Natural Home Remedy for Menopausal Night Sweats

Night sweats along-with hot flushes are highly unpredictable. While it can either be the single ailment being experienced or can be one of a host of other menopause symptoms. Besides, the frequency is also variable and can be accompanied by hot flushes.

What causes night sweats?
During menopause, the levels of oestrogen, also known as estrogen falls, thereby hampering the regular functioning of the body’s thermostat. This drop in oestrogen alters the hypothalamus or body’s thermostat, thereby leading to body’s overheating. Here are the top 10 home remedies for night sweats during menopause -

1. Sage
Sage, a member of the mint family, has been used as a medicinal herb since time immemorial. While ancient Egyptians used it for fertility; Greeks used it to clean ulcers and stop bleeding from wounds. This versatile medicinal leaf, also known as Rishi Patta in Hindi, help elderly women cope with night sweats. Apart from preventing sweating, sage also helps in offering relaxation, relieving tension and providing estrogen.

2. Dong Quai
Dong Quai, commonly known as Chinese angelica, is a root plant that has been used in Asian countries like China for hundreds of years. This dried root plant is related to celery, parsley and also carrots. Dong Quai helps in balancing hormonal levels of progesterone and estrogen. Moreover, the Chinese angelica also regulates blood flow by stabilizing blood vessels.

3. Soy
Add more soy to your diet, which is enriched with fatty acids and its micro-nutrients help in balancing the hormones. We suggest you to take soy along-with tofu, salmon and edamame to make the process more effective.

4. Motherwort
Motherwort, a part of mint family, is another top 10 home remedies for night sweats during menopause. Its active ingredients help balance the hormonal system in the body. Apart from balancing hormones, it stabilizes circulatory system and blood vessels as well. The mother wort also helps elderly women get relieved from menopause anxiety and heart palpitations. Some women experience rapid heartbeat, which also gets calm down with mother wort.

5 Add Vitamin E and Vitamin B to your food
Vitamins that make up the B complex play a key role in stabilizing adrenal glands and nervous system. Also the Vitamins B & E help in conversion of carbohydrates into the glucose, which is highly required for women experiencing menopause.Vitamin B keeps the mucous membranes of the vagina healthy, thereby managing smooth discharge during period without any pain.

While Vitamin B2 releases and activates of a variety of hormones, including estrogen, Vitamin B12 reduces depression, anxiety and helps decrease in mood swings and eliminates fatigue.Vitamin E consists of small amounts of estrogen and helps in treating menopause ailments including night sweats and hot flashes. Vitamin E also helps in fighting vaginal dryness.Add Vitamin E & B around 800 mg per day to your diet so as to help fight night sweats during menopause.

6. Exercise on a regular basis
As every woman experiences menopause differently, considering lifestyle changes can help cope with menopause ailments occurring in the body. A balanced fitness program such as mobility, flexibility, agility and strength training not only wards off postmenopausal health risks, but also helps fights with night sweats and hot flashes. Consider methods of stress relief such as meditation, yoga, and visualization.

7. Wear breathable, natural fibers
Since women experience severe night sweats, it’s ideal to sleep in removable layers of clothing to avoid being drenched from sweating while sleeping. And do not forget to avoid wear constrictive clothing, which can make you even more stressful.

8. Reduce consumption of warm beverages
Intake of warm beverages increases the risk of even more profuse night sweating. Therefore, women during menopause should avoid warm beverages like tea and coffee. Even they should reduce alcohol and caffeine intake.

9. Turn down the thermostat
As I have already suggested you to stay away from hot beverages, you should also turn down the thermostat so as not to augment the body temperature during menopause. It is also suggested to apply a cold wet compress to cool down.

10. Avoid chocolate, refined or spicy foods
Sugar and refined carbohydrates in the chocolate trigger night sweats and hot flashes. Also avoid refined or spicy foods.

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Does Acupuncture Technique Actually Helps To Treat Menopausal Symptoms?

Not every woman experiences menopause symptoms but among those who do the symptoms can be significant and disruptive, physically, emotionally and sexually.  Among the more common symptoms associated with menopause are hot flushes, mood swings, increased irritability, anxiety, vaginal dryness and/or itching, loss of libido, acne, weight gain, fatigue, memory problems, changes in skin texture, abnormal hair growth on face and more frequent urination.

Such signs and symptoms may be prominent for a few years, but will gradually lessen in severity and eventually disappear.

Osteoporosis on the other hand will continue to deteriorate with age and requires active intervention and treatment.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is considered the standard treatment for menopause and related conditions. However there is no consensus as to how and when to use these medications. Although they may alleviate hot flushes and prevent osteoporosis, they will also increase the risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer and have a number of significant side effects. The bottom line is that synthetic hormones can never replace endogenous ones. Therefore, no matter how and when they are prescribed, the potential for adverse reactions will always be present.

How acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are extremely effective in treating menopause and related conditions. It offers a gentle, yet effective way of treating the various symptoms without any side effects. Numerous studies have shown the effect of acupuncture and Chinese herbs on the hormonal system to alleviate hot flushes, loss of bone mass and other symptoms associated with menopause. And most importantly being much gentler and safer on the body.

Also tension, stress and anxiety can aggravate symptoms. The more relaxed and at ease with ourselves we are, the easier it is to deal with this time of transition. Acupuncture helps us to relax our body and mind.

Diet and Lifestyle: what can we do ourselves
A diet including lots of fresh fruit and vegetables can help stabilize blood sugar levels. Some foods that can aggravate symptoms such as hot flushes and mood swings are best avoided, such as dairy products, red meat, alcohol, sugar, spicy foods and caffeine. Cigarette smoking has a drying affect on our body and affects our natural cooling system, our yin, so is also best avoided.

Women who tend to be more active tend to suffer less from symptoms. Activities such as yoga, tai chi, qi gong provide gentle movement whilst also reducing stress and tension. A brisk walk for half an hour several times a week is very beneficial.

It is beneficial to have regular acupuncture treatment during the peri-menopausal period, as soon as the period starts changing.  This will help  smooth out any minor symptoms and prevents them from getting worse, making the menopausal period a much more pleasant experience.

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Fact Or Fiction: Does Natural Supplements Ease Menopausal Symptoms?

Hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, and other symptoms often come with menopause. A variety of supplements claim to help with these menopausal symptoms. But we want to know if they work? Supplements are rarely tested thoroughly, and many claims made by manufacturers aren’t always supported by science.

Here’s a look at several supplements and research about their effectiveness on menopausal symptoms.

Black cohosh:The extract of the black cohosh plant’s root. When it comes to hot flashes, several studies compared it with a placebo and found that black cohosh helps. However, wrote WebMD, “Other studies haven’t found a benefit.”

Dong quai: An herb said to mimic the body’s estrogen. Dong quai has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine as treatment for women’s health. But a modern study of dong quai looked at its effects on menopausal hot flashes and found no benefits.

Evening primrose oil: Oil extracted from the seeds of a yellow-flowered plant.  Little research on evening primrose oil has been done. In fact, Health.com reported that in a 2009 review in American Family Physician, just one study comparing primrose oil and placebo in menopausal women has been done. The study found that evening primrose oil was no better than the placebo in treating hot flashes.

Ginkgo biloba: The extract of the ginkgo plant’s leaves. Ginkgo is well-known for improving memory, concentration and mood. All of these can be affected by menopause. Yet several studies have found no evidence that ginkgo can help menopausal women suffering from memory loss, concentration and mood swings.

Hops: The flower clusters of the Humulus lupulus plant. Hops are another supplement with extremely limited research behind it. There has been only one controlled trial studying 8-PN’s potential effects. 8-PN is an estrogenic compound in hops. The controlled trial found that there were favorable results reducing menopausal symptoms including hot flashes.

Red clover: An extract of a legume that contains substances that mimic estrogen. Research results from red clover have been mixed when it comes to easing menopausal symptoms.

Soy: A protein found in foods such as tofu, edamame and soy milk. Many menopausal women look to soy to help with hot flashes. Unfortunately they may not find much relief. No conclusive evidence of effectiveness was found from the use of soy is of lavones to reduce hot flashes in frequency or severity in a 2009 review of randomised controlled trials.

It’s important to talk with your doctor before taking any supplements. All supplements have potential side effects and may adversely interact with some medication.

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Menopause and Depression

It is now a fact that women who are about to experience menopause are at an increased risk for depression. New studies indicate that the hormonal changes that happen to menopausal women is partially to blame for this. In both studies, women in the pre-menopausal stage were observed and it was noted that none of them had a history of depression. However, their risk of developing depression symptoms considerably increased as they approached menopause. The studies published in the prominent journal Archives of General Psychiatry argued in the favour of aggressive treatment of depression symptoms aside from menopausal symptoms. Currently, health care providers tend to dismiss depression symptoms thinking that it is a normal part of the transition.

From a public health view, depression is an extensive illness that shouldn't be ignored because of its negative impact not just on patients but also on their families. This is a very real problem that should be managed properly. During the transition to menopause, a clinical depression diagnosis is two-and-a-half times more likely. One of the main causes is the decreasing female hormones. Since hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases certain health risks, alternative treatments like natural menopause supplements are becoming more popular. The big problem with these natural menopause supplements is finding one that actually works since there are many low-quality products out there.

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