Maga Woman Magazine - issue #1

Before I go into how you can treat
your symptoms I do want to briefly
cover the role that lifestyle choices
play in the severity of your
symptoms. As I mentioned in the
previous article the adrenal glands do naturally
secrete some reproductive hormones and this
process is designed to make the drop in hormones
a little more gradual so that you don’t
experience too many symptoms. The problem
is that many women are adrenally exhausted
by the time they reach their mid to late 40s and
their adrenal glands don’t have the capacity to
cope with the hormonal shift that occurs.
Let’s get on to some of the specific treatments
for the most common symptoms of
menopause
Hot Flushes and Night Sweats
Hot flushes are one of the commonly known
symptoms of menopause. A flush is when you
get a sensation of heat that seems to start
inside of you and intensifies until you are hot all
over and you can also have visible sweating. At
night when you wake up covered in sweat and
feeling very hot (even if the outside temperature
is cold) this is known as a night sweat and
can severely disrupt the sleep of some women.
Lifestyle Changes
Where possible wear light loose clothing
Don’t rug up too much at night, loose
cotton nightwear is best
Flushing and night sweats often happen
more after stressful and busy days, try to
manage your energy and emotions during
the day
Herbal treatment
Note if you see a naturopath or herbalist
they will create a herb mix specific for
your situation
Common herbs used in the management
of hot flushes and night sweats are sage,
zizyphus, motherwort, black cohosh and
red clover (many over the counter remedies
will contain these herbs)
A simple home herb recipe is to chop up
6 sage leaves and soak overnight in lemon
juice. In the morning strain and drink
the juice. Repeat for the next week to 10
days and often your flushing and sweats
will decrease. Do NOT continue this for
more than 2 weeks without consulting a
herbalist or naturopath
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Maga Women Magazine