Hot Off the Flashes
You try to go to sleep but you can’t. You are tossing and turning and slumber eludes you. You feel like you may burst into flames because the sun has decided to reside in your chest and head. You throw the covers off but now your body is cold while your head is still on fire. Your partner gets excited because you have stripped down to nothing and thinks it’s their cue to get some action going. You threaten murder if they come within 5 feet of you. Sex is not only the last thing on your mind, it is now downright painful.
You quickly exit (run!) the bed to drop the a/c to 68 degrees and get mild relief from the hot flashes but it doesn’t help that anxiety that seems to have taken hold of you. Let’s not mention the depression weighing on you like the fat accumulation recently forming around your waist, hips and/or thighs. Your children say your mood swings faster than a Linda Blair head spin in the Exorcist. You feel like Linda Blair from the exorcist except you don’t have the energy to get out of bed let alone float above it! You ponder what you have done in life to deserve what you are experiencing and start to wonder if you have lost your mind. Or maybe you just misplaced it since you can’t seem to remember anything lately.
If this sounds familiar in any way, take comfort in the fact you are not alone. It’s estimated that as many as 85% of women have experienced one or more menopausal symptoms.1 For some women it is mild and nothing more than a slight annoyance. For others, you feel as if you may lose your mind. The good news is that you do not have to live like this. The better news is you do not have to use any type of pharmaceutical hormone to feel better. While some women resort to using bio-identical hormones they are not without risk. Why increase your chance of heart disease, cancer and stroke unnecessarily?
Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for millennia to help women find balance in this time of transition. A combination of dietary changes, herbal formulas and acupuncture have been shown to be effective in ameliorating the symptoms of menopause. One recent Danish study found that five weeks of acupuncture in women with menopausal symptoms reduced hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and emotional problems.2 Acupuncture helps by addressing imbalances in the flow of energy through pathways called meridians. In some cases the flow is deficient and in others the flow is excessive. Once a trained acupuncture physician has diagnosed which meridians are out of balance, he/she inserts tiny needles into certain points along the pathways and proper flow is re-established. This results in the balancing of hormones and alleviation of menopause symptoms. Most often it is the yin and yang energy of the kidney, heart, and/or liver that are imbalanced in this state. The amount of required sessions will vary by individual according to their general health and length of time they have had the symptoms.
Chinese and Western herbs have also proved beneficial in managing menopause. Certain herbs such as ashwaganda, St. John’s Wort, red clover, passion flower, panax ginseng, licorice, black cohosh, and dong quai have restored the sanity, sleep, well being and quite possibly saved the marriages of many menopausal women.3,4 It is important to meet with an acupuncture physician trained in herbal medicine. Herbs can be very potent and taken incorrectly can make your symptoms worse. Taken under the advice of a trained acupuncture physician, they can be magic!
Chinese food therapy is a concept unfamiliar to most Westerners. In Asian and Indian cultures, foods are viewed differently. Each food has a flavor and a temperature. In the Asian culture the temperatures include cold, cool, neutral, warm, and hot while flavors include pungent, bitter, sweet, salty, and sour. While experiencing symptoms of menopause, the goal is to find a balance of cool and warm foods to help alleviate symptoms. You don’t want too many cool foods because that can harm digestion and lead to diarrhea. Examples of cool/cold vegetables include; cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, celery, bean sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, and eggplant. If you have a thyroid issue you want to stay clear of cabbage and cauliflower as it can lower the thyroid function. Examples of cool/cold fruits include; banana, pears, watermelon, grapefruit, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, apples, and oranges. It is best to seek the advice of an acupuncturist so they can give you guidance for a balance between hot and cold in your diet.
As you can see there are many effective alternatives for the symptoms of menopause. Seek out the guidance of a doctor of Oriental medicine. Within a few weeks that burning feeling in your body will transform into one of desire instead!
