Herbal Medicine

Menopause

The menopause is often talked about with dread and despair but it is the entry into a natural mature phase in a woman’s life that should be celebrated. As a male it may sound a little hollow coming from me on this issue, so let me quote two colleagues-

 

Gina McGarry    Menopause is an achievement, not an illness"

Susan Curtis “The menopause is potentially one of the most liberating transitions in every woman’s life. The key to a healthy menopause is to accept it as a time of transition into a new phase of life and not view it as the beginning of a decline.

So where do things go wrong. Well as in all periods of transition things can get out of balance while they are adjusting. The menopause is effectively a change in the balance of hormones regulated by the ovaries ,pituitary and hypothalamus and an imbalance as this changes is what creates the symptoms such as hot flushes, anxiety etc that have become synonymous with the menopause.

 

This has become more exaggerated in the modern world because the return to balance can be affected by exhausted adrenals, common in stressed middle aged women, compromised liver function due to the work detoxifying the body that it has to undertake and also the amount of oestrogen type substances that we now ingest through some food products and packaging.

 

All this can make it difficult to achieve a natural balance quickly and so through the use of herbs and certain protocols we can both reduce the symptomology, speed the process and help the body to adapt to its new balance of hormones.

 

Every person is an individual and so the correct balance of herbs and program will vary but I would typically expect a three month programme to be effective, although some people will take longer to reach a stable pattern.

 

HRT in my eyes, although giving some people quick symptomatic relief, is really just putting off the day when this process must take place as it is recognised that the extended use of oestrogen in this manner can potentially lead to other health problems.

 

I would expect to see someone for a first consultation and a couple of monthly follow ups to get on top of the problem and I would expect that the herbs will be taken for 3 to 6 months.

Richard the herbalist