St Johns Wort - Verdict

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A while back, I had said that I had been feeling depressed and had started taking St Johns Wort.

For those who are interested in knowing the outcome, for me it has been a total success.

I did not see immediate results and was ready to give up after 3 months. However, I started to feel a subtle difference at about 3 and a half months, and can definitely feel the benefits now.

I have been taking SJW for 5 months now and has been great. It has helped me get through a very difficult and traumatic period when my mum was in hospital, very smoothly. I have felt that I could cope and I no longer get so down that I can't spring back easily.
Things just seem more manageable. Don't expect a miracle though.

As to the menopause symptoms, the hot flushes and the other sypmtoms seem marginally better.

So give it a try and you never know - you might find a new you!

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Soya for Menopause

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Soya beans and any products made from them, such as tofu, tempeh, miso,
soya milk and soya sauce, are rich in phytoestrogens, plant substances that mimic human oestrogen.
These have been shown to be especially beneficial for menopausal women, helping to control symptoms as well as having a protective factor against osteoporosis and heart disease.

Soya may also help to boost memory by promoting and protecting nerve cell communication and have a protective effect on the prostate.

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Low Libido?

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Many women complain of waning or low libido at the start of the menopause.

Herbs can help rebalance your hormones.
Dong Quai, agnus castus, ginseng, ladies mantle, wild yam, black cohosh and motherwort have all been used to good effect.

Useful nutrients include vitamins C and E, B complex, magnesium and zinc, found in wholegrains, fruits, veg, nuts , seeds and pulses.

The essential fats are needed as precursors to hormones. They are found in oily fish, nuts, seeds and their cold pressed oils.
Particularly recommended are hulled hemp seeds, ground flax seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
Seeds are also a good source of the mineral zinc(as are oysters), levels of which are often rock bottom in menopausal ladies.

The liver generally needs help at this time of life, as it is responsible for processing old hormones. Milk thistle is one of the best herbs for helping the liver and can be taken daily for a few months.

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Osteoporosis Diagnosed by Fingernail Test

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Scientists have devised a way of testing for the bone disease osteoporosis simply by scanning a patient's fingernail.
Both fingernails and bones contain a crucial bonding substance which helps give them strength.
The team, including University of Limerick experts, say low levels in the fingernail indicate low levels in bone.
The idea has been nominated for the Medical Futures - Innovation Awards, due to be announced later this year.

Osteoporosis is a weakening of the bones that can lead to breaks which are difficult to heal.
This test could be a low cost and simple way of assessing someone's risk and if they need to go for further checks according to Mark Towler.

It affects one in three women and one in 12 men and is responsible for 200,000 broken bones per year in the UK - and 40 deaths a day.

The first clue the fingernail could play a role in diagnosing the disease came when a doctor noticed his osteoporosis patients had floppy nails.
Mark Towler, a lecturer in materials at the University of Limerick was asked to look at the properties of nail and bone.

Dr Towler checked the nails and bones in 10 people with osteoporosis and 10 without.
He found that levels of disulphide bond - needed to bind one protein molecule to another - were lower in people with osteoporosis.

The researchers went on to look at another 200 people, who were also given bone scans - the conventional way of assessing if someone has a risk of osteoporosis.
Everyone shown by the scans to have osteoporosis was also found to have low levels of disulphide bond.

Dr Towler said "People are usually referred to hospital for bone scans if their doctors feel they have risk factors, such as being post menopausal, or if they smoke.
This test could be done in a GP surgery, or someone could send off a nail for testing."

Good news for us women going through the menopause, as this would be a cheaper, easier, time saving and no hassle way of testing.

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Vitamin E for Hot Flushes

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Hot flushes and those dreaded night sweats!

As many as 75% of menopausal women experience hot flushes. They vary in intensity and frequency and may recur over months, or even years.
This refers to the dilation, or relaxation, of the tiny blood vessels near the skin, leading to a rise in skin temperature and flushing of the skin.
Increased heart rates, headaches, dizziness, weight gain, fatigue or insomnia may accompany hot flushes.

Vitamin E (200-600iu per day) has long been established for helping many menopausal problems especially hot flushes, night sweats, palpitations and vaginal dryness.
The combination of bioflavonoids, especially hesperidin, together with vitamin C (at about 1000mg of each per day) can also be useful for flushing and other circulatory problems.

Natural sources of vitamin E are plant oils (hemp, olive), seeds (linseeds, hemp seeds, sesame), wholewheat products (wholemeal bread, cereals), tinned tuna and asparagus.

Apparently it doesn't always work, but if you've tried all else, like I have, it's definitely worth a try!

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Feeling Depressed.....

I haven't posted for a while, because I've been feeling really down lately.
I can't take any of the herbs for menopause as I'm allergic to them, but have been using high doses of vitamins and theanine to manage the menopause.
But I guess it's the combination of the long winter this year, a couple of colds and an ear infection that have ground me down.

I've also been feeling sorry for myself, and so much want to find the woman that I was again. I just seem to have lost that spark.

So, I have decided to take St John's Wort in the hope that it will give me that extra helping hand to pull myself out of this.
I started taking it a couple of weeks ago and will keep you informed of it's efficacy.
Apparently it takes about six weeks to work it's magic!

I will try and put up a description and how to take it etc on my Natural Menopause site when I'm up to it.

Bon Courage to all those going through the same thing.....

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Don't Let Yourself Go

Natural Menopause

There are so many things to deal with and worry about that it's very easy to let yourself go during the peri menopause and menopause.

My excuses were,

- I'm just so tired my least important priority is what I look like.
- my self-esteem was so low that I thought, "what's the point, I'll never look good"
- I felt so depressed and low that I didn't feel like dressing up.
- I felt sad at getting older and looking at the mirror just reminded me that I was getting older.

But believe me, it is worth making that effort to look as good as you can.
It will lift your spirits and make you feel better. You will feel like doing things, going out and meeting people, all which will impact the above points and make them better.

So when you wake up in the morning, even if you are not going anywhere, put on your gladrags, put some make up on, stand straight and hold your head up high.
Have a great day!
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Menopause Symptoms - Two is Better Than One!

Natural Menopause
Two is better than one...
Pairing up two commonly used herbal medicines is "very effective" for easing physical and psychological symptoms of menopause, German researchers report.

St. John's wort is widely used to treat mild to moderate depression, while women have traditionally taken black cohosh for menopausal complaints.

To see if a fixed combination of the herbal medicines could offer an alternative to hormone replacement therapy, the researchers studied 301 women who had been experiencing menopausal symptoms for at least three months, along with depressed mood.
Half took the St. John's wort and black cohosh combo, while the other half took placebo pills.

After 16 weeks, women who took the two-herb combination showed a 50 percent reduction in symptoms such as hot flashes and sweating, compared to 19.6 percent for those on placebo. Scores measuring depression fell by 41.8 percent among women on the herbal medicines, compared to 12.7 percent for those on placebo.

The improvement in menopausal symptoms was similar to that seen among women taking hormone therapy for three months, Gruenwald and his team point out. They conclude that the treatment is safe and effective for easing both depression and menopausal complaints.

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, February 2006.

Natural Menopause

The famous duo reduce falls!

Long-term dietary supplementation with vitamin D and calcium significantly reduces the risk of falling among older women, according to the results of a new study.
Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and colleagues assigned 199 men and 246 women to take either vitamin D and calcium daily or placebo.
The subjects were at least 65 years of age (average, about 71 years) and lived at home.

During follow-up over 3 years vitamin D and calcium did significantly reduce the risk of falls by 46 percent for the women. No significant reduction was seen in men.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, February 27, 2006

Night Sweats..

In women, menopause is the most common cause of night sweats.

It may be treated a number of ways. Exercise is considered an
important part of treatment, and a number of herbal treatments are
often employed: Dong Quai, Chaste Berry, Black Cohosh, Motherwort,
Licorice Root, and essential oils, among others.

A more traditional treatment is the use of estrogen and progestin
replacement therapy. Changing to a healthier diet may also take care
of the problem.

OTHER THINGS THAT MAY HELP:

• Keep the bedroom cool. Install air conditioning, use a fan, or keep
a window open at night. Use minimal bedding.

• Take a cold shower before bed, or get up when night sweats occur and
take a cold shower or bath.

• Have a cold drink handy, so that when night sweats occur, you may
obtain some relief with cool water.

• Switch to all cotton bedding and nightclothes; other fibers may make
you more warm.

• Drink more water throughout the day.

• Don’t drink alcohol anytime near bedtime.

• Don’t eat near bedtime, particularly foods with sugar or carbohydrates.

Maca to alleviate Menopausal Symptoms

Maca is a root-like vegetable shaped like a radish that grows high in the Andes mountains. The natives use it as both a food and medicine. Maca has found its way to the USA where many thousands of women are using it because of its unique ability to improve libido and stop hot flashes, night sweats and fatigue.

It is important to remember that Maca does not itself contain any hormones, but its action on the body jolts the pituitary gland into producing the precursor hormones which ultimately end up raising estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels, as well as helping to balance the adrenal glands, the thyroid and the pancreas. This occurs naturally while increasing energy.

Maca has been used by Peruvians for countless centuries, from before the time of the Incas. Seldom does an herb used by native people for thousands of years come to our attention and it seems so important to health that we wonder how we ever got along without it before.

It has been claimed that Maca improves menopausal symptoms. That it significantly reduces hot flashes, tender breasts, night sweats, sleeplessness, emotional upsets and vaginal dryness.

Why women feel great after the menopause

They've been through the menopause. So where are the Zimmer frames and tracksuit bottoms? New research shows that most women feel better than ever after 'the change'. No wonder, says Virginia Ironside - it's all that free time and uninhibited sex!

I was delighted and encouraged to read this article in The Independant on the 1st Feb 2006.

Here is an excerpt:

"I can still remember the time when 30 seemed over the hill. And when I was 30, 40 seemed pretty ancient. But when I was 40, all I could see was a terrible brick wall ahead, with the dreadful word "MENOPAUSE" written on it in jagged letters. Naturally, no one pre-menopause dared even consider what might lie over that wall. A graveyard full of skulls and crossbones? A field full of ancient people on Zimmer frames with pee pouring down their legs? At best, it was just a sea of asexual oldies, all wearing trackie bottoms, with frightful short haircuts and no make-up who lived their lives in motorway service stations, set in a land of aches and pains and poverty, all marinated in bitterness and complaints.

Now there's no question that during the menopause things can feel grim. Hot flushes, children leaving home, desperate feelings that it's "too late" to do anything you wanted to, but once over that, most women find that life post-menopause is one of nature's best-kept secrets. According to a survey commissioned for Health Plus magazine, 72 per cent of women think they are "just as attractive as before", 82 per cent feel "as feminine as before", eight out of 10 say they now have an overwhelming "sense of freedom" and six out of 10 women say they feel "better than ever before". They also feel an average of 10 years younger than their real age."

Confirming That Menopause Has Taken Place

It’s not always easy to confirm that the menopause has actually happened.
Of course, irregular periods and the occasional hot flush are a sign that changes are taking place,but timing the actual menopause is not so simple.
And it is important to know - not just for preventing symptoms in the most
appropriate way, but also for contraception.

A truly menopausal woman will be infertile and will have no need of contraception.
However, most doctors advise menopausal women under 50 to continue with
their contraception for two years after their last period, and for one year if they are over 50.

Even identifying the last period can be difficult for a woman either still taking
the Pill (as bleeding still occurs every month) or who has just started Hormone
Replacement Therapy (HRT) for the relief of early perimenopausal symptoms.

Most doctors will evaluate a woman’s menopausal status according to her
symptoms (hot flushes, for example), pattern of periods, and medical record.
It is possible to take a blood test to measure levels of a reproductive hormone known as FSH.
However, while elevated FSH levels may be a sign of the menopause, the test is
not always accurate and results can’t be guaranteed.


Surgical removal of the ovaries for various medical reasons will, of course, create an immediate menopause, whatever the patient’s age, and all the symptoms and risks associated with a natural menopause will apply to these women.

This is also the case in those rare instances of premature ovarian failure, when
the hormonal system fails at an early age and the ovaries lose their normal function.
The outcome, however, is still the same - menopausal symptoms and an
increased risk of osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke.

What Causes Natural Menopause?

What causes the menopause and why does it happen?

It is thought that every baby girl is born with all the eggs in her ovaries that she will ever produce in her lifetime.
There is a steady reduction of these eggs over time as some never mature and others are released each month as your period.
By the time most women have reached their late 40's the supply of eggs remaining in the ovaries has fallen to low numbers.

The pituitary gland(which is marble sized and sits at the base of the brain), produces a substance called follicle stimulating hormone (F.S.H.), which is the main hormone involved in producing mature eggs.
However the eggs that now remain are unable to respond as well to F.S.H. as they did when they were younger.
As a result the ovaries will start failing to release eggs and there will be a greatly reduced production of the sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.

However, the hormone F.S.H. which is always present in the body, will increase dramatically as the pituitary gland makes more F.S.H. in an attempt to encourage the ovaries to respond and cause the remaining eggs to mature.
At this time your periods will probably become irregular and unpredictable until they stop altogether.

Menopause is "diagnosed" by increased levels of F.S.H. although it is not always reliable, as levels fluctuate.