Dealing with Menopause Symptoms

If you want relief from your symptoms of menopause, but dont want to risk your health with a dangerous treatment, what should you do? As you probably have heard, hormone replacement therapy has been linked with certain cancers, heart problems, strokes, and other health problems. In fact in a study made by the Women’s Health Initiative, women who took a mix of estrogen and progesterone hormones were 71% more likely to contract lung cancer than those who were taking a placebo.

Of course there are reasons why some women will opt for the HRT route, due to much more severe symptoms than normal from menopause. Their hormones put them through hell every day, and can threaten bones with osteoporosis, or suffer extended heavy bleeding due to periods that are out of control. However for most women this therapy isnt really necessary, since a normal range of symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, depression, moodiness, etc. can be dealt with using milder therapies such as herbal remedies.

There is one case when if a woman has had a hysterectomy, she may be a prime candidate for estrogen-only therapy, which has shown to cause cancer of the uterus. However if her uterus has already been removed this is certainly not a threat. If she smokes cigarettes and has any history of blood clots, then this will not be a therapy to use since it has shown to possibly cause blood clots. Too high-risk for most women, but only you can make that decision.

With all of the risks that these hormones seem to have, what other alternatives are there? Many women are finding relief with alternatives such as: progesterone hormone cream, which can relieve symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, and many herbs which have varying rates of success for relief of the symptoms.

Herbs such as black cohosh for hot flashes have been used for many hundreds of years before the advent of modern medicine, as other herbal remedies. There is also motherwort, Asian ginseng, licorice root, lavender, kava, red clover, and ginkgo used to tackle a host of other symptoms in menopausal women. Most of these herbs are what is known as phytoestrogens or plants that act as a natural source of estrogen once converted by the body. Some can be used by themselves, and others even in conjunction with standard medicines depending on the usage. You should of course tell your doctor if you are taking any of these herbs, because some may interfere with the pharmaceutical medicines that you may already be taking.

One of the misconceptions about menopause is that once the symptoms start many women consider they are into menopause. Well, this is true in a sense but menopause doesn’t actually commence at least 12 months following a woman’s last period.What you’re more than likely experiencing is pre menopause and symptoms can occur years before the big “M” actually arrives.The arrival of pre menopause symptoms will be different for most women. While 40 and beyond is recognized as the most likely time of a woman’s life when she’ll be affected by symptoms it’s not uncommon for women to experience symptoms in their thirties.

Pre Menopause Symptoms There needs to be a distinction made between the symptoms you are currently experiencing and whether they actually are pre menopause symptoms.Mother nature can play some interesting tricks on us. For example, many women have reported menopause-like symptoms only to discover they are actually suffering from thyroid disorders. Does this present a problem? Well, if you’re not sure and consider your still a little too young to be worrying about menopause always see your doctor for clarification. Thyroid disorders have the ability to mimic pre menopause symptoms and the truth is, unless you are examined by your doctor telling the difference between the two can be almost impossible How To Determine When You’ll Experience Menopause One of the things to remember to be able to cope with pre menopause symptoms is the more you know about it the better.Sure Computer Technology Articles, knowing what it is and how it could affect you will not prevent it and you’ll need to experience the symptoms but mentally prepared women do much better than those who are in denial until it arrives.

One rule of thumb is to know when your mother and even grandmother experienced menopause. Unless they had surgically induced menopause then this is often a good guide to determining what age you’re likely to see symptoms arrive.Symptoms Of Pre Menopause Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms which you might experience.

These are the most common and if you’re experiencing them then see your doctor for clarification.1. Change in periods. This is probably the biggest tell-tale sign of pre menopause symptoms. Look for irregularity in your periods such as shorter or longer periods. If you start missing periods then this is a strong sign that something is definitely at play.2. Hot flashes are another common symptom and have a spin off of effects which can play havoc with a woman’s life. Hot flashes and night sweats affect sleep patterns which in turn affects mood and so on.3. Mood changes are another strong sign. Mood changes can be as a result of lack of sleep due to hot flashes or as a result of estrogen changes. Depression and anxiety are also related to mood changes.4. Vaginal dryness affects a woman’s sex life making sex painful which can in turn lead to decrease in sex drive and ultimately conflict with your partner.5.

Menopause weight gain especially around the mid section is another symptom which means you’ll need to re-consider your diet and exercise routine.6. Urinary conditions with problems such as UTI could increase and can be related to pre menopause symptoms.