Ladies, may I ask you a question in private?

[Occamstazer]

I'm interested to see that a lot of you guys have used black cohosh, I'm not familiar with that use for it.
Now you've got me wondering what hormonal effects it could have one me. I drink strong black cohosh and raspberry leaf tea the first two days of my cycle, because it eases cramps for me.
Am I wrecking my hormone balance?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I'm on the starting edge and did some informal research. Here's a few ideas:

Flax meal is one I would definitely try. It's high in Omega3 and fiber, and I use it in oatmeal or even sprinkled on food. It's good added to smoothies, and makes them thicker, but I don't drink them very often.

Yoga is wonderful for helping balance the hormones. I've known a few women that used it for that and went through easily.
The yoga teacher only had 3 hot flashes - ever.

Get a atomizer bottle (like for spraying perfume) with distilled water and a couple drops of peppermint essential oil. Mist your face and any exposed skin when you're heating up. Peppermint is naturally cooling and smells good.

"DIM" is worth checking out. It's made from broccoli but you would have to eat buckets of it to get the effect. It 's used to help the body get rid of excess hormones that are unbalancing it.

Careful with the flax, as it is a goitrigen. Its fine in small amounts, but overduing the Omega 3s without balancing it with Omega 6s can be very hard on the endocrine system.

I have to second Frees advise.
My mothers issues went away when she started eating traditional foods.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I'm using flax meal a few times a week lately. Tried the oil before but liked the meal better.
I've been reading on the Nourishing Traditions thread and agree with alot of it. I'm vegetarian and avoid processed foods but want to do more fermented foods, too.

 

[lynnbe]

Well, here's my story. When I first went into menopause, I took bio-identical hormones. Don't take any other type! They really helped a lot. I slowly quit taking them after a couple of years and now I just take Carlson's cod liver oil, grid up flax seeds and put in my smoothies or cereal now and then. I still have mild hot flashes when I wake up in the morning, but not bad at all. Other than that I'm dong fine at 56!!

 

[pioneergirl]

I'm finding stress has loads to do with the strength and frequency of my issues. Bad day=sweaty night. I'm hoping that by getting back to a traditional diet and being back here at the farm doing what I love will help with the stress factor. Big circle ya know.

 

[RubyRose]

Hi Ladies,

I'm new here.. This is a cool site!

A word of warning* apparently *black cohosh was found to mess with some people's livers, etc.. on testing they showed abnormal liver enzymes and increased cancer metastisis in some clinical trial so here in BC there's been a warning put out.. I read this on a poster at my naturopaths's office.

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com...oup-demands-FDA-issue-warning-on-black-cohosh

Thanks, Ruby

 

[SKR8PN]

Ruby!



I know this is a "females only" thread, but I have a cute story about my wife starting and going through, the Big "M".

The Wife started showing slight symptoms back in '03-04. She was about 48 when it began, and she was still a smoker at the time. The mood swings got to be pretty nasty at times, but she was pretty good about warning me. Whenever I heard "This is nothing personal..." I knew the S was about to HTF She(WE actually) decided that she needed some help with the mood swings and the hot flashes so she headed to the Dr and he started her on HRT. I lovingly referred to them as her "Happy Pills" They worked WONDERS on her attitude!!

Then....About 6 months after I had my heart attack, I came into the house on a Saturday morning to find her laying on the couch with both hands on her chest. She had been cleaning the house when she felt what she described as crushing chest pains. I knew we had to get her to the hospital ASAP so I tossed her in the car and headed to the nearest one. They admitted her and ran tests all weekend and discharged her that Sunday evening. She went to the Dr. Monday morning, and was informed she HAD to get off the HRT AND stop smoking, NOW. Not next week, not tomorrow, but RIGHT NOW.
Cold turkey.
BOTH the nicotine and the HRT pills. COLD TURKEY.


Only by the grace of God, am I still here to tell you..........that hell hath NO FURY like a women quitting smoking (cold turkey) and loosing her "Happy Pills" all at the same time.
You wanna talk about mood swings? I can TELL you all about MOOD SWINGS. I learned very quickly to to shut my mouth and just get away as fast as I could.

Now for the cute part of this little story..........

One evening, after work, The Wife and I were having dinner. Nice quiet setting. Conversation was going along pretty well......"How was your day? "How was my day?" "Anything new and exciting?" just normal chatter about each others jobs, etc. etc.......the conversation died down, and after a moment or two of silence, my loving wife looked across the dinner table at me and being DEAD serious, said: "Don't take this personal or anything, but.... your breathing".



We ate the rest of our meal in silence. When I finished the last of my dinner,I put the dishes in the sink, grabbed TWO beers out of the fridge, and headed for the shop. I grabbed TWO beers because I had no idea how long this one was going to last. Thank GOD those moments were pretty short lived!!
To this day we both laugh about it, but at the time, she was dead serious!

 

[sslawlor]

That is a good story! ...and ohh sooo true!
I'm all done now (54):bun, but find if I begin to eat white sugars and white flour stuff again my hot flashes and other symptoms RETURN!!!!! I swore off of the white sugar/flours about 3 years now, and it made a MAJOR change in the daily ups and down I had been having. I no longer burst out in a sweat just from sweeping the kitchen floor either. Sue

 

[2chickenrich]

I've been there , I did go to a Dr and the replacement make me feel worst than going it with nothing. I take nothing and my body seems to have found its own way of dealing.

 

[blefky]

I know this thread has been around a while, but I'm new to the forum, and this one hits really close to home for me so I have to put in my two cents. I just turned 54 this month, started having "problems" in my mid-forties. I have 5 kids, so my factory had worked overtime - not surprising that I wore it out I guess. I started having really, really difficult cycles - cramping that felt like labor, bleeding like I couldn't believe, and cycles that would lasts forever - the longest one was 6 weeks. As I got closer to 50, the hormonal issues began. I know that menopause is a huge topic for jokes, but unless you've had a bad experience with it, I don't think people understand the devastating effects it can have on your life. I was in the middle of earning a social work degree, trying to finish raising my kids, taking care of my home, doing an internship with addicted women, and trying to hold it all together. The mood swings, sleeplessness, hot flashes, anxiety, loss of sex drive (not that I had the energy or appeal for sex during that time anyway!) I don't go to doctors (used to be a nurse, maybe that's why ), so like many of you I canvassed friends, looked online and tried many of the suggestions listed in this thread, all to no avail. Eventually, I had no choice but to seek medical advice. I was so anemic that I had to pause and lean against the wall for a minute after going up even a few stairs. Insult to injury, during this time I gained a ton of weight. I was pressured to have a hysterectomy, which I declined. Finally had the endometrial ablasion which stopped the bleeding but did nothing for the menopausal symptoms. In my many searches for help, I came across bio-identical hormone therapy. I did much research, there is a lot of information out there, and some very good books. I suggest you might want to look into it. bioidenticals are plant based, no mare urine. The pharmaceutical companies have waged tremendous smear campaigns on them, because patent law does not permit a patent on a naturally occurring substance that has not been chemically altered they can't patent bioidenticals - no huge profits to be made. Many women have experienced tremendous ill effects from traditional HRT, and it's not surprising. Our bodies do not recognize them on a cellular level. Bioidenticals are just that, they are plant based hormones which react in our bodies in the same manner as our own hormones. I searched for a doctor that worked with bioidenticals, and it took some searching because many doctors are not well informed - and it is very important to go to someone who has experience with them. I had to drive an hour and a half to see the doctor for them, but I was desperate. I've been on bioidenticals for about a year now, and I have my life back. It was an amazing transformation. My prescription includes an estrogen, progesterone, (these two must be used together to avoid serious health consequences), testosterone, and DHEA. The hormones are mixed to my specification by a compounding pharmacy - hormones are not one size fits all - and are mixed into a cream base which I apply six nights a week. That is, all but the estrogen which is a patch. My levels are checked regularly by a lab here in town, and I travel to see the doctor every 6 months or so. I haven't had a hot flash in nearly a year, I sleep well, I can think straight, my moods are level, and my libido is just fine. I know I sound like an infomercial, and I am always leery of recommending any medical treatment. Bioidenticals may not be for everyone, and you must weigh the pros and cons of any treatment - natural or synthetic, so I am not suggesting that you run out and get them. But I am highly recommending that you research it, read everything you can - there are good books on the subject - and make an informed decision. And if you decided to give them a try, be sure and find a doctor who knows what he/she is doing - it's an important part of the equation. Good luck!
(Sorry this was so long!)