Virtually all women can and will get through the challenges posed by menopause without having to do anything drastic about it.

A growing number of conventional doctors are adopting this more enlightened attitude as well, and recommending herbal remedies for menopause, such as Black Cohosh, which is widely recognized as a safe and highly effective natural menopause treatment.

Some doctors rarely prescribe HRT and tend to rely on common sense, advising women about a healthy diet and a few nutritional supplements as natural treatments for menopause.

Besides, menopause signals more than hormonal changes. It is the doorway to a new life. Postmenopausal women are free of the discomforts of menstruation, free of the need for contraceptives, and in many cases, free of child-rearing responsibilities.

For the first time, many women find they can concentrate on their own agendas and do the things they want to do.

Relieve Signs And Symptoms of Menopause Safely and Naturally

There are over 35 signs and symptoms of menopause. Fortunately, no one woman has all of them. About 85% of American women have symptoms in the years before, during, and slightly after menopause.

Most women, only suffer from one or two major discomforts, and it is these that compel them to seek treatment. Signs and symptoms of menopause are highly variable in terms of number and severity from one woman to the next.

For some, the problems are so severe that they may not be able to go to work. For others, menopause will be a barely noticeable event other than for the loss of monthly periods.

Most of the signs of menopause can be divided into two subcategories: physical and mental, and the entire menopausal period can last up to five years.

It is characterized by a decrease in the level of several hormones, including estrogen, without adequate compensation by the adrenal glands, to make up for the low hormone levels.

An increased rate of heart disease and osteoporosis is also associated with menopause.

Physical Discomforts of Menopause

The following physical symptoms have been reported by women during menopause, starting with the most common:

1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes; clammy feeling
2. Bouts of rapid heart beat (related to hot flashes but may occur without hot flashes)
3. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter, or heavier periods; shorter or longer cycles
4. Dry vagina and painful intercourse (directly attributable to low estrogen levels)
5. Overwhelming fatigue (could by caused by insufficiency of adrenal function)
6. Incontinence, especially upon sneezing or laughing (can be helped by exercise)
7. Aching, sore joints muscles and tendons
8. Breast tenderness
9. Headache change: increase or decrease (due to disturbance in hormone levels)
10. Worsening medical conditions (high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis)
11. Increased allergies
12. Weight gain, often around the waist and thighs, resulting in a “disappearing waistline”
13. Hair loss (can resemble male pattern baldness in men) or thinning (head, pubic, or whole body); increase in facial hair
14. Thinning skin
15. Osteoporosis (after several years)
16. Change in fingernails; softer, crack or break easier

Mental Discomforts

The lower production of hormones that occurs with menopause can cause changes in the brain and nervous system. A sudden lack of these hormones allows blood sugar levels to soar and then plummet rapidly.

Since these hormones also affect the activity of thyroid hormone, mental discomforts can show up. The emotional rollercoaster attributed to menopause, expresses itself in one or more of the following symptoms:

1. Irritability
2. Mood swings, depression, sudden tears or temper tantrums
3. Trouble sleeping, through the night (without or without night sweats)
4. Loss of libido
5. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
6. Feelings of dread, apprehension, or doom (due to low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, or a low thyroid)
7. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion, memory lapses

Herbal Relief For Menopause

The amount of estrogen that the body produces is out of a woman’s hands. But there are plenty of other factors that a woman can control that can reduce signs and symptoms of menopause discomfort.

In addition to the most popular herbs listed below, certain foods that cause hot flashes and other symptoms should be avoided, including meat, dairy products, sugar, and caffeine. Routine exercise is encouraged both for physical health and as a stress reducer.

Black cohosh: exerts its benefits in menopause due to its estrogenic effects. Black cohosh extract is estriol-like in its behavior, making it a safe supplement for women with a high risk for breast and uterine cancers. Is the most widely used herbal approach to menopause.

Chaste berry helps to balance the hormonal system. Sarsaparilla may help some menopausal women with joint problems.

Calcium helps relieve nervousness and irritability, and generally helps women to get to sleep and stay asleep, The mineral magnesium can also be helpful in relieving these symptoms. Other herbs which are the best documented as herbal remedies for signs of menopause include damiana and piperine.

When taken in combination, these herbs work favorably 85 to 90 percent of the time.

Use a holistic approach to eliminating signs and symptoms of menopause, and you’ll be feeling much better, physically and emotionally in no time.