If you are in your late forties or older, haven’t had a period for more than a year, then, barring other health issues, you are quite likely to be in the menopause.  During this time your hormones can be fluctuating wildly and causing symptoms which can range from insignificant to debilitating.
Below is a list of commonly experienced symptoms caused by a drop in Oestrogen levels.

• Hot Flushes
• Lack of Libido
• Tiredness
• Depression
• Poor condition of hair, nails or skin
• Hair loss
• Vaginal dryness
• Joint or muscle aches and pains

Individual symptoms can be caused by a variety of factors, but if you have several then perhaps you are experiencing a reduction of Oestrogen.

Our other main hormone, Progesterone, can also cause problems if levels fluctuate greatly. Common symptoms include

• Heavy periods and flooding
• Anxiety
• Irritability

Breast tenderness

Fluid retention

Again, it is important to remember that these individual symptoms can be caused by other factors.

What can you do to help alleviate these symptoms?

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is often the first thing that people think of when experiencing menopausal symptoms but there is a lot you can do before you go down that route.

HRT is not the elixir of life that was first thought and often the symptoms of menopause are merely postponed by it and can hit hard later when the HRT is stopped.

Take control and start to look after yourself first and consider HRT only as a last resort or perhaps if your symptoms are very severe.

Eat Well

This is basic good health advice but at this time when hormone levels are haywire it is critical to get your diet under control and get your intestines working efficiently.  It is important for the absorption of essential nutrients and also in eliminating the toxins which could be exacerbating the symptoms that you are experiencing.

Drink plenty water

Around 1.5 litres a day is an average recommendation.

Reduce your caffeine intake

Cut out coffee and cut down on tea

Eat regularly

Keep your blood sugar levels steady

Eat healthily

Cut down on junk food and those high in sugar and salt

Regulate your intake of dairy foods

Eat other calcium rich foods to compensate
eg. Soya, nuts, oats, sardines, salmon, figs, parsley, alfalfa

Eat more photo-oestrogenic foods

eg. Soya, corn, apples, bananas, almonds, cashews, oats, cucumbers, lentils, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, green leafy vegetables, peas

Exercise

Just do something! You don’t need to embark on some energetic course in the gym that will make you feel tortured, cost you a fortune and make you depressed.

Just walk.

Get your comfy shoes on and walk out of the door for ten minutes, as briskly as you can, and then walk home again.  That’s you started exercising!  Start off with achievable goals and keep going.

Do something when you are watching TV. Use some light weights, or just a couple of tins of soup, and get your arms moving for a while.

Sleep

Lack of sleep is so ageing!

Some ideas for improving sleep

Don’t eat too late or drink caffeine after 3 o’clock Try it for a fortnight; it could make all the difference. Remember your ageing digestion doesn’t work the way it used to!
Go to bed early enough so you have time to read or do something to relax your mind so you can get to sleep.
Keep a notebook handy to jot down the “things to do” and “things to remember”.
If there is something keeping you awake more than normal, address it and really start nurturing yourself with some good quality sleep. Reduce stress.
If you have been exercising make sure you stretch out your muscles to loosen them off before finishing.