Are You Suffering From the Symptoms of Menopause?
As a women approaches menopause (premenopause or perimenopause),
estrogen hormone production slows and the ovaries stop producing eggs.
As estrogen levels decline, certain signs (or symptoms) of menopause
occur. The first sign is a change in the woman's menstrual cycle.
Periods become irregular, skipping or occur more often, and the flow may
be heavier or lighter than usual. Weight gain is a certainty.
Depression and hot flashes (night sweats) are the most common symptoms are hot flashes or hot flush. The hot flash may begin before a woman has stopped menstruating and may continue for a couple of years after menopause. A hot flash can be defined as a sudden sensation of intense heat in the upper part or all of the body. The face and neck may become flushed with red blotches, appearing on the chest, back and arms.
For hot flashes there are prescription drugs that offer limited relief: synthetic progesterone (Cycrin, Megace or Provera), methyldopa (Aldomet), clonidine (Catapres), synthetic androgen (Danazol). Mood altering drugs with low doses of paroxetine (Paxil) or fluoxetine (Prozac) have been heavily prescribed, but are rapidly falling out of favor.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol, get forty minutes of daily exercise and sleep eight
hours a
night. Aromatherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicines (such as
ginseng, evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf tea, dong quai and black cohosh), and massage all are proving to relieve hot flashes and other symptoms
of menopause.
Menopause Symptoms Increase Vaginal Discomfort
There is a high chance urinary tract and vaginal infections will increase several years after the beginning of menopause. The symptoms include:
- go to the bathroom often
- urgent need to urinate
- not able to urinate
- going often during the night.
Menopause may begin in your early 40s but usually in the late 40s to early 50s, as your ovaries gradually produce less and less of the hormone estrogen. Dr. John Lee teaches that progesterone reduces during menopause, too. This is important as most medical professionals never address progesterone levels. A woman's periods become erratic - sometimes skipping a month or alternating between light and heavy.
Transitioning to Menopause
The next period of time is the transitioning to actual menopause. During this time you may continue to have erratic periods, and the more serious symptoms of menopause begin:
Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings and insomnia are some of the
symptoms of menopause. The final and actual onset of menopause usually occurs in
your early 50s and is represented by the absence of your period for a full 12
months. It's those in between years that can wreak havoc in your life.
Why Are Natural Menopause Treatments Like Progesterone Cream Better?
Menopause is a completely natural occurrence in a woman's reproductive life.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the standard protocol for menopause among
healthcare providers - however there remains considerable controversy about the
benefits and risks associated with standard HRT drugs.
For the past several decades, conventional medicine has treated hot flashes
and other menopausal discomforts with estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). But
because ERT is dangerous for women with a history of cancer, hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) - which combines estrogen with a synthetic progesterone - is often
used instead. But many women don't want to take the potential increased risk of
cancer associated with ERT and HRT, or they dislike the cyclical bleeding &
significant side effects often caused by HRT.
Menopause: HRT Not the Safe Answer
Recent publicity concerning the health risks of synthetic hormone replacement therapy has led many women to seek more natural solutions. And with good reason. In areas of the world where soy and other estrogenic plants are part of the diet, breast cancer rates are much lower and symptoms of menopause are almost non-existent. Synthetic hormone replacement is not common because it is not needed for menopause.
In the U.S., where pharmaceutical companies make $8 billion a year on
synthetic
hormones, breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes are increasing
dramatically among menopausal women. Dr. John Lee, author of "What your Doctor
May Not Tell You about Menopause", blames the increases on synthetic hormones.
He says that the pharmaceutical companies are well aware of the problems. "The
whole thing is madness," he says, "and it's driven by greed." A few simple and
natural solutions can clear up the menopausal problems and eliminate the health
risks associated with the synthetic hormones. Natural Progesterone Cream was Dr.
Lee's first line of defense against the symptoms of menopause.
