Natural Menopause Relief for Hot Flashes, Night Sweats, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety and Insomnia
Health Is PowHer Podcast Episode 51
With Dr. Anna Esparham, MD
Menopause can sometimes be amazing for some women while others can have some problems with it including the hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems, mood changes, depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and cognitive slowing.
But there has been some research studies outside of the typical hormone replacement and medications used to treat the symptoms of menopause and I wanted to talk about that today per request of a listener.
A majority of women use Complementary and integrative therapies b/c some women are not candidates for the medications or hormone therapy.
Several women who are going through some unfortunate symptoms related to menopause may have to do several of the therapies and others might have to do one or two. It’s all individualized and you can work with your healthcare provider on guiding you through some of these.
First off, mind-body therapies that have been studied include hypnosis, cognitive-behavioral therapy, biofeedback, meditation, and other relaxation, as well as mindful-based stress reduction and yoga! I’m only going to get through some of these on today’s podcast episode and we’ll have a sequel.
https://healthispowher.libsyn.com/51-natural-menopause-relief-for-hot-flashes-night-sweats-fatigue-depression-and-more
Hypnosis
You all know I’m a huge fan of hypnosis b/c it’s so much fun and it’s soo beneficial. I’m certified in hypnosis and thought it wasn’t that powerful in my initial integrative/functional medicine trainings but boy was I wrong.
I now use this every day as it incorporates relaxation, meditation, manifesting and intentional focused daydreaming that puts you in this amazing energetic flow and actually ends up changing your body’s physiology if you practice this routinely.
Hypnosis has shown anywhere from 57%-80% reduction in hot flashes both severity and frequency in several studies. It also has been shown to improve sleep quality and seual function, and was as effective as a medication for reducing hot flashes. Plus hypnosis has so many other benefits if you listen to or read The Secret Health Manifest and Hypnosis: Our Secret SuperPower
You can also download our free 4-day hypnosis meditation series for women’s health on our website at healthispowher.com
Yoga
Yoga is super popular, I want to become a yoga therapist one day - that would be so amazing. And so far, it looks like that more rigorous studies are needed to support evidence for improving menopausal symptoms but some trials have found beneficial effects for fatigue and mood related to menopause.
The Health Is PowHer members in our women’s wellness club love Yoga with Adriene and I’d highly agree! Love doing her 30 day yoga challenges at the start of every January! And her Yoga with Psoas one is divine.
Aromatherapy
Also another favorite subject of mine as a certified aromatherapist. Essential oils are quite powerful b/c they have such incredibly strong natural chemical substances within that can induce physiological and psychological changes within the body and the mind.
Currently, we can’t say aromatherapy can treat menopausal symptoms but inhaling lavender essential oil reduced hot flash frequency by 50% which was almost 50% better than just a placebo. A few other trials found massage with essential oils to be beneficial for reducing hot flashes and depression.
Supplements and Herbs
Black Cohosh
Black Cohosh is a woodland plant, member of the buttercup family, where the root is supposed to help women’s hot flashes and supposedly for menstrual issues. Right now, they are continuing to study black cohosh to reveal its benefits as there’s been insufficient research so far probably due to multiple factors, including the manufacturing difference of black cohosh supplements. So have to find one processed and containing the right amounts of beneficial substances in black cohosh, but there have been some studies specifically when combined with St. John’s Wort that may benefit menopausal symptoms.
Black cohosh typically doesn’t have that many side effects though you do have to discuss with your healthcare provider. May cause headaches, GI side effects, rash, acute hepatitis though they aren’t sure if it’s related to something processed with black cohosh or an interaction to a drug.
Wild Yam
Wild yam is a tuber thought to have a chemical known to mimic estrogen/progesterone, but so far it’s come up short in terms of decreasing menopausal symptoms, but there hasn’t been much evidence yet.
Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis)
This is a traditional Chinese herb often used in combination with other herbs to treat women’s health issues. Due to combining this herb with others in clinical trials, it’s tough to determine if dong quai by itself works but definitely the trials that have studied showed improvements in night sweats, hot flashes and sleep quality in women undergoing menopause.
Dong Quai can have some significant interactions with medications and other herbs as well as photosensitization, so more studies are needed.
Maca
Maca is a plant from the brassica family in South America and because it’s from brassica family watch out for thyroid issues with them. So far, the trials show favorable effects but not enough evidence to start prescribing it because they were such small studies. So hopefully more on this soon, but there can be some significant issues with Maca - like I said thyroid dysfunction, but also altered menstrual cycles, cramps, mood changes, sleep changes, stomach issues, and changes in hormone levels not necessarily for the better.
Evening Primrose Oil
Absolutely love this oil because I’ve never been able to produce the type of anti-inflammatory essential fatty acid that comes with this due to an enzyme deficiency called delta 5 desaturase that helps convert fats into an anti-inflammatory fatty acid.
What’s great about evening primrose oil is that it contains GLA (gamma linolenic acid) an anti-inflammatory omega-6 which is unusual.
It has also been shown in some trials that it decreased hot flashes but not in others, so we have some conflicting data.
And last, but not least:
Phytoestrogens
These can include soy isoflavones, red clover isoflavones, flaxseeds (lignans), and hops.
My favorite one of these is flaxseeds b/c that seems to come with the least amount of side effects and better research in regards to women’s health.
Flaxseed is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, known as alpha linolenic acid and fiber and lignans. They have some anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties which have shown in some studies to help menopausal symptoms (though of course larger studies are needed).
The actual flaxseed is generally reported to have higher nutritious and health properties, though super hard to chew, because when you are crushing the seed and extracting the oil it makes it susceptible to oxidation.
Overall, flaxseed (milled) has shown to have so many benefits including cardiovascular, women’s health, skin health, gastrointestinal health, potentially cancer!
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