Women Health

It can be very frustrating to have to try lots of supposed remedies in an attempt to treat your menopause. You might have friends surrounding you that have found good treatment methods. They might even be pushing you to try the things they have tried. Try to remind yourself that they mean well. They just want to help you find a way to feel better than you do now.

Many generations of women simply endured the stages of menopause without relief. Now there are all sorts of treatments and remedies that can help a woman to ease her suffering. Each woman’s response to treatment is unique. There are some options that will work for you and others that might not. Here are a few treatments you might think about considering or at least researching.

1. Try loading up on phytoestrogens, the famous plant nutrients. Phytoestrogens come from a variety of naturally-occurring foods. Lignans and isoflavones are two forms of phytoestrogens found in a variety of food you eat, hopefully on a frequent basis. Several of the fruits and vegetables we eat everyday contain many phytoestrogen type lignans.

2. Make your pelvic floor as strong as you can. A lot of your symptoms start in your pelvic area, which is why you want to make sure that you’re as strong as it can be; the stronger your pelvic floor the weaker your symptoms will be. You will probably be put on a regular schedule of kegel exercises–the same exercises you did when you prepared your body for giving birth. These kinds of exercises also do quite a lot to help women relieve incontinence symptoms. Basically what you want to do is strengthen all of the muscles in your pelvic area so that you can stay healthy and in shape “down there”.

3. Hormone replacement therapy sometimes has greater effects on menopausal symptoms but as time goes by, more and more doctors and nurses are expressing their reservations about this form of treatment.

4. One of the most miserable or hormone symptoms is suddenly, without warning, being on fire – and usually covered with sweat. It’s not only uncomfortable, it can be extremely embarrassing. Vitamin E can reduce these symptoms in many women. It’s best to obtain this vitamin from your food simply because it’s more easily absorbed and utilized. The dangers of overdosing are greatly exaggerated but the danger is non-existent if Vitamin E comes from our food.

5. Using black cohosh has been said to have benefits. Many women report that, taken in the early stages of menopause, black cohosh can help them drastically reduce the severity of their symptoms. Severe side affects of black cohosh have been seen in a few long-term users and include heart palpitations, vision difficulties, nausea, headaches and dizziness to name a few. Should you consider black cohosh as an option for you we recommend talking to your doctor first. To avoid the above side effects do not take black cohosh for more than six months.

6. Visit your doctor often. Once a year is usually not enough for women who are going through menopause. You should see your doctor every three or four months. You need to do this so that you can keep your doctor informed about your symptoms, your treatments and your progress. This also allows your doctor to keep tabs on any medications you may be taking to treat your menopause pharmaceutically. Your doctor will also be able to catch various conditions as they develop by using regular pap smears and other screeners (like lipid level tests). This will be very beneficial if you start to show signs of aging issues or other kinds of disease.

There are a multitude of treatments available for every symptom. Every female will go through the change in a different way. Many women will not require official treatment whereas others will. It is extremely important to remember you do have options for help if you reach out and take them. There are more ways to reduce the effects of menopause on your sanity than can be discussed in one article.

Try out a drug free menopause treatment to stop the hot flashes of menopause before they get started.

Bio Identical Hormones are the big story in pharmaceuticals for the year 2010. Bio Identical Hormones have reached a cultural and media saturation point that mean you’ll be hearing a lot more about them this year. We’ve put together 4 reasons why they’ve become such a hot issue, and why you might want to look into them for yourself.

#4: They Can’t Be Patented.

One big reason that these drugs are becoming more and more widely known is because they’re unique — both unique in a market position and unique in a biological sense. As they aren’t specially made pharmaceutical drugs that can be patented, there are no big profits for the big companies, making bio identical hormones more appealing to many.

#3: All the Natural staff is Very Much ‘In’ Right Now.

Normally, hormone replacement drugs are produced synthetically, using other hormones and chemical compounds. While bio identical hormones also use synthetic elements (often soy extracts), the final result is a biologically identical hormone that is the same as the naturally-occuring one found in women’s bodies. This is a fundamental difference from the hormonal drugs women have been taking since the 1940s.

#2: Awareness is Reaching a Tipping Point. What do we want so say by that?

The talk about bio identical hormones has recently reached a media saturation point where it’s now very common to hear them discussed. If you see your doctor or a hormone replacement therapy specialist, talking about bio identical hormones is no longer going to be a fringe or alternative issue like it might have been 5 or 10 years ago.

#1: Oprah Winfrey is Taking Bio Identical Hormones

Oprah’s endorsement or featuring of a product can be exactly what moves something into this whole “tipping point” in the first place. She’s recently featured bio identical hormones extensively on her program, and this has created the perfect conditions for the “tipping point” talked about above. It’s simply a matter of time.

Looking for an honest, real voice on bio identical hormones and hormone replacement therapy? Get real, straight answers from one of America’s most heavily-quoted doctors on the hormonal therapy subject, Dr. Erika Schwartz.

Bioidentical hormones have been in the news a whole lot lately, and there’s still some controversy surrounding them. The main reason for this is because of the amount of dubious claims floating around on the internet. We scoured the reputable sites and journals and came up with 5 key facts you should know before diving into more research. Take a look.

#5: There’s A Key Difference Between Bioidentical Hormone Therapy and Standard Approaches.

The fundamental difference to remember is that a bioidentical hormone therapy plan uses hormones that are chemically identical to those hormones produced in the human body. Above and beyond all the other information that’s out there, this is the key fact — these hormones are exactly the same as those your body produces.

#4: There’s a Perfectly Good Reason Some Aren’t FDA Approved.

The FDA doesn’t have a system in place to approve compounded hormones when they’re made by a special type of pharmacy. The reason this system doesn’t exist is simple — the hormones are ‘customized’ to each person, so the FDA would have to sit down and approve literally hundreds of thousands of hormone replacement therapy solutions every year.

#3: Make Sure Your Compounding Pharmacy is Reliable.

Because of this inability to approve individual compound hormones, it’s necessary to ensure that you are getting your hormone replacement therapy from a pharmacy that practices great quality control and has been fully confirmed and vetted by your doctor. Check the Pharmaceutical Compounding Accreditation Board for another outside source.

#2: Be Realistic About the Oprah Factor.

Part of the reason for the explosion in interest recently is due to Oprah Winfrey — she revealed on her show that she was feeling “off” due to menopause, and started a bioidentical hormone therapy program. According to her, it made a world of difference. As a result, there are a lot of people online looking to exploit this newfound interest — make sure you’re dealing with a reputable, trustworthy expert.

#1: Keep A Balanced Approach For the Best Results.

In the end, using bioidentical hormones might help you fight the problems of menopause, but nothing is ever a 100%, catch-all solution. As long as you go into this not expecting all your problems to be solved instantly (there’s no magic pill), you’ll be able to make a rational decision.

Thinking of starting a bioidentical hormone therapy? Analyze your symptoms and test your hormones only with the help of a professional bioidentical hormones doctor.