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Menopause

Menopause is a stage of life for women that occurs as the ovaries stop producing estrogen, causing the reproductive system to gradually cease to function. As the body adapts to the changing levels of natural hormones many symptoms become apparent such as; hot flashes, night sweats, palpitations, hot hands and feet, increased depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings and lack of concentration. Other symptoms include vaginal dryness, hair dryness, and urgency of urination. Eventually, woman will experience increasingly scanty and erratic menstrual periods ending in a cessation of a menstrual cycle.

Strictly speaking, menopause refers to the ceasing of menses but in looser, more common understanding menopause refers to the gradual process through which menstrual cessation occurs. Menopause can last anywhere from a mild six month transition, to a turbulent 5 year ordeal. Among the western therapies available are hormone replacement therapies which have little track record of research in comparison to 5000 years of Traditional Chinese Medicines detailed focus on helping ease women through the transition.

Early Menopause Symptoms

In western culture, we are seeing a rise in early menopausal symptoms. Clinically, this begins with a drying of the skin and hair. Menstrual flow becomes slightly irregular and increasingly less blood flows each month. What was once a regular twenty eight day cycle can become thirty, then thirty five days signalling the early stages of menopausal symptoms. Often with this irregularity comes either a lack of groundedness in emotional states, or a lack of ability to concentrate. Insomnia can also begin to appear, usually either as a difficulty falling asleep as heat and irritability are present in the evenings, or as dream disturbed sleep leading to the inability to fall back asleep again, often with hot flashes at night. When stepping back, early menopause symptoms are seen similarly to the main symptoms listed below, only more mild in nature.

Menopause Symptoms

Looking at the symptoms of menopause, we see an increase in the infrequent symptoms mentioned above in "early menopause symptoms." All of the symptoms become more pronounced, and every women can show a different pattern of the following symptoms:

Physical menopause symptoms:

• hot flashes - usually begins in the evenings, but then becomes more invasive as they can move into the day time as well.
• palpitations - again, typically experienced more in the evening during the early stages, but then quickly these symptoms can extend into the day time as well.
• night sweats
• hot hands and feet
• irregular and scanty menstruation
• dryness of the skin and hair
• vaginal dryness
• urgency of urination

Emotional menopause symptoms:

• increased depression
• emotional instability
• anxiety
• irritability
• mood swings
• lack of concentration

Alternative Medicine and Menopause Symptoms

 Traditional Chinese Medicine has had over 5000 years of working with menopause, and adjusting it's theory and clinical traditions to create an extremely effective medium for working with menopause and it's symptoms. Although the names of the syndromes may seem foreign, our hope in presenting the different sub-groupings is to help those unfamiliar with the theory begin to see how it functions.

Yin deficiency with false heat (this is the most basic diagnosis and all others stem from this foundation):

• mood swings
• emotional instability
• hot flashes
• night sweats

Yin deficiency with false heat and dryness:

• increase in thirst
• increase in over all body dryness

Yin deficiency with liver qi stagnation

• pronounced irritability
• uncontrollable mood swings

Yin deficiency with Shen disturbance

• pronounced anger
• pronounced restlessness

Yin deficiency with spleen and heart blood deficiency

• tiredness
• insomnia upon waking

Posted by Staff at July 21, 2005 10:29 PM

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Posted by: Ein Lo Sechel at September 23, 2006 9:41 AM