Menopause

You should understand what is going on in your body to dispel all the negative notions there are about menopause. Women should understand that hot flashes do not make them any less of a human being – it does not make them a laughing stock nor make other people condemn them for growing older.

A lot of women worry about the onset of menopause primarily because of the popular image of a middle-aged women being an emotional wreck who is always soaking in her own sweat. But do you know that some women do enjoy their hot flashes? In fact, about 2% to 3% of menopausal women actually feel the heat as positive energy traveling through their bodies!

However, if you are one of the women who are severely troubled by menopausal hot flashes, there are some things that you can do about it.

• Wait it out - The intensity and frequency of hot flashes tend to decrease over time so you can choose to bear the discomforts for the moment. Just be patient and it will pass!

• Try estrogen therapy - Estrogen therapy rank high among menopausal women’s choice of remedy for the symptoms of menopause. And why not? Estrogen therapy is proven quite effective in dealing with hot flashes, night sweating and menopausal insomnia.

• Try some other medications - Aside from estrogen, your doctor can prescribe you to use natural progesterone pills or a progestin drug called Provera to deal with the discomforting symptoms of menopause.

Bellergal (a drug containing Phenobarbital, ergotamine and belladonna) is sometimes used for women who cannot take estrogen. However, this drug is prescribed only in cases where the hot flashes are too severe to cause menopausal insomnia since it can cause quite a number of serious side effects.

Another prescription drug used to deal with the symptoms of menopause is Clonidine (a drug used to control high blood pressure). This drug inhibits the release of the hormone norepinephrine in the brain and deals with hot flashes at the same time. Low doses ranging from .05 to .15 mg daily are given to women who wish to avoid getting hot flashes without taking having to take estrogen supplements.

• Use alternative therapies - There are many alternative ways by which you can control the symptoms of menopause. Acupuncture (especially electro-stimulated acupuncture), vitamin supplementation (taking 400 IU of vitamin E once or twice a day), using natural progesterone creams (derived from plant sources and available in most natural foods stores) and other homeopathic remedies do seem to help quite a number of people.

There really are quite a number of ways by which you can put the symptoms of menopause under control. Just remember that if you will be taking medications, you should only use them in the lowest effective dose and for the shortest time possible. On the other hand, if you wish to use alternative therapies to solve your menopausal woes, use your common sense and take on a positive but careful attitude. Listen to your body and you can never go wrong!