What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Menopause Incontinence

Few symptoms of menopause interfere with normal day-to-day living the way a weak bladder can. To make matters worse, it’s not as easy to talk about with your girlfriends or even your doctor as say, hot flashes or weight gain. While around 35% of women over 60 experience this problem, it’s almost always treatable.

What is incontinence exactly?

There are several different forms of incontinence. The most common form during menopause is known as stress incontinence. A weak bladder leaks urine when you cough, sneeze or lift something heavy. The somewhat less common type is urge incontinence, which causes an overall bladder control problem and leads to frequent urination

The causes of menopause incontinence

During menopause, as estrogen levels decrease, the lining of the urethra (the tube that takes urine outside the body) becomes thinner. This, combined with pelvic floor muscles weakened due to age or previous childbirth, can lead to a weak bladder. Another cause often associated with age, although not connected to menopause, is nerve damage from diabetes or a stroke. A weak bladder can also be a sign of a urinary tract or vaginal infection.

Treatment of a weak bladder

Since stress incontinence is by far the most common type of weak bladder that occurs at menopause, the most effect treatment is simply to strengthen the pelvic muscles. You’ve probably heard of using Kegel exercises to strengthen the vaginal walls, but did you know they strengthed the pelvic floor muscles, too? These exercise require nothing more than repeatedly squeezing the pelvic floor muscles and can be done anywhere without anyone knowing you’re doing them. If these exercises alone aren’t enough, there are special cones and balls that can be inserted to help you re-train your pelvic floor muscles.

Although there isn’t much in the way of herbal remedies for a weak bladder, one plant that does seem to work to strengthen the urinary tract is horsetail (Equisetum arvense). It’s both an astringent and a diuretic and works to flush irritating toxins out of the urinary system. Saw palmetto and pumpkin seed also seem to help, as does eating yogurt with active cultures.

Estrogen replacement therapy is another approach to consider. Although it’s yet to be approved for treating a weak bladder during menopause, preliminary studies do indicate that hormone replacement therapy can help with menopause-related incontinence problems. It makes sense, after all, since the pelvic floor muscles are sensitive to estrogen and progesterone. Again, though, because this treatment hasn’t been fully approved for incontinence, talk with your doctor before starting any self-treatment beyond natural hormone creams.

For serious cases of incontinence, medications may be prescribed. These include urinary tract support medication such as tolterodine (Detrol) and duloxetine (Cymbalta).

A weak bladder during menopause is one of the most common problem women going through the change of life face. That doesn’t mean your doomed to spend your days within dashing distance of the bathroom, though. Kegel exercises, natural treatments, and in some cases hormone replacement therapy can all help solve this uncomfortable problem.


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Is There A Safe And Effective Cure For Hot Flashes?

Is There A Safe And Effective Cure For Hot Flashes?

If you’re a woman and you’re in menopause, then it almost goes without saying that you’ve suffered from hot flashes at one time or another. Hot flashes affect 75-85% of all women in menopause to varying degrees. It is not completely understood exactly what causes them, but most agree that it is due to hormonal imbalances caused by changes in the level of estrogen. Because they can be so uncomfortable and disruptive, most women are searching for a safe cure for hot flashes.

Some of the earliest symptoms of menopause are hot flashes, abnormal menstrual bleeding, and mood swings. Hot flashes and night sweats often result in sleep problems and insomnia, which can lead to anxiety and depression. Women in menopause quite often also experience heart palpitations, vaginal dryness, weight gain, loss of libido, and urinary changes. Some women float through menopause with few symptoms, but for most of us it’s a different story. Is it any wonder that searching for a safe and effective cure for hot flashes can be such a priority?

Since the imbalance is caused by falling estrogen levels, it makes sense that estrogen itself is the most effective treatment for hot flashes. That’s why for so many years Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) – also known as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) – has been the primary cure for hot flashes. In fact, it generally results in an 80 to 90% reduction in hot flashes and other symptoms.

The peak age for hot flashes is the early 50′s, but many women start getting them in their 40′s. There is also a growing number of women who have undergone breast cancer treatment who suffer from hot flashes as well. Estrogen is the most prescribed medication to cure hot flashes, often as a pill or a skin patch. Generally, the amount of estrogen it takes to reduce hot flashes and other symptoms is less than the amount needed for normal menstrual periods. In recent years, doctors have prescribed much lower dosages than in the past.

Unfortunately, very recent studies have made it very clear that hormone replacement can increase the risk of breast cancer, uterine cancer, and strokes. That means the hot flash cure can be worse then just coping with the symptoms. This has led increasing numbers of women to search for a more natural cure for hot flashes.

Breast cancer survivors don’t even have the option of using estrogen as a cure for hot flashes. The concern is that taking estrogen would cause the reappearance and further growth of breast cancer cells. Hot flashes then become a routine occurence in women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Many of these women have severe hot flashes.

Fortunately, there are natural remedies and strategies that can lessen the effects of hot flashes and other symptoms. Many women have turned to herbal remedies that include black cohosh, soy, and vitamin E. They have found these natural remedies to be an effective part of their search of a cure for hot flashes. Lifestyle and dietary changes also play a part. Foods and beverages that often increase hot flashes are alcohol, caffeine, and hot, spicy foods. Removing them from the diet can improve your symptoms. Increasing physical activity will also help.

In summary, hot flashes are the most common symptom faced by women going through menopause. They are caused by changing levels of hormones, especially of estrogen. Hormone Replacement Therapy is still the most prescribed cure for hot flashes. However, women are increasingly investigating natural remedies due to the increase in breast cancer, uterine cancer, and stroke risk associated with HRT. Fortunately, they don’t last forever. For most women, they will decrease in intensity and frequency. It’s only a matter of time.

Discover how YOU can stop your hot flashes and menopausal symptoms without HRT. Pick up your free special report ”Coping with Hot Flashes the Natural Way” by clicking here: http://www.survivemenopause.com


Article from articlesbase.com

www.healthymenopauseremedies.com There’s plenty you can to reduce hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, but it will help a lot if you can fully understand what causes hot flashes in the first place. This will also help you decide on what, if any, menopause treatments you may want to look into.
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What You Can Do About Low Libido at Menopause

For many women, low libido at menopause is more than just a minor nuisance. It can have a dramatic negative effect on intimate relationships and lead to low self-esteem. While a lot of menopausal women experience a diminished sex drive or even a complete lack of sex drive, it’s not something you just have to put up with. There is help for loss of libido and you don’t need to resort to pharmaceuticals to get it.

The causes

To understand what you can do about the problem, it helps to know what causes low libido in the first place. The cause is really fairly simple. Estrogen and testosterone are responsible for your sex drive and at menopause, these hormones are no longer being produce at the levels they were when you were younger.

Another issue leading to lack of libido is vaginal dryness. Estrogen helps keep your vaginal tissues healthy and lubricated, but when estrogen is lacking, the resulting dryness can make intercourse uncomfortable. That’s not exactly an aphrodisiac.

The emotional connection

A woman’s libido is never all about hormones, no matter what her age. If you have no sex drive after menopause or even during perimenopause, there could be emotional reasons for it. Quite often it’s stress. Maybe you’re facing retirement, the illness or death of a loved one, or even facing “empty nest syndrome.” Stress from dramatic changes likes these throws a big bucket of cold water on your libido. If you’re also feeling depressed or irritable, stress combined with hormone fluctuations is the likely cause.

During menopause, many women feel as if their body is betraying them. Let’s face it, heavy periods, weight gain, and saggy breasts don’t do much to help anyone feel more feminine. Not only that, but you stop knowing what to expect from your body anymore. Feeling like this usually leads to less confidence in the bedroom, which can seriously dampen your sex drive.

What you can do

If you think stress is causing your low libido, try stress reduction techniques like yoga or visualization. Moderate physical exercise can help, too. Make sure you’re not trying to deal with everything by yourself, either. Talking to other women about the change of life makes the transition a lot less stressful.

For lack of sex drive caused mostly by hormone fluctuations, one simple solution is to eat more.

foods rich in phytoetrogens (plant estrogen) to boost your estrogen levels. This includes soy, flax seeds, lentils, and apples. Certain herbs like black cohosh and dong quai also contain phytoestrogens. Beyond this, there are also natural progesterone creams that can help increase your levels of sex hormones and restore your libido.

If you’re fed up with dealing with a low libido at menopause, you should know there are a number of things you can do about it. Your first step should be to deal with any major stress than may be sapping your energy and sex drive. Once you’ve done that, look into natural treatments for low libido like herbs and progesterone replacement.


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The Symptoms of Menopause – What You Can Expect

If you’re just now entering menopause or approaching that age, you’ve probably started wondering if all the rumors are about hot flashes, loss of libido, and weight gain are true. Certainly they’re exaggerated, right? Well, there’s always hope. For most women, though, at least a few of the typical symptoms of menopause do show up. Here’s a little of what you can expect as you enter menopause.

Irregular periods

This is usually the first and probably the most obvious sign that something about your hormone levels has changed. Women going through menopause and perimenopause may experience missing or more frequent periods, heavy periods, longer periods or a combination. Like menarche, it’s largely an individual thing, though what your mother experienced can give you some indication of what’s in store for you.

Hot flashes and night sweats

The butt of so many menopause jokes and cartoons, hot flashes and night sweats are one of the better known symptoms of menopause, yet few women know exactly what causes them.

During menopause, your hormone levels become unbalanced and this fools your body’s heat-regulating system into thinking you’re too warm. To dispel this extra warmth, your body sends out signals to increase your heart rate and open your sweat glands, giving you a rush of heat and perspiration.

Vaginal dryness

Estrogen is what keeps the membranes in your vaginal area moist, supple, and at a pH level that wards of bacterial infection. With less estrogen in your body, these membranes dry out and become thinner. Not only is it uncomfortable, it also puts you at greater risk for yeast and urinary tract infections.

Weight gain

Weight gain around the stomach area is another common problem many women deal with during and after menopause. Less estrogen is being produced in the usual manner, your body starts looking for other ways to create it. Since body fat is the next best place to create estrogen, your body starts deliberately packing on more fat as a way to pick up your falling estrogen levels.

Another cause is water retention. This leads to edema (swelling) in the legs, arms and abdomen. While physical changes do play a part, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle don’t exactly help.

Bladder control problems

One of the most frustrating symptoms of menopause is frequent urination and a weak bladder. This problem comes from the fact that estrogen also helps keep the lining of the bladder and the urethra healthy. Without enough estrogen, these muscles weaken can you end up with a bladder control problem.

Sound like enough problems? Well, unfortunately, this isn’t a complete list. Some women also experience thinning hair, facial hair growth, trouble sleeping (a major problem for many), and mood swings. The good news, though, is that all of these symptoms have proven-effective natural treatments available that can help reduce the discomfort and inconvenience they cause. These include things like herbal remedies that support the female reproductive system, stress-management techniques like meditation, and natural hormone replacement treatments made from plant estrogens.


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The 4 Top Menopause Remedies For You to Consider

Menopause is an unfortunate reality for all women as they get older and with it comes many painful and irritating symptoms. The purpose of this article is to give you some information on a variety of herbal and non-herbal treatments available that may be of help to you dealing with any symptoms you may feel. These include:

o Phytoestrogens- Phytoestrogens are compounds that come from plants. These compounds are often used as a treatment for menopause because they have a similar genetic make up to the naturally occurring female hormone estrogen.

o Wild Yam Creams- Whilst there is little medicinal evidence supporting the use of wild yam creams as a treatment for menopause is inconclusive, wild yam creams are still a highly popular over the counter remedy. Diosgenin is a compound in wild yams that can be synthesized in to progesterone, however the human body does not have the enzyme capable of this synthesis.

o Herbal Medicines- Herbal remedies are also wildly popular in treating menopausal women. They may not be useful in treating menopause per se, but a naturopath or herbalist can prescribe herbal treatments to help alleviate symptoms associated with menopause.

o Progesterone Treatments- Progesterone is a naturally occurring female sex hormone. It declines during menopause and some studies suggest that many menopausal symptoms are a direct result of an incorrect ratio between progesterone and estrogen levels. Progesterone remedies are normally taken in the form of a cream. Progesterone treatments can often be taken with other hormone treatments.

Menopause can be a painful and irritating time for women but there are a variety of treatments you can consider that may help alleviate your suffering. I have listed four popular treatments above and you may want to consider trying one or all of them to see which of these treatments work best for you.


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Menopause and Depression - U-M Depression Center
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Having Trouble Sleeping During Menopause? Here’s What You Can Do About It

Menopause insomnia is more common than you may think. While it’s frustrating in and of itself, it also exacerbates all the other symptoms of menopause and can be the cause of mood swings and low libido. In fact, an April 2008 issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing published a report of a survey in which participants deemed sleep problems as the worst menopause symptom. It came in ahead of forgetfulness, hot flashes and irritability.

The usual pattern

For most women, sleep problems during menopause usually take the form of waking up in the early morning and not being able to get back to sleep for half an hour or more. What wakes you up may be night sweats, an anxiety attack, nightmare or seemingly nothing at all. Other women have trouble falling asleep when they go to bed at night.

The causes

Although the exact causes of menopause insomnia aren’t know, it’s thought menopausal women often wake up in the middle of the night due to fluctuations in body temperature, which are caused by hormone fluctuations. Usually you wake up when your body temperature has reached a high enough point that your system wakes you in attempt to get you to do something to cool off. That’s why so many women often wake up right before having night sweats.

For other women, there may be no obvious feeling of being too warm, but from a change in estrogen levels, the body’s regulatory systems have gotten the signal they need to cool things down. In either case, it can take between 20 minutes to an hour or more before hormone levels settle enough to let you go back to sleep.

Another common, though often overlooked, cause of insomnia during menopause are emotional issues like stress, anxiety, and depression. These feelings are often responsible for an inability to fall asleep after going to bed. Stress and worry keeps your mind skipping from one problem to the next and just won’t let you fall asleep. Although sometimes these emotions are caused by hormone fluctuations, they can also be caused by the prospect of facing major life changes such as retirement.

Natural remedies

So, now you know what might be behind your insomnia, but the question of how to get to sleep during menopause still remains. Fortunately, though, since sleep problems aren’t exclusive to menopausal women, plenty of natural remedies for insomnia have been developed and many of these are remarkably effective.

How you treat your insomnia depends on the cause, though. If you believe night sweats are the primary cause, you’ll do best with treatments that get those under control, such as black cohosh and wild yam.

For sleep problems related to emotions, there are two tracts you can take. The first is to find a way to work through the stress. This may be meditation, relaxation techniques, or guided imagery. Use these to come to grips with any social or job related issues before you go to bed.

If those don’t seem to work for you, try one of the herbal treatments for relaxation like chamomile, hops, lavender, passion flower valerian, kava kava, or St. Johns wort.

Not being able to sleep during menopause is a fairly common symptom, but it’s not something you should ignore. Lack of sleep can worsen just about every other symptom of menopause, including weight gain, and just make you all around miserable. To keep yourself healthy, do what you can to manage emotional stress and consider natural treatments for night sweats and insomnia.


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Can Natural Progesterone Relieve the Symptoms of the Menopause?

Natural progesterone is highly recommended as a menopause symptoms reliever. It will even out the hormones in the body if a female becomes estrogen dominant, which often happens around the time of menopause. It can also benefit women who have had a hysterectomy or who are suffering from symptoms of PMS.

Natural progesterone cream such as NatPro matches the progesterone that is found in the body without any unnatural substances being used. This means there are no side effects as you are simply replacing the body’s natural hormones with progesterone cream. You must be aware when purchasing progesterone cream that you only purchase the natural varieties such as NatPro, which is known to be a top of the line natural progesterone product. Synthetically produced progesterone will bring upon side effects to the menopausal woman such as migraines, asthma, fluid retention and cardiac problems.

These creams like NatPro are simply used on the skin. The skin then absorbs the progesterone. It is a painless method and even easier than taking pills. Natural progesterone will relieve the symptoms of menopause. Not only that, it also provides middle aged women with a host of additional benefits including:

Increases libido

Helps prevent against various cysts and cancer

Relieves depression

Normalizes blood sugar levels

Menopause generally occurs from age 50-55 in women. Symptoms associated with menopause commonly include:

Hot flashes – flushing of the face and overall increase in body temperature

Depression – Hormonal changes often cause depression

Irritability – Mood swings and irritability are common

Vaginal itchiness – Dryness and itchiness in the vagina is a common menopause symptom. See your doctor to rule out serious problems here.

Fatigue – Many women note that they feel extra tired during menopause.

There are also other symptoms experienced by menopausal women.

NatPro, the natural progesterone cream, provides fantastic menopause symptom relief. There are no toxic substances in NatPro and it is not tested on animals.

Progesterone has a regulatory effect on the body so if it exists in lowered amounts, the body can begin to react inefficiently. Many pre-menopausal women can tend to be estrogen dominant; therefore progesterone needs to be supplemented to even out the hormonal balance.

Estrogen dominance can lead to such things as uterine fibroids, weight gain, infertility and cancer. This is where natural progesterone comes in. It will help maintain optimal levels of progesterone whilst helping to avoid an over abundance of estrogen. With that said, menopausal women will eventually experience a drop in estrogen levels. This can lead to the usual array of menopause symptoms.

Supplementing with natural progesterone cream can help this situation dramatically. Natural progesterone cream like NatPro aims to resolve problems such as vaginal dryness and hot flushes amongst other menopausal symptoms.

Every woman will require a different amount of natural progesterone cream. It will depend on whether you are menopausal, pre-menopausal (where estrogen dominance can occur) and any other health issues you may have. It is best if you see a doctor before taking on any progesterone supplementation plan.


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What Exactly Are Hot Flashes?

You may have heard a woman complain about having “hot flashes” and had visions of her head suddenly going up in flames or perhaps you thought she was having brilliant flashes of inspiration for that next greatest product. Hot flashes are actually a symptom some women experience as they go through menopause. Not all women experience them, but enough do that it is a very commonly heard phrase for women in their fifties to hear and to utter – “I am having hot flashes!”. Women going through the life change referred to as “menopause” will experience different symptoms that may be linked to the declining hormone levels in their bodies. Some women experience insomnia, others will swear they have more joint pain then they previously experienced. Many will experience the phenomena known as “hot flashes” which makes them feel flushed, they perspire and feel very warm all in a span of about 30 seconds to several minutes and then it is gone, until the next time it occurs.

The cause of hot flashes has not yet been determined so it is not entirely understood yet what is happening to these women, but the fact that hot flashes makes them feel uncomfortable is understood. Scientist believe that hot flashes may be the result of hormonal and biochemical fluctuations within the woman’s body that is brought on by the decline in her estrogen levels.

The symptom, hot flashes can actually begin for some women (40% of menstruating women) as early as their forties; approximately 10 years before menopause. Most women (80%) who experience hot flashes will see them end within five years. Unfortunately there are the unlucky 10% who will continue to experience the uncomfortable feeling of hot flashes for 10 years.

As if hot flashes were not enough some women who experience them also experience night sweats. Night sweats are when they wake up during the night drenched in wet, uncomfortable sweat! This of course will seriously disturb her sleep and lead to daytime tiredness.

Doctors have traditionally treated the women who experience hot flashes with oral or transdermal (patch) forms of estrogen to replace the declining levels. This is called hormone therapy (HT) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or simply postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT). What ever you chose to call it the oral and patch form are available by prescription only so it is necessary to make a doctor’s appointment in order to receive this type of treatment. Women have reported receiving some relieve using these treatments at least in that the frequency of hot flashes were reduced. Studies showed that the frequency could be reduced as much as 80 to 90% so this kind of therapy can bring relief.

The downside to hormone therapy is that women being treated with both estrogen and progesterone therapy experienced an increase in the risk for heart attack, stroke and breast cancer as compared to women who did not undergo hormone therapy. Women receiving only estrogen therapy were only at a higher risk for endometrial cancer (lining of the uterus) in those women who had not had their uterus surgically removed.

Given the risks of hormone therapy each woman who experiences hot flashes and is uncomfortable enough to seek medical help must carefully weigh the benefits of the therapy against the risks. Her decision should be guided by the medical advice of her doctor who can share the latest studies and statistics with her. Her medical history will be a deciding factor as it may influence her particular risk factor.

Women who do decide to use hormone therapy to combat hot flashes should be started out at the lowest possible dosage that will be effective for her to help minimize the risk.

There are alternative medications to hormone therapy they include:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – low does of this class of drug has been shown to decrease the occurrence of hot flashes. Some of the drugs tested to show relief are: Effexor, Paxil, Paxil CR and Prozac.

Clonidine, which decreases blood pressure, also has been shown to relieve hot flashes in some women and not in others.

Megestrol acetate is a type of progesterone female hormone that has been shown to be effective in reducing hot flashes, but can only be used short-term. This drug has resulted in weight gain in women who have tried this therapy.

Gabapentin is moderately effective in treating hot flashes but may cause drowsiness in some women.

Women who suffer the symptom of hot flashes should seek medical advice and consider carefully the risk of certain treatments before they start them. As bad as hot flashes are to endure, having to be told they have breast cancer or are suffering from a cardiac condition would be worse as these things may cause permanent health issues where hot flashes will eventually go away.


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Having Too Much Estrogen Is Bad For You

The effects on a woman’s body of having too much estrogen can be quite serious.

A chronic condition of increased levels of estrogen (estrogen levels that are not balanced by sufficient levels of progesterone in the body) are the single greatest factor for an increased risk of endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus).

Estrogen is not one hormone. Estrogen is actually three different hormones: estrone, estradiol and estriol. In addition to the estrogen the body produces on its own, women are exposed to estrogen-like environmental chemicals (they mimic the effects of estrogen in our bodies) called “xenoestrogens”, and dietary estrogen sources (estrogen contained in food). As a result, elevated levels of estrogen in a woman’s body may be traced to several different factors including biological, environmental or dietary/lifestyle, or may be a combination of all of these.

So why exactly does this matter? Why is having too much estrogen bad for you?

Too much estrogen or the condition of “estrogen dominance” can be the cause of serious health issues. Normally during a woman’s childbearing years, estrogen and progesterone levels increase and decrease in coordination with one another throughout her monthly reproductive cycle. When these hormones are in a state of imbalance, with estrogen occurring in higher levels, women experience problems such as headaches/migraines, clouded thinking, breast tenderness, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, food cravings, and water retention.

If increased levels of estrogen are not treated, they can lead to much more serious and problematic circumstances including infertility, heavy menstrual bleeding, infrequent menstrual cycles, fibroids, endometriosis, stroke, and cancer.

Educating yourself about estrogen, it’s role and the effects it has on your body is very important. Learning to monitor and maintain your body’s hormonal balance is of great benefit, and will promote lasting results for your overall health.


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