Menopause
Menopause can be a very disruptive time in a woman’s life.
How a woman travels through menopause is determined by her genetics, her toxic load, hormonal balance, nutritional status and her outlook on life. If you have ever experienced any of these symptoms, you will know how frustrating they can be. Every women is different and will require a different approach to treatment.
Below I talk about some of the symptoms you may be concerned about, and then look at how naturopathy and herbal medicine can help.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
Hot flushes & night sweats
Fatigue & insomnia
Weight gain
Lack of libido & vaginal changes
Changes in memory and concentration
A feeling of things crawling on the skin
EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS
Anxiety, depression & panic
Tearfulness
Inability to cope
HOT FLUSHES & NIGHT SWEATS
Nothing is more disruptive than night sweats that keep you from sleeping properly. Some women are woken many times per night. Lack of sleep can exacerbate your other menopausal symptoms and increase your feeling of not being able to cope.
Not only can hot flushes leave you feeling hot and bothered, they can be embarrassing if you tend to flush dramatically. A patient once told me how mortified she was, when during a discussion with a younger male colleague, she had a hot flush and turned bright red. She felt that others in the office might have thought that she was enjoying his company a little too much! She managed to laugh about it later, but imagine if this is happening on a daily basis and you were already struggling to cope.
FATIGUE & INSOMNIA
Tiredness can be experienced on its own. It is of course worse if you are experiencing night sweats. If you were already struggling with energy levels before menopause, this is probably something that will affect you.
You may however, have always had plenty of energy and are wonder what is wrong with you. Do you tend to be the ‘Superwoman’ type? It could be time to slow down a bit and nourish your body while it goes through these changes. Women are often very busy looking after others at their own expense, without realising what the long term effects will be.
WEIGHT GAIN
When weight starts to appear around the middle it is a sign of a metabolic issue. This often occurs as we get older, especially as the hormones decline. For women this weight can be quite hard to shift. It can be a sign of a sluggish thyroid, which may have been present before menopause, but become more obvious later.
It is also likely that there are some toxicity problems. Fat tissue tends to store toxins to protect the body and may be reluctant to break this down in case they are released into the circulation. A detox program may be helpful in these cases especially in conjunction with the Shake-It Weight Management Program in order to kick start your metabolism while we work on other angles.
A FEELING OF THINGS CRAWLING ON THE SKIN
This is called formication after the formic acid in ants. It is not as common as hot flushes but just as disruptive. If you are feeling as though you have creatures crawling on or under your skin, or are constantly itchy, you’re not going mad! This could be the explanation.
