Herbs and Vitamins to Treat Your Symptoms
Looking for a perimenopause treatment. Here you will find information and tips for using herbal supplements and vitamins.
When the first symptoms of menopause strike most women dread the years of hot flashes, night sweats and mood swingsthat lay ahead. But there are many things you can do to alleviate your signs of perimenopause.
In the early part of the transition, it is important to get your body ready to find its own balance as early as possible. Herbs can help with this but you need to support the action of the herbs and vitamins with a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s talk about what options you have for perimenopause relief.
Perimenopause Herbs
There are several good perimenopause herbs and supplements to help with your symptoms. These herbs help your body to find its own hormone balance and provide perimenopause relief.
The main herbs for perimenopause relief are:
- Vitex (Chasteberry or Chaste Tree Berry)
- Maca
- Evening Primrose Oil
- Black Cohosh
Several herbal supplements such as Estrobalance and Estrosense contain a mixture of different herbs and natural products that can provide a hormone balancing effect and perimenopause relief as well.
Vitex or Chasteberry has long been prescribed in Germany as a treatment for PMS symptoms. Because PMS has similar causes and symptoms as perimenopause, vitex is a great option for perimenopause relief.
It can help with symptoms like breast tenderness, bloating, depression and mood swings and normalizes the menstrual cycle. It has been proven toregulate the progesterone production which explains the effects on perimenopause symptoms.
Maca is a well known herb to regulate hormones. Maca root can help withhot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, mood swings and libido problems.
Maca’s active chemicals work on the hormone regulating center in the brain (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis). Studies have found that Maca canincrease the production of estradiol (the main estrogen in the body during the reproductive years) and at the same time to suppress the production of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone). This normalizes the hormone balance in the body and leads to symptom relief.
Evening Primrose Oil is also a classical herb for perimenopause symptoms that are similar to PMS but it does not help much with hot flashes. It is a great herb for the early perimenopausal symptoms before the hot flashes strike.
Perimenopause Vitamins
Your body begins to require some additional support when you enter perimenopause. Vitamins and minerals in proper amounts will help your body to stay healthy and may reduce some of the symptoms.
For women in perimenopause vitamins C, E, D and K are important. Bothvitamin C and E have been linked to a reduction in hot flashes, at least in some women. Vitamin D and K are important for the absorption of calcium.
Many foods are fortified with vitamins (milk, cheese, orange juice etc) so read the labels to get an idea of how much vitamins you are getting. This is important information because you can get too much of certain vitamins which could lead to side effects. Some vitamins (such as vitamin E) are fat soluble and are not as quickly eliminated as the water soluble vitamins (such as vitamin C).
Most people get enough of the daily recommended amount of vitamins if they eat a healthy and balanced diet. With age however, many vitamins are not as well absorbed by the body as when you were younger. In these cases you may have to consider some vitamin supplements.
There are several vitamin supplements on the market that are especially formulated for women in their menopause years.
This may also be the time to start taking additional calcium to maintain your bone strength. Calcium citrate is the preferred option for calcium supplements because it is better absorbed and does not have to be taken with food. Because calcium needs vitamin D for absorption, look for supplements with calcium and vitamin D.
For more information, check out the article about menopause vitamins.
Choosing a Perimenopause Treatment
The signs of perimenopause are different for every woman as is the severity of her symptoms. The good news is that modern medicine and rediscovery of ancient wisdom are now combining to give you more options than ever before.
Newer research is finding out a lot more about the active chemicals in herbs and how they work.
Supplements are often the best choice for perimenopause treatment because of the effectiveness and ease of use.
