Understanding menopause symptoms and how to find relief

If menopause is a “normal” phase of life, why do I feel so far from normal?

Let’s talk about Menopause!!! Menopause is a phase in your life which you enter when menstruation has stopped for twelve or more months. Typically it starts between the ages of 45-53. Symptoms vary from woman to woman. Common menopause symptoms are hot flashes, sleep disruption, sudden weight gain, anxiety, loss of bone density, thinning hair, or decreased sex drive. A common misconception is that estrogen levels get diminished during menopause while many postmenopausal women have plenty of estrogen, but in reality, several other hormone levels are out of whack. Menopause symptoms may be a natural phenomenon, but there is no reason to believe we can’t make this phase of life as enjoyable as possible. Let’s consider the facts and myths surrounding menopause.

First, we are all stressed. While we cannot change the stressors of your life, we can modify how your body reacts to stress to minimize the harm. Chronic stress brings unfavorable biochemical, neurological, and cellular changes to your body. When your ovary starts to shrivel during “normal” menopause, the adrenal gland, responsible for energy, mental clarity, and mood, comes to the rescue and provides relief. Menopausal sufferings become more pronounced when perimenopausal stress has burnt out the adrenal glands leaving you devoid of this natural relief, a condition called adrenal fatigue.

Second, let’s consider why your positive mindset, metabolism, and sex drive have gone down in menopause. Testosterone, which is erroneously thought of as just a male hormone, is responsible for a positive mindset, good metabolism, and healthy sex drive in women. Even though women need only small amounts of testosterone, low testosterone in women is a rather common occurrence. Because of toxicity which accumulates over decades in your body, this testosterone gets converted to bad estrogen which increases the risk of cancer. Testosterone is made in the ovary and in the adrenal gland. Shriveled ovaries and fatigued adrenals cause all sorts of problems in our mental, physical, and sexual well being. You may be thinking that testosterone will mess up your skin or hair, but that is far from true. Optimization of hormones, especially testosterone replacement, is about hitting the bullseye. Acne and abnormal hair growth occur when the bullseye is missed.

Third, a common complaint around menopause is thinning of hair. All of the hormones: estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, and insulin need to be working in harmony for lush, shiny, and smooth youthful hair. Their imbalance during menopause causes hair thinning. Adequate intake of protein and vegetables help support your hair, but only in a setting of balanced hormones. Estrogen and testosterone are also the cornerstones of good bone health. However, estrogen going through the wrong metabolic pathways is linked to a variety of hormone-dependent tumors like breast, ovarian, colon, and endometrial cancer. Hence, detoxification is a crucial safety step to follow before initiating bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Fourth is disturbed sleep with a range of symptoms: not being able to fall asleep, waking up several times a night, and not feeling refreshed in the morning. Relative progesterone, melatonin, and GABA imbalances cause nonrestorative sleep. Low progesterone due to progesterone steal effect induced from chronic stress and leaky gut is to blame for this imbalance.

The optimal balance of all of your hormones leads to an enhanced quality of life. At Heal n Cure, we can help you achieve optimal hormone balance starting with a comprehensive analysis of where you stand.

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