(ARA) - Gone are the days when menopause was referred to quietly as “the change.” Today, women are taking charge by managing their symptoms so they can feel like themselves again.

Common symptoms associated with menopause, from hot flashes and irritability to trouble sleeping at night, are different for every woman and can range from mild to severe. With so many women concerned about recent news on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatments, they are looking for natural options to relieve everyday symptoms. From dietary to lifestyle changes, Estroven — the leader in the natural supplements category for menopause, offers simple ways to manage the symptoms of menopause:

Managing your Moods — Mood swings can be unpredictable and stressful. If the slightest request from your husband or best friend sends you over the edge, it may be an early sign of menopause. While irritability is not a direct symptom of menopause, there are many factors such as stress, lack of sleep, and hormonal fluctuations that can lead to changes in behavior during this time. Some simple methods that will alleviate emotional symptoms include regular exercise, relaxation techniques, stretching or just simply talking to friends and family.

Beat the Heat — Hot flashes are one of the most common complaints of women entering menopause. If you have had one there is no mistaking it — the intense feeling of heat in the upper body followed by hot sweats and heart palpitations. While there is no one remedy that eliminates hot flashes there are plenty to ease the symptoms. Certain common triggers that might set off a hot flash such as alcohol, spicy foods, caffeine and smoking should be eliminated and you should take steps to reduce stress. Other lifestyle changes such as taking Estroven, an herbal supplement with a unique blend of clinically proven ingredients including soy and black cohosh, can also help ease the severity of a hot flash attack.

Feeling sexy again — While menopause marks the end of a woman’s reproductive cycle, it does not signify the end of her sexuality. To sooth the vaginal dryness and itching that comes with menopause, women can use a vaginal moisturizer as well as an intimate lubricant during intercourse to help replenish the body’s natural moisture. In addition, communication is one of the most important factors in keeping your sex life alive. While your body may be going through some changes, you will never outgrow your need for affection and emotional closeness. Speaking openly and honestly with your significant other is key to bringing back that loving feeling.

Menopause is a huge transitional stage in a woman’s life and fortunately there are now natural supplements that offer significant relief and when combined with lifestyle and dietary changes can help the body maintain a state of balance. For more information on natural options for addressing the symptoms of menopause, please visit www.estroven.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Women undergoing menopause often experience hot flashes. A handy description of a hot flash is a sudden wave of intense heat that begins in the chest or stomach region and then envelopes the entire physical body. Many women report that this hot sensation is accompanied by profuse sweating and a red flush that suffuses the face.

Women in the throes of a hot flash will report sensations of nausea, dizziness, enervation and heart palpitations. Interestingly, these hot flashes may last for short periods of 3 to 6 minutes, or in rare instances may stretch for half an hour to an hour. A hot flash will subside as suddenly as it begins. The immediate aftermath is a chilling of the body as the internal thermostat struggles to restore balance.

Hot flashes can be neatly categorized as mild, moderate and severe. Some of the things that you will experience if you are having a hot flash are rapid heartbeat, perspiration, mild warmth feeling to intense heat spreading through your upper body and to your face, chilled feeling as the hot flash subsides. You can survive the hot flash by following these tips: -

1.  Dress up in layers so that you can peel of one layer after another as you get warmer.

2.  Avoid wearing woolen clothes and synthetic clothes and be wary of silken clothes. Also avoid wearing turtle necks.

3.  Keep ice water at hand that you can sip to cool down your insides.
 
4.  Wear cotton pajamas or a night gown if you perspire a lot at night. Or else you can also use cotton sheets. Don’t use synthetic sheets. Again if you perspire heavily then it’s preferable that you wear cotton pajamas because changing the nightclothes will be much easier than changing sheets.

5.  Where possible lower the thermostat. Have a decent air conditioner or a ceiling fan. You can also have a battery operated hand held fans or the foldable kind you flutter in front of your face. Paper fans are also suitable for this purpose.

6.  Before going to bed take a cool shower and also you can try a mild medication like Tylenol to keep you cool.

So these are some of the tips which if you follow you will be able to combat the problem of hot flash. However you need to be a little bit careful on sunny days as the temperature itself will be high and you might face aggravated problems of hot flash. These problems are not much serious if you take proper care and follow the above mentioned tips.

There are many remedies for hot flashes that you can look at. There are the prescription hormonal replacement therapies. There are also the herbal remedies to be considered as possible treatments. The use of prescription hormonal replacement therapy has had a long history and ha come under fire in recent years.

In some cases it has been linked or there has been a suspected link between hormone replacement therapy and an increased risk of estrogen dependent breast cancer. For many this is a risk that is not worth taking and the prescribed drugs have gone under a reformulation to reduce the amount of estrogen in them.

Yet for many because of the increased risk of breast cancer, they have chosen to look for alternatives to the hormone replacement therapy. This has led many to herbal remedies and other forms of seeking relief from the affects of hot flashes. There is the fact that an increase in physical activity can help relieve the symptoms of hot flashes.

It has been recommended that you get 30-mins of moderate exercise more than 3 hrs before going to bed. This helps not only reduce the symptoms of hot flashes but also improves your physical fitness, improves the quality of sleep and aids digestion. Another course of action that has been recommended is to limit or eliminate the use of alcohol and caffeine in your diet.

These items have been shown to increase the frequency and severity of your hot flashes. Remedies for hot flashes also include other dietary items like limiting or removal of very spicy foods. Examples of these would be Cajun, East Indian types of food. Foods with hot pepper, cyan, chili powder and other such foods can increase the symptoms of hot flashes. By eliminating these types of foods you can reduce your hot flash symptoms.

Beyond that there are a number of herbal remedies for hot flashes. You can look at eating soy products in amounts of 50 grams or less will help reduce the symptoms of the hot flashes. There are also other herbal remedies that can be looked at like ginseng, black cohosh, dong quai and evening primrose. With any herbal remedies always be sure of the quality of them and that they are right for you. Do your research and if you have a doctor that is also a homeopath that is even better.

Progesterone cream use has been recommended for the reduction of menopausal symptoms. This cream can be applied as a moisturizing cream to the face, hands, abdomen, chest and the arms and legs. This cream is intended to be used by pre-menopausal and menopausal women for the purpose of reducing the symptoms of menopause.

Progesterone cream use is best on thin skin for absorption purposes. The cream is absorbed through the skin and into the fatty tissue that lies underneath and from there it is absorbed into the blood stream. Do not apply progesterone cream to the same location each and every time. You must rotate the locations where you apply the cream.

If you apply it to the face, the next time you will want to apply it to the hands and perhaps the feet next. You should check each area that you apply the cream for any sensitivity issues. This is especially true for the face because the face is the most sensitive portion of the body and the last place you want to have a skin reaction.

Progesterone cream use is only recommended on days 12 - 26 out of your cycle for best results. The progesterone cream should be applied twice a day during this period and always remember to rotate sites of application. The results of the cream will take about 20–mins to be noticeable and the relief will last up to 8 hrs. If your symptoms are sever you can add an additional treatment for 3 times a day treatment. This would provide 24hr coverage of the symptoms.

The treatment should continue between 3-6 months and that you should let you doctor know that you are doing this. This is to insure that your progesterone treatments do not have an adverse reaction to any other meds you are on or may be placed on. It is important that you use this cream on days 12 – 26 of your cycle. As you progress through menopause your period will stop and you will need to keep track. This will allow you to be as accurate as possible with your applications.

Pregnancy hot flashes? Yes, you can have hot flashes during your pregnancy. This is something that many have known or at least suspected for a long time. Just ask any woman who has been pregnant about it and they will confirm that you can and often do get hot flashes.

The hormonal levels do not cause hot flashes in your system but rather by the fluctuation of the hormonal levels in your body. The hot flashes are the body’s way of reacting to the changes in the levels of various hormones. One thing that is certain during pregnancy is that your hormone levels are going to change during the pregnancy.

This change is an ongoing thing that will happen to meet the needs of the baby and the mother. Because you are pregnant the idea of hormone replacement therapy is something that may not be possible or even recommended. The use of natural remedies for reducing or eliminating hot flashes is something that can be looked at.

Some of the natural remedies for hot flashes included getting thirty minutes of exercise each day. Walking would be a great thing to do keeping you fit for the delivery and reducing hot flash symptoms. There are also some dietary things that you can do to reduce the symptoms of pregnancy hot flashes. These would include eating soy products. Soy is something that has been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of the hot flashes.

There are some things that you should have already done because you are pregnant that will reduce the amount and severity of the hot flashes. Things like not drinking alcohol and reducing or eliminating your use of caffeinated beverages. Another thing that you can do to help reduce pregnancy hot flashes is to reduce the amount of spicy food that you eat.

This is something that you may have already done but it not you may want to consider it. Spicy foods have been shown to increase the amount and severity of the hot flashes you experience. Pregnancy hot flashes will impact the way you feel about yourself and the amount of sleep you get. By taking a few simple steps you can reduce the amount and the severity of the hot flashes that you will experience during your pregnancy.