How to survive menopause

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Ice pack and antidepressants work better than phytoestrogens.

What is menopause

To understand this, you need to delve a little deeper into the anatomy and remember that women have ovaries. These internal genital organs produce eggs and hormones that are needed for the successful fertilization of these very eggs.

In childhood, the ovaries do not perform their functions 100% and are just a storehouse of germ cells, which is given to a woman once more during intrauterine development. When the transitional age comes (for everyone in different ways, at about 13-16 years old), the ovaries begin to work at full capacity. The menstrual cycle appears - monthly (approximately) maturation and death (or fertilization) of one egg.

This lasts for many years until menopause or menopause comes - it's the same thing. The ovaries stop producing eggs and hormones, menstruation stops, unpleasant symptoms appear that need to be dealt with, sometimes for a long time.

Why and when the climax occurs

As we have already said, the main reason for menopause is a change in hormonal levels, because the ovaries stop working. This usually happens at the age of 45–55 or a little later, when the body thinks that the woman no longer needs to produce offspring - it would be too tiring. (Unfortunately, the ovaries are not aware of the modern rhythm of life, realities and medical possibilities, otherwise they would not be lazy.)

Sometimes menopause comes earlier. This happens due to the characteristics of the body or due to the operation, if the woman had to remove the ovaries.

How to understand that menopause has come

The main sign of menopause is the absence of menstruation. Typically, cycle changes begin several months before a complete stop, so menopause is divided into three periods:

1. Premenopause is exactly the time period when menstruation begins to change.
2. Menopause - 12 months from the last menstrual period.
3. Postmenopause - all the rest of the time.

After menopause, a woman can no longer get pregnant naturally. But you can give up contraceptives no earlier than a year after the last menstruation.

What are the symptoms of menopause

There is no need to treat menopause, this is one of the natural conditions of the female body. But along with a change in hormonal levels, unpleasant symptoms come:

1. Feeling hot flashes (hot flashes).
2. Night sweats.
3. Vaginal dryness.
4. Sleep problems.
5. Mood swings.
6. Decreased libido.
7. Urinary incontinence.

Sometimes these symptoms appear when there is still no change in the menstrual cycle. They can portend menopause several months or even years before it occurs.

These symptoms will not have to be tolerated for the rest of your life, but they can last up to 12 years.

Although most menopause does not require treatment, some of the symptoms can make life difficult. However, they are amenable to hormonal and non-hormonal therapy.

How to use hormones for menopause

Hormone therapy for menopause is good because it usually helps to eliminate several symptoms at once. For the treatment of incontinence, hot flashes, vaginal dryness and other problems, drugs that contain estrogen (estradiol) are used - it is this hormone that the ovaries stop producing. Most women (who have not had their uterus removed) also require a progestin.

Many combined oral contraceptives contain both of these hormones. In addition, hormonal drugs are available in the form of patches, vaginal rings and creams, even intrauterine devices.

With such an abundance of options, the question of dosage and rules of admission is decided only by the doctor.

In addition, hormone therapy has its own contraindications and side effects. They are individual and are also discussed when choosing a drug.

If for some reason hormone therapy cannot be used, other means are used to alleviate the main symptoms of menopause. There are recipes for each symptom.

How to treat hot flashes without hormones

Hot flashes can happen on their own, but they are often triggered by food or activity. Try keeping a journal for a couple of weeks so it's clear when hot flashes come more often: when you drink coffee or wine, when you are anxious, or when you have not slept. It will become clear what is best not to do so as not to experience hot flashes again.

With excess weight, hot flashes pester more often, so try to lose unnecessary pounds.

If you sweat at night, figure out how to alleviate the condition using simple methods: use light sheets instead of heavy blankets, turn on the room fan at night, put an ice pack under the pillow (at night you can turn the pillow over and lie down on the cool side).

Smoking also affects the strength and number of hot flashes. So it's better to leave him too.

How to treat vaginal dryness without hormones

It should be noted that there are hormonal remedies for vaginal dryness that can be used even by those for whom hormone therapy as a whole did not fit. These are creams and suppositories, the content of hormones in which is so little that it helps against dryness, but does not affect the general condition.

In addition, there are special intimate cosmetics and lubricants for use during sex - they reduce discomfort.

Sex itself is a good way to increase blood flow in the pelvic organs. This, in turn, is a good prevention of vaginal dryness and atrophy.

How to get rid of sleep problems

Insomnia often comes with a variety of diseases and conditions, not only with menopause. From some point of view, this is even good: there are a lot of ways to cope with sleep disturbances.

1. Prepare your bedroom. Sleep in a cool, dark room on a comfortable mattress.
2. Take a walk before bed. Walking in the fresh air is also light physical activity. Relaxing gymnastics (yoga and tai chi, but without overloading) also helps a couple of hours before bedtime.
3. Don't look at screens. Computers, tablets, TVs and even smartphones should be turned off at least an hour before bed. The blue light emitted by the screens makes it difficult to fall asleep.
4. Follow Lifehacker's advice.

How to increase libido

Against the background of inactive hormones and dryness in the vagina, somehow it is not up to sex. But this does not mean that there is no sex after menopause.

Try to spend more time on sex than usual. Start from afar with good foreplay, even if you didn't need it before. Don't forget about lubricants and stimulants: massage oils, warming lubricants.

How to adjust your mood

Due to hormone surges, mood can change quite unexpectedly: from exuberant joy to sadness in a couple of minutes. In such changes, there is little pleasant, but here the question is unlikely to be solved by meditations and mindfulness practices alone (although they will never interfere). See your doctor. Mood stabilizing medications may help. For example, antidepressants.

Do herbal preparations help with menopause

Most likely no. Many people prefer to be treated with phytoestrogens - substances similar in structure to human hormones, but obtained from plants. Studies show that isoflavones (the very phytoestrogens) of soy and red clover do not affect the unpleasant symptoms of menopause and do not reduce the frequency of hot flashes.

In addition, many drugs with phytoestrogens are dietary supplements, in the instructions for which there is no exact dosage of hormones. Therefore, they cannot be taken without the supervision of a doctor.

What other problems can menopause bring?

1. Unexpected hair growth where it was not expected, such as on the face. Hair appears due to changes in hormonal levels. If there is not much hair, then cosmetic procedures and simple hair removal are sufficient. But if they grow densely, an endocrinologist's consultation and hormonal treatment are required.
2. Acne. They can appear both on their own and against the background of taking hormonal drugs. Talk to your doctor about changing your medications and read the acne guide.
3. Increased risk of osteoporosis. The hormones produced by the ovaries regulate not only the menstrual cycle, but also the metabolism. Therefore, postmenopausal women have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis (with it, the bones become very fragile) and cardiovascular diseases. Talk to your doctor about which calcium supplements you should take.