At Last – Natural Menopause Relief

Victoria came in yesterday wondering if she should take hormones for menopause.  At age 54, she hadn’t had a menstrual period in over six months, but wasn’t having any of the usual symptoms of menopause either and was wondering what to expect.  She’d had a couple of hot flashes (“I think”), but they weren’t distressing.  However, even though her symptoms were minimal, she was told she needed the hormones to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease.

At age 45, Julia had already had over a year of hot flashes and they were keeping her up at night. After sweating so much at night, she couldn’t get right back to sleep; and it happened several times every night.  During the day, she was tired all the time and irritable both at work and at home.  She even started getting anxiety.  “Miserable…” was how she described herself.

As you can see, there are many faces of menopause.  Some women are really miserable with the hormonal changes and mood swings, while others seem to sail through without a blip on the hormone radar screen.  Because of this, the big question is, “Does every woman require hormone treatment?”

Options For Managing Menopause

Doctors have turned this very normal process of life into a disease.  It’s not a disease.  There is nothing about menopause that creates poor health, except for the symptoms.  The truth is women can live long and healthy lives without the hormones that produce ovulation and menses.  Because of this, menopause is one of the few conditions that should be treated symptomatically.

Treatment for menopause is really about controlling symptoms; if a woman has no symptoms and just stops her menstrual periods, she doesn’t need to do anything.  But, if her life is miserable with sleep deprivation, panic attacks, foggy brain, hot flashes, vaginal dryness and loss of libido, it may be prudent to find natural menopause relief from those symptoms.

The treatment options a woman has are very broad due to the wide variety of symptoms.  There are many herbal remedies, vitamin treatments, natural combinations, homeopathic remedies, creams, suppositories, patches, hormone replacements and prescriptions available to those navigating through menopause.  “How to choose?” is the biggest question.  Read on to find some helpful tools that might fit you.

Remember: You are the only one who knows how you feel, so a doctor cannot tell you what will work for you.  Consider the advice you are given, try the ones that seem promising and then evaluate them for yourself.  This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all condition.  It just has to work for you!

Best Of Herbal Remedies

There are so many herbal preparations that it is impossible to list them all.  Let me say that many of my patients find one herbal remedy or another that works well for them. Streamlined doctors are told that herbal preparations don’t work, so they pass unbelief on to their patients.  This is unfortunate because, while they don’t work for all women, countless find great natural menopause relief and avoid having to take potentially harmful prescriptions.

Some of the preparations that I have seen women use successfully include:

• Black Cohosh
• Red Clover
• Russian Rhubarb
• Ashwaganda
• Chayawanprash

I highly recommend Black Cohosh because it is the most visibly affective.  There are many preparations and combinations to try – just find the one that works the best for you. Recently, while shopping, I came across Estroven and later found out several of my patients were using it with very good results.  You can also find Black Cohosh in our store that offers promise in treating menopause.

 

Vitamin Balance

Many women are also helped by taking vitamins and minerals supplements.  Calcium and magnesium can help with hot flashes, while vitamin D helps to balance these minerals.  Vitamin A and E also help, especially if taken with omega-3 oils.  Cod liver oil has a good balance vitamin D, A and omega-3 fatty acids.  Typical doses are as follows:

• Calcium 500 mg with Magnesium 500 mg per day
• Vitamin D3: 10,000 IU per day
• Cod Liver Oil: 1 Tablespoon per day
• Iodine: 1 mg or more per day

Natural Food Therapy

Most women and their doctors don’t recognize the role of food in regulating the symptoms of menopause.  The food we eat affects our hormones to a great degree.  Many women can be helped simply by changing their diet to get the nutrients they need, as noted above, without have to take pills.  The usual result of adjusting your diet for better vitamin A, D and E absorption is more energy.  Don’t forget the calcium and magnesium minerals!

The most essential ingredient to include in your diet to control menopause symptoms is raw foods.  All over the world, the spread of processed, pasteurized, prepared and engineered foods is causing a great deal of harm to the health of its inhabitants.  Instead, buy only food that is “living,” meaning not heated or processed.  For example, pasteurization is done to kill microorganisms, but it also destroys the enzymes that help us digest and utilize our food.

The next principle is to choose mostly high-nutrient-and-low-calorie foods such as vegetables.  Foods with starches, sugars, fats and proteins cause obesity and hormone imbalances, which are often the culprit in menopausal symptoms.

Exercise Instead Of Estrogen

Activity is an important adjunct to a good diet.  It allows the release of endorphins that help to balance the adrenal hormones, improve the immune system and relax the mind and body.  As a result, we feel less pain, anxiety and discomfort.  It doesn’t take an Iron Man triathlon to see benefits.  Simply start as best as you can and add little bits every week.  For example, I had one woman patient who could only get to the mailbox and back, so we started there.  By only adding a few steps a week she was going over two miles within a year.

Taking More From Menopause Then Hormone Replacement

There are many options for replacing the hormones that are lost when the ovaries stop working. Prescription hormones consist of both human estrogens and horse estrogens.  I recommend avoiding the horse estrogens because humans don’t have the enzymes needed to process them.  Because of this systemic compromise, prescription hormone replacement has been associated with increased heart disease and breast cancer.

The three major natural human estrogens are:

1. Estradiol (E2) is the most active, so most of the prescriptions contain this natural form.
2. Estriol (E3) is the least active, but it is also the most protective and prevents breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.
3. Estrone (E1) potently stimulates the receptors and seems to induce estrogen-dependent cancers.

There are no commercially available natural human estrogen preparations with anything except estradiol.  Those who need the others will need to get them from a compounding pharmacy.

I have many women who only complain of frequent urination, vaginal dryness, frequent urinary tract infections and urinary incontinence.  If this is the case, I have used the ESTRIOL (E3) vaginal suppositories compounded to 1 mg each.  Most women only need them a couple of times per week to maintain their pelvic area and prevent these problems.

The other major hormone is progesterone.  This one can be taken orally or in a cream.  Progesterone is the calming hormone.  Women who have trouble sleeping at night often find an oral dose of progesterone has them sleeping like a baby.  It can be used alone or in combination with human estrogen.  You should primarily use progesterone if you are using estradiol (E2) and still have your uterus and ovaries.

Some doctors do hormone replacement protocols that prolong women having menstrual periods throughout their lives.  Studies on this practice are ongoing, but promising.  Again, it’s not for everyone, but I have patients that swear it keeps them young and active – and generally from my perspective they are.  One study is using this as a treatment for breast cancer instead of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Bottom Line

Not all women need treatment for menopause.  If you want to prevent osteoporosis, the better course of treatment is to take vitamin D and exercise regularly.  If you want to prevent heart disease, then it is better to eat a healthy diet.  Menopause treatment really is for relief of symptoms.

What we learn from treating the symptoms of menopause is to listen to everyone, but listen to no one.  Whatever works for one woman’s hot flashes is not necessarily going to work for another.  It’s really a matter of trying the various treatments until you find the natural menopause relief that works for you.

 

Dr. Scott D. Saunders, M.D. (Ask-an-MD) is a practicing physician, specializing in preventative healthcare, who utilizes eclectic health care for the whole family, including conventional, orthomolecular and natural medicine. He is also the medical director of The Integrative Medical Center of Santa Barbara in Lompoc, CA. He went to UCLA medical school and is board certified in family medicine. View natural remedies with Dr. Saunders at: http://www.youtube.com/user/naturalEdoctor01