Articles Tagged with hot flashes

Alternative Therapies for Menopausal Symptoms

0 Comments / in Menopause / by Christine Doss

There are many approaches to menopause that can help aid and treat the conditions that you feel, but these approaches can be lumped into two main categories: conventional and alternative.

Alternative methods are those that don’t involve pills or direct hormone therapy. While some researchers are skeptical about the effectiveness of alternative treatments, the truth is that many women feel symptom relief from these therapies and solutions.

Dietary Changes

Chinese soy milk soup with wonton

One of the best things that you can do is change your diet to improve your estrogen levels. To do this, you need to consume more phytoestrogens.

Phytoestrogens are plant-based compounds that mimic estrogen in the body, thus they are able to increase your level of natural estrogen.

Most fruits and vegetables have this compound, but the two best foods are soy and flaxseeds. Flaxseeds have the most phytoestrogens (about three times more than soy), but soy is easier to incorporate into your diet due to the vast number of products, such as soy milk and cheeses.

Yoga

Most people associate yoga simply with the art of stretching and bending, but there is more to it than that. Aside from stretching the body to improve flexibility, yoga also involves controlled breathing and intense meditation to improve your body. Many research studies have found that practitioners of yoga feel less menopausal symptoms, and it can decrease the number of hot flashes.

There are many yoga classes for beginners, so don’t think that you’ll be expected to bend like a pretzel on your first day.

Acupuncture

Many women who go for acupuncture have reduced hot flashes and many of the other symptoms are reduced or alleviated

Though science doesn’t entirely understand why, acupuncture has been proven to help with many different diseases and conditions, and it’s slowly being regarded as an effective treatment in the scientific community.

Among the many conditions that acupuncture can help fix and regulate, menopause is one of them.

Some people think that the increase in adrenaline from the pins going into you can improve menopausal symptoms, while others believe that the pins are able to interact with your body to help regulate the hormones.

Regardless of the reason, many women who go for acupuncture have reduced hot flashes and many of the other symptoms are reduced or alleviated, such as the fatigue, insomnia and depression that is usually coupled with menopause.

Just like with yoga, many women are scared of acupuncture because they think it will hurt. The truth is that the needles used in acupuncture are about as thin as a hair, and they are quite short. While you might feel a little bit of pain the first time, many people just feel a bit of a tugging that slowly goes away as the pins work their magic.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is another alternative therapy for menopausal symptoms that is based on Indian medicine. In India, Ayurvedic medicine is commonly used to treat all sorts of issues.

Many women find that an Ayurvedic diet is beneficial for menopause

It is based on three principles:

vata (space and air)
pitta (fire and water)
kapha (water and earth)

There are herbs, spices and foods that represent each principle, and an Ayurvedic doctor will tell you what to eat to fix your menopausal symptoms.

You will need to see an expert so that he or she can determine what principles are out of balance, and what you can eat to make yourself feel right again. Many women find that eating an Ayurvedic diet is very beneficial for menopause.

Conclusion

There are many treatments and therapies for menopause, and these four alternative therapies have been shown to help improve menopausal symptoms in most women.

While you might need to go the conventional route depending on how you react to these treatment methods, you should try these therapies first to see how well they work for you.

Posted on February 18, 2013

How Can You Tell If It’s Menopause?

0 Comments / in Menopause / by Zuzana

Is it menopause?

One of the first questions a woman asks when noticing changes linked to menopause is: “What is happening to my body?” Dana, thinking back to when she was thirty-nine, now realizes she was probably experiencing the beginning of perimenopause. She had noticed mild, infrequent hot flashes, but wrote them off to illness or fatigue. “I didn’t realize at the time that that’s what it was,” she recalls. “It had crossed my mind, but I thought, ‘oh, I’m too young.'” As the years passed, night sweats would come in spells, and then disappear for months.

Cheryl also recalls that her symptoms started subtly and lasted for many years. She became increasingly intolerant of heat of any kind. When she had her first hot flash, she simply did not know what it was. She also began having mood swings and cramps. “People used to just call it PMS. I think a lot of women are now realizing it’s the beginning of perimenopause.”

So how can you tell whether irregular periods, hot flashes, PMS, or insomnia are signs of perimenopause or something else?

The “menopause test”

Right now, there is no reliable test for perimenopause. Some clinicians may recommend a blood test to look for high levels of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone). But this test isn’t reliable because FSH levels, like estrogen levels, often rise and fall unpredictably during the menopause transition. Because FSH levels can vary from month to month, a single test may not be enough.

Also, when the blood sample is tested at a random time during the menstrual cycle, a “normal” result can be misleading and be misinterpreted to mean that a woman’s symptoms are not linked to menopause. This can leave many women feeling as though “it’s all in their heads.” If an FSH level is recommended, it should be drawn on the third day of the menstrual cycle. Elevated FSH levels on this day have been shown to correlate with diminished fertility, which can be an indication of perimenopause.

Tracking symptoms

There may not be a clear-cut test for perimenopause, but you can track important changes that you notice. Is your menstrual cycle noticeably different from a few years ago? Is your cycle shorter or your flow heavier? The answers to these questions will help you and your clinician determine whether you might be entering perimenopause.

Early on, your menstrual cycle may shorten, with periods beginning sooner than you expect. Maybe your periods used to come every twenty-eight days. Now, they come every twenty-three days. Any pattern is possible. Bleeding also may become lighter or heavier. Keep a calendar to record changes. The more accurately you can describe symptoms and irregularities, the easier it will be to pinpoint changes related to perimenopause.

Posted on September 23, 2011

Treating Vaginal Dryness during Menopause

0 Comments / in Vaginal Dryness / by Christine Doss

Vaginal Rejuvenation

Vaginal pain is a common complaint in postmenopausal women. Estrogen is directly linked to protecting vaginal tissue. Decreased lubrication is related to declining estrogen levels and can lead to vaginal dryness. These and other physical changes related to menopause can result in irritation and pain. This, in turn, can have a dampening effect on libido.

The good news is that there are a variety of effective treatments available. These include lubricants, vaginal moisturizers, female renewal gels and vaginal estrogens.

Lubricants

Lubricants are slippery substances that can be used at the time of intercourse. Most vaginal lubricants are available without a prescription. Popular water-based lubricants include such products as Lubrin and KY Personal Lubricant.

Vaginal moisturizers

Vaginal moisturizers contain a compound that adheres to the vaginal wall and draws in the body’s moisture. They can be used twice weekly on a regular basis (unlike lubricants, which are applied at the time of intercourse). Examples of vaginal moisturizers include Replens and KY Long Lasting Vaginal Moisturizer.

Female Renewal Gels

No Product Can Touch the Results of IntiVar

A female rejuvenation cream, just like IntiVar is not just a personal lube that simply adds moisture whenever you use it — IntiVar is a treatment for feminine dryness and excellent vaginal health over all. Because it is made of all-natural ingredients, you can be sure that it won’t cause allergic reactions like another vaginal dryness products that contain perfumes and dyes.

It is made to increase the blood flow to your vagina to ensure that sex becomes immediately more pleasurable while it works to increase your body’s ability to naturally self lubricate.

Furthermore, it is used for vaginal tightening by correcting issues with lost elasticity that come with ageing and dryness, and to round it off as one of the most effective solutions to stop the signs of vaginal dryness; it fights bacterial and fungal infections which you have an increased risk of when your skin is irritated and dry.

Discover More About IntiVar to Combat Menopausal Vaginal Dryness

Unlike estrogen tablets, creams and rings which may cause vaginal discomfort, irritation or abdominal pain, IntiVar is completly free of side effects. IntiVar can also help prevent bacterial or yeast overgrowths that can cause vaginal itching.

Estrogen creams

Vaginal estrogen creams are highly effective in relieving vaginal dryness and painful intercourse. However, the estrogen in these creams is easily absorbed into the circulation. So, unless a woman has had a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), she may also need some form of progesterone to avoid precancerous changes in the uterus. Even though vaginal estrogen creams are absorbed, the doses are generally low. Thus, women can gain relief without some of the risks associated with systemic hormone therapy.

Estrogen rings

Estring estrogen rings

Another locally applied product is a ring containing estradiol (Estring) that is inserted into the vagina much like a diaphragm. The ring releases a low dose of estrogen that has very little systemic absorption. The ring is replaced every three months. Some oncologists have allowed breast cancer survivors to use the Estring ring because very little of the estrogen reaches the bloodstream. Over short periods of time, the ring seems to be safe without progesterone, but long-term studies are lacking. Some clinicians recommend that all women with a uterus who use estrogen in any form take progesterone as well.

Estrogen tablets

Estrogen tablets (Vagifem) can be inserted into the vagina with an applicator to relieve vaginal symptoms. Similar to the above methods, they won’t help systemic symptoms such as hot flashes, and if a woman has a uterus, progesterone may be recommended.

WARNING: Estrogens given alone and with another hormone (progestin) have sometimes caused very serious side effects. Estrogens have been reported to increase the chance of cancer of the uterus (endometrial cancer), breast cancer, blood clots, stroke, and heart disease.
You may want to try other options before estrogen therapy – lubes, moisturizers, or better yet, female renewal gels like IntiVar.

Click here to discover more about IntiVar

Once vaginal dryness is successfully treated, it can pave the way for more comfortable and enjoyable sex. And the irony is … regular sexual stimulation can help maintain vaginal elasticity. In fact, it is recommended as a treatment. During intercourse, masturbation, and foreplay, blood flow to the vaginal area increases. This improves lubrication and supports the health of the vagina.

Posted on August 5, 2011

Vaginal Gel for Dryness of Vagina

0 Comments / in Vaginal Dryness / by Christine Doss

Many women suffer from the problem of vaginal dryness due to various reasons. It is one of the most commonly seen side-effects of menopause besides hot flashes. With the drop on estrogen levels, the walls of the vagina become thin, dry, and less elastic. This can also make sexual intercourse painful.

Hormonal changes during menopause is just one of the reasons; stress in relationships, inadequate amount of foreplay before intercourse, or other underlying medical conditions may also cause a lack of lubrication. Vaginal gels and lubricants help in restoring the natural lubrication. These gels are safe enough to be used as much as needed — in the long a term as well.

What Are the Ingredients?

Vaginal gels made for treating vaginal dryness are using various natural and medical ingredients such as glycerin, wild yam extract, aloe vera, oak gall extract, tocopheryl acetate, sodium alginate, methylparaben, water, and citric acid for maintain pH balance.

Several female renewal gels, such as IntiVar, are made with all natural unique active ingredients that are clinically tested to be effective. All the ingredients used are purified and standardised to ensure product performance safety and consistency.

How to Use Vaginal Gels?

Squeeze a small amounts of the gel or cream onto your fingertips and apply it to the opening of the vagina and the external area surrounding the vagina. The products available today may also contain Vitamin E and can also be used with condoms and diaphragm.

Why is Gel Favored Treating Vaginal Dryness?

Vaginal dryness can be effectively treatend with regular use of vaginal creams and female rejuvenation gels. These gels are water-based products that lubricate the vagina and feels exactly like the natural moisture that our body produces.

Make sure to avoid using any petroleum based products such as mineral oil, petroleum jelly, or other such oils. It is also important for the vaginal moisturizers to have a slightly acidic pH because the natural secretion of the vagina is acidic in nature which stops the microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria from growing.

Posted on May 11, 2011