Norbert
She's in her early 40's and has gradually been getting hot flashes, night sweats and as always - MOOD swings. ;)
Amy
An herbal menopause remedy has the ability to support estrogen balance in the body and treat a number of menopause related symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, and vaginal dryness. For natural menopause relief, See the webpages cited below for more info and where to buy:
Ivana
* Bee Pollen - A very good herbal remedy for hot flashes. Bee pollen contains a combination of male and female hormones. It has been known to to help some women do away with or minimize hot flashes. If you are allergic to bees, or honey, you may not use bee pollen. It is always best to start out taking just a little bit of bee pollen to see if you have a reaction to it or not. Typical dosage: 3 bee pollen pills (500 mg) a day, or the granule equivalent. * Black cohosh has been used by Native Americans for centuries to treat gynecological problems. Black cohosh root can mimic estrogen in the body. It also possesses antispasmodic and diuretic properties. It is useful for hot flashes, but it can also help with vaginal dryness, and even the depression sometimes. Typical dosage: 1-3 500mg capsules standardized to 2% triterpene glycosides per day, or 10 to 25 drops of tincture up to every 4 hours. ** Caution ** Don't take this herb if you have heart disease because it can decrease your heart rate! Do not exceed recommended dosage. Do not use if pregnant or nursing. * Dong Quai is a Chinese herb that is commonly used to treat menopausal symptoms and has pain relieving, antispasmodic, and anti-inflammatory qualities. Dong quai revitalizes the female body by correcting hormonal imbalances, and when hormone levels are in balance you don't experience hot flashes. It also boosts elimination and supports the cardiovascular system, valuable actions for women in menopause. Typical dosage: Up to six 500 to 600mg capsules per day; or 5 to 20 drops of tincture up to 3x's a day. ** Caution ** This herb should not be used by pregnant or nursing women, or during a bout of the flu. May interact with anticoagulant drugs. * Vitex or Chasteberry is a plant that also contains estrogen-like compounds. It was recommended by Hippocrates in the 4th century BC for "feminine discomforts", chasteberry is believed to act on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain where the body'd natural thermostat is located. It also acts on the pituitary gland, regulating progesterone levels. Typical dosage: 200mg of product standardized to 0.5% agnuside, 1 -3 times daily. ** Caution ** Do not use during pregnancy or attempts to become pregnant. Do not use if you are taking hormone replacement therapy or birth control pills. * Insomnia - Don't eat or workout within 3 hours of bedtime, since doing either can keep you awake. * Chamomile - a half hour before bedtime, drink calming chamomile tea. You can but prepared tea bags, or make your own brew by steeping 2 tsp chamomile flowers in 8 oz piping hot water for about 10 minutes. * Valerian is another herb that can help you fall asleep and stay to sleep, it may also help to reduce muscle spasms. Typical dosage: Try taking 20 drops of tincture in water at bedtime. You may need more or fewer drops; experiment to find the dosage that suits you best. * Memory Problems - Most women in midlife have moments - known as meno-fog - when even the simplest details elude them. Several recent studies indicate the direct effect of estrogen on memory, especially on verbal memory. The brain is an important target organ for estrogen, and as estrogen levels decline, brain function is bound to be affected: * Acetyl-L-carnitine is an amino acid derivative for improving memory by protecting nerve cells. Typical dosage: 250mg a day. * Ginkgo - Leaves from the ginkgo biloba, the world's oldest living species of trees, can improve short-term memory and concentration. This is particularly true among people with age-related impairment. Typical dosage: 120 - 240 mg ginkgo biloba extract per day, divided into 2 portions. * Huperzine is derived from a Chinese moss and it prevents the breakdown of acetylcholine, a substance that the nervous system needs to transmit information from cell to cell. Hyperzine enhances memory in adolescents, as well as older patients with memory impairment. Typical dosage: 100 - 200 mcg (micrograms) 2 to 3x's a day. ** Caution ** Before using this herb check with your doctor to make sure it won't interfere with any prescription meds you are taking. * Diet - Although not as simple as swallowing a pill, a healthy diet can help ease the symptoms of menopause and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Here are helpful dietary strategies: * Follow a diet high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low in saturated fats. It will provide you with plenty of fiber, vitamins and minerals, phytoestrogens, and bioflavonoids, all important for long-term health and to help minimize menopausal symptoms. Vegetables from the cruciferous family - broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, rutabagas, and turnips - help make substances called indoles. Indoles help protect women from the dangerous effects of excess estrogen, among them breast cancer. Plus they're all good sources of vitamins and fiber. If you eat them without cheeses sauce, they're all low-fat. Here are some other foods to seek out; sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, garlic, flaxseed oil, dates, pomegranates * Watch out for trigger foods. These are foods that can worsen symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia and mood swings. Some common culprits are coffee, tea, chocolate, colas, alcohol, sugar, rich dairy products, red meats, fried foods, and spicy foods. Also avoid nicotene. * Include fermented soy foods, such as tempeh and miso in your diet. Soy foods not only help protect against heart disease, but they also help ease hot flashes. Soy foods contain isoflavones, which have a weak estrogen effect in the body. Soy foods come in many shapes and sizes, including tofu, soybeans, soy beverages, soy nuts, and soy protein. Note: Do NOT include any other forms of soy in any diet – except in fermented form, soy weakens the immune system and increases the risk of stomach and other cancers. * Vitamins and supplements - Mounting evidence suggests that getting enough of certain vitamins and other nutrients can make menopause a breeze. Here is your list to get and take: * Vitamin E - used for hot flashes, calms anxiety, protects against heart disease, and eases vaginal dryness. Typical dosage: 200 - 800 IU per day. * Vitamin C with bioflavanoids helps with leg cramps, bruising, and hot flashes are significantly decreased. Typical dosage: 500 - 5,000mg per day. * Calcium/magnesium - This dynamic duo of minerals helps prevent osteoporosis and ease mental stress and anxiety. Use absorbable forms such as calcium citrate, gluconate, carbonate. Typical dosage: 1,000 to 1,500mg of calcium per day in a 2:1 ratio with magnesium. So if you take 1,000mg of calcium, take 500mg of magnesium too. * B-complex vitamins - Helps to reduce water retention, combat fatigue, and prevent nervous and mental disorders. In fact, vitamin B6 injections have been used to reduce hot flashes and treat mood disorders. Take a good daily B-complex supplement that provides at least 25 to 50mg of vitamin B6, 50 to 100 mcg. of B12, and 400 to 1,000 mcg of folic acid. * Selenium - this mineral helps to maintain normal hormone function, brighten moods, and helps fend off heart disease. typical dosage: 200mcg per day. * Acidophilus - These beneficial bacteria work to prevent vaginitis, yeast infections, and cystitis, problems that can crop up more frequently after menopause. Typical dosage: 2 to 6 capsules daily; or 1 tsp of liquid 1 to 3x's daily. * Evening Primrose Oil - This oil contributes to estrogen production and works as a sedative and a diuretic. It has also helped some women control hot flashes. Using flaxseed oil with evening primrose oil can help you maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. typical dosage: 800 to 1,200mg standardized to 20% gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA, per day. To help your heart, supplement your evening primrose oil with 1 to 2 Tbsp of flaxseed oil per day.
Jeniffer
Your wife needs to have a chat with her GP about this. I'm not well read in this area at all, perhaps Dr. Frank or SkepDoc will see this question, they will be of more help. I wasn't going to answer.....then I saw Tony's answer. As there has been a lot of concern over HRT, many women have turned to CAM instead. The most common CAM marketed for menopausal problems are black cohosh, dong quai, red clover, evening primrose oil, soy, kava and ginseng. However, it's vital you understand that just because something is natural, doesn't necessarily mean that it is safe. The vast majority of CAMs I mentioned above haven't been show to work very well in clinical trials for this problem. It's also worth mentioning that ginseng, red clover and black cohosh have oestrogenic properties, and therefore should not be used by women who have been told not to take oestrogen. There is also an issue with safety, there is no data regarding effects on the uterine lining and breast tissue these remedies may have. Remember herbal remedies do contain active ingredients. There have been cases of severe liver damage with Kava and black cohosh, in fact, kava has been withdrawn from the UK market due to safety concerns. You also need to be aware of products containing Dong quai and red clover because they contain coumarins, which interact with anticoagulants.
Coretta
The average age for the menopause is 51, so early 40s is quite early, but possible. Early menopause, other than when triggered by medical interventions, tend to be familial. Did your wife's mother have an early menopause? The first thing to do would be to attempt to confirm that this is actually the menopause. This is not as easy to do as it might seem. While a woman is still menstruating the hormones levels, which have a very wide normal range anyway, may fluctuate wildly and may not allow a diagnosis to be confirmed that way leaving one to rely on symptoms alone. Though I share some of the concerns that HRT must, like ALL medication be used judiciously, though it does increase breast cancer risk, these risks do not really kick in until HRT is used or continued over the age of 50 years. The 'risk clock' does not really turn on until then. There have been many attempts by trained physicians, rather than quacks, to find alternatives to HRT. The main place of HRT is basically now symptom relief, side issues such as osteoporosis are now treated separately. To date nothing has come close to HRT, neither propanalol nor clonidine are all that useful. There are long term safety concerns about plant oestrogens and the studies have yet to be done with regard to this. A small study ironically in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, (Volume 14, Issue 3, September 2006) reported women who used CAM in place of HRT experiencing worse menopause-specific symptoms than those who had not used it.
Allyson
None of the herbals have really proven consistently effective with all women, though as with all AM, you will find anecdotes of women who swear by them. When compared with the gold standard, HRT, they really aren't very helpful at all. Black cohosh and evening primrose oil etc are still being recommended by Alties in spite of no evidence of efficacy. The current craze is for "bio-identical hormones", promoted by "well known research scientist and endocrinologist" Suzanne Somers. This is essentially substituting untested and unregulated plant estrogens for animal ones which have been tested. We are biologically more closely related to horses than to potatoes....what could be more "natural" than horse pee? The Nurses Health Initiative study from several years ago showed that HRT was being overused and overprescribed for indications other than menopause, but did support that it was the most effective and safe treatment when used appropriately and for a limited time. All medications...whether prescription, or herbals taken in place..need to be considered on an individual basis, weighing the risks and benefits. I usually refer women to this website. It is run by a woman physician, an endocrinologist who became interested in treatment of menopause when she went through it herself. There is lots of good information on it. She prefers treating women with progesterone over estrogen. http://www. cemcor. ubc. ca/
Ellsworth
herbal menopause are great remedies fo meopausediseases. Just go yo : http://www. menopauseandweight. com an see there cool remedies for menopause and gain weight
Ola
Bardonia
Fairmeade
Ellicott City
Lake Success
Onaga
Craig Beach
Hepler
Green Oaks
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