Although the most notable issue that women complain about is the hot flashes, there are so many other symptoms that we don’t discuss when we talk about our mid-life times. The information below will help you manage your menopause symptoms and how to find some relief.
Menopause symptoms vary from person to person. The symptoms could be mild to severe, or mildly annoying to extremely irritating. So below you will find ways to address some of the more common menopausal symptoms and note how you can get relief. Here are the most common ones and what you can do to ease the symptoms.
1. Fatigue and Sleeplessness
Make sure you get enough rest. It is important to function to get a full night’s sleep. Menopause may keep you up and down all night. Going to bed earlier is helpful so that you get more hours of sleep. But some women, like me, can’t go to be too early. I’m a late-night owl and it is hard to go to sleep before 10 or 11 p.m. If I’ve been busy all day working, I needed a little time to myself before bed just to relax. But I never seemed to get enough sleep. Sleep aids (over the counter or doctor prescribed) made me incredibly drowsy the next day. So I needed something else I use. I found that CBD Oil helped me with the sleeplessness, tossing and turning at night, and relaxation, without the drowsiness. Make sure you get a good valid CBD Oil. Click the link to get more info on the CBD Oil I use. It worked wonderfully without any side effects. Give it a shot. Click on the main side-bar of this website or the link above to get more information. It was one of the best investments I’ve made in a long time.
2. Night Sweats and Hot Flashes
Night Sweats are hot flashes at night. Many women suffer from waking up regularly at night, like me, with the bed soaking wet from sweating. Very, very uncomfortable. Hot flashes also can go through the day while you are at work, driving, etc.
What will help: Some of our other ladies use the sleep member pillow cases which are said to help, available in any Bed, Bath and Beyond. I also suggest turning on the ceiling fans at night (I do that when I sleep, winter, summer and fall. 🙂 Finally, an air conditioner with a remote and a timer. I used both at various times during the night to keep cool. I could use the remote to turn on and off without getting out of bed.
3. Irregular Periods
With the onset of early menopause (peri-menopause) a woman’s periods may become irregular. I would get a period one month, then three months, then one month, then 6 months later! It actually took years before it got to the point where it actually disappeared.
Be prepared. Make sure you always have sanitary items with you; in your car or in your purse so that you will always be prepared in case you need them
4. Mood Changes
You may suffer from mood changes. I didn’t (that anyone ever mentioned to me) :), but I knew a ton of women who I was literally afraid to talk to! Some women will cry easily; some would ‘snap’ at people for no reason or some had horrible temper tantrums. The list goes on. At any given moment, I could have my head ‘bitten’ off for no reasonf or small inconsequential things. Just like when we were young girls and all of our friends had their periods at the same time. Those times could be a little rough! 🙂
What To Do: Be aware when it happens. Feeling like you want to cry all of a sudden? Unjustified anger? Feeling off-kilter (not yourself)? means you may be having mood issues. If someone else is the family (in that age bracket) is snappish and appears angry, chock it up to possible menopause. Don’t take it personally. When you recognize it in yourself, try to change it. Take a breathe, calm yourself, “tell yourself it’s just part of menopause, settle down and move on.”
5. Weight Gain: So with all the other stuff we have to deal with in menopause, weight gain has to be one of the BIG issues! Ugh! I find that it’s more a re-distribution of weight that seems to settle in our middle stomach area. I was always small so weight gain didn’t bother me, however, the fact that it seems to re-distribute to the middle and make us appear a bit misshapen is what I was unhappy about!
What To Do? Definitely evaluate and watch your diet. This will ensure that you keep track of eating and not become overweight. Stay Active! I got a Fitbit and started walking giving myself daily goal. I also entered into weekly and daily online Fitbit Competitions to encourage me to stay focused. During that summer, I lost 15 lbs. by increasing my walking activity. I went from walking (started at 2,000 steps a day) to 10,000 steps a day. I’m also an avid line dancer so I just got on the move to improve! 🙂
Now, that’s not as hard as it seems. I’d take a leisurely walk every evening (long summer days) with my husband. It usually took us about 1 hour. It was and is a good weight loss regimen and also good for private time between us after the stress of a long day.
6. Vaginal Dryness
Vaginal dryness is one of the worse symptoms of menopause and something we don’t normally talk about. At least in my book! When estrogen levels drop, the vaginal tissue gets drier and less flexible. This dryness can cause irritation and itching making it extremely hard to have intimacy with our spouses or significant other. This can put a strain on relationships with our partners and husbands.
What To Do: Get your husband or spouse to the doctor with you so they too can understand. Many men don’t believe in menopause. However, hearing from a medical doctor can help your spouse understand what is happening during menopause. Helpful, as they have to adjust as well. There are many products on the market to help with lubrication and you can buy them from Walgreens, your local CVS or any drugstore. Yes, it may be hard to ‘get in the mood,’ but remember the romantic times, get a little wine, cuddle up, watch a movie in bed and relax and let nature take its course. 🙂
7. The Real Deal About Menopause
The real deal is that everyone is different and different things work for different people. What works for one, may not work for others as each individual’s hormones are ‘their own.’ There is no one size fits all to be comfortable in menopause. Even medication has to be adjusted to meet the specific needs of each individual menopausal woman.
The point of this article is to educate and to encourage. You may be having a hard time with menopause. You may not have found the ‘right’ solution that gives you the relief that you want and need. There is relief out there! Some people have found relief in taking soy, magnesium, dung quoi, Black Cohosh, or CDB Oil and other herbs and supplements. To to a Naturalist to find natural things that might work for you.
But my symptoms were so bad, I had to go with hormonal treatments, prescribed by the doctor to eliminate the very intense menopause symptoms. I always had female problems all my life so I had a procedure to help with my heavy cycles. It threw me into early menopause, one of the side effects of the surgery. Other surgeries that can bring on early menopause are hysterectomies or tubal libation. Surgery to remove ovaries and cancer treatments will usually produce menopause symptoms as well.
I’m hoping that this info has helped some of you. Upcoming articles will discuss natural remedies, and how I have controlled my hot flashes and hormones for years using bio-identical hormones vs medical hormones vs. natural herbs. All are used for menopausal relief.
If you have any questions and are suffering from extreme hot flashes, reach out to me and we can discuss. I’m not a doctor but have been dealing with this since I was 40 yeas old.
So what are your experiences lately? Do you have trouble with weight gain, hot flashes or other menopause symptoms? Leave me a comment below with your questions or comments. Let’s share our experiences and help each other to get through this stage of life.
God Bless,
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