How to Get Through Menopause Without Any Drugs or Pills

Menopause is described as the cessation of menstruation for at least six months, which usually occurs in women between the ages of 40 and 55 years old. Frequent symptoms include hot flashes, headaches, urinary infections, atrophic vaginitis, cold hands and feet, forgetfulness, loss of concentration, irritability, depression or moodiness, heart palpitations and feelings of vertigo. By increasing your overall health through diet, exercise and herbal supplements, you can ease the symptoms without the dangers brought on by hormonal therapies, which can increase your likelihood of cervical cancer. By understanding that menopause is a natural aging process rather than a "disease" (as it is often treated in Western medicine), you will be better able to adapt painlessly to this natural life process.

Instructions

Physiology Over Pharmacology

1

Balance your diet. Increase the plant matter in your diet and decrease the animal products that you eat. Foods such as apples, flax seed, flax seed oil, fennel, nuts and soy products contain valuable phytoestrogens, which bind to estrogen receptors, thereby naturally maintaining a hormonal balance in your body.

2

Use certain vitamins and herbs to offset the symptoms of menopause. Vitamin E relieves hot flashes. Take 800 IU of vitamin E per day until the symptoms improve, then take 400 IU per day. Vitamin C also relieves hot flashes, with recommended dosage of 1,200 mg per day. Don Quai, an Asian herbal remedy, relieves many menopausal symptoms. The suggested dosage is 1-2 grams in powdered root form as a tea, three times daily, or 1 tsp. of Don Quai tincture three times a day. Licorice or licorice tincture are also recommended. Black cohosh is particularly therapeutic for menopause. Suggested dosage is 1-2 grams in powdered root or tea form, three times daily. Ginko Bilboa can also help by increasing cardiovascular fitness; take 40 grams a day.

3

Exercise regularly. You need to get at least 3.5 hours of exercise a week to offset the symptoms brought on by menopause. Other benefits of regular exercise include cardiovascular health, better mood, increased self-esteem, decreased bone loss, increased ability to deal with stress, reduced blood pressure, relief from hot flashes and improved energy and endurance levels.

4

Work on your self-acceptance. Socially, we worship the ideals of youth and the allure of young beauty. The cultural devaluation of aging women in Western culture lead women to want to be young forever and undergo dangerous plastic surgeries and hormonal therapies. Begin to appreciate the journey your body is going through, and try to view it as a natural rite of passage instead of a "disease."

5

Change your perspective. In non-Western cultures, menopause is viewed as a positive event, giving women increased respect as elders and relieving them from the labor of child-rearing.