The Menopause
We hear so much about the menopause these days and symptoms associated with it. We also hear many opinions about how to deal with it, too! So I have decided to give you my explanation of what is happening in the body when menopause symptoms are occurring, so that you are able to make informed choices about how to remedy the problem.
The body has plans in place to compensate, as a woman ages, for the ovaries losing their ability to manufacture sex hormones. The changeover process can take up to about fifteen years. As the ovaries reduce their productivity, the adrenal glands should take over that function. If this transition occurs as it should, the only symptom of menopause observed will be the loss of the monthly menstrual flow. To those suffering severe symptoms, this might seem impossibly ambitious, but this is actually what happened to me, so I know that it can be achieved, and in a relatively short period of time.
When the transition from ovary to adrenal production is not as it should be, the broadest range of symptoms can continue for years, often 'creeping up' on a woman so gradually that she thinks it is 'a change of character'. The consequences of this can be as traumatic as a marriage break up, or difficulties with youngsters in the family, which only adds to the problem. The more stressed a woman is, the more likely she is to have a worsening of symptoms.
So, what are the symptoms that can be related to these changes? There are many, including tiredness, lethargy, hot flushes, night sweats, difficulties sleeping, anxiety, panic attacks, fuzzy thinking, aching joints, vaginal dryness, lack of libido, 'being on a short fuse' and mood swings; these can be quite severe and sudden, leading to uncharacteristic behaviour such as feeling really high one minute, really low the next. There can even be onsets of violence, followed by a wondering of where it came from, such as throwing things or lashing out verbally or physically.
Both the sex organs and the adrenal glands are part of a collection of glands called the endocrine system. All of these glands shoot their hormones straight into the bloodstream, so their effects are felt almost immediately throughout the body. The controller of them all is called the hypothalamus gland and this 'orders' the pituitary gland how to conduct the rest. If one gland is unable to deliver the quantity of hormones that is asked of it, another gland will try to compensate.
The adrenal glands are the only stress handling mechanism that the body has. In this day and age, they are frequently overstretched by all kinds of physical stresses such as dehydration, background noises, electromagnetic fields, nutritional deficiencies and sudden shocks such as alarms going off. It is estimated that on average the adrenal glands are triggered thirty times a day. So by the time they are expected to take on the extra role of making oestrogen, they can be too overstretched to take on that role efficiently.
The body's backup plan for this situation is to ask the thyroid gland to make the oestrogen. Unless we eat sea food, especially seaweed, regularly, or eat vegetables that have been grown in soil fertilized with seaweed, the body is short of iodine, which prevents the thyroid from being efficient.
So the next gland that is meant to take up oestrogen production is the pituitary gland. It is when this gland is under pressure that hot flushes and night sweats occur. The direct cause of hot flushes, therefore, is actually the pituitary gland being under pressure, not the female sex hormones. Men can get hot flushes, as well as women, but I find men tend to be embarrassed to admit to them because they think it indicates that they have too many female hormones - not true!
We often talk about male hormones, like testosterone, and female hormones like oestrogen, as though they are totally separate things. In fact, there is a chain of biochemical reactions that makes the sex hormones from the basic ingredient, cholesterol. The first step in this chain is the production of progesterone, some of this is converted into testosterone, then some of the testosterone is converted into oestrogen. There are also several-step chains to break down excess hormones for recycling.
So, if progesterone comes first on that chain, it begs the question, 'How come women can get low progesterone, making progesterone creams effective?'. One possible explanation is a woman being on a no-fat, or low-fat diet, because the production of sex hormones begins with cholesterol, our own animal fat. The liver makes cholesterol, as long as it has the correct ingredients, which include cold pressed, unrefined, unheated, non-rancid oils - a whole subject in itself! Without the appropriate ingredients, the liver cannot make cholesterol and the body then cannot make hormones, it is as simple as that!
Another possible explanation is that there are many artificial oestrogen mimics, called xenoestrogens, in our environment these days, including in the air we breathe. These come mostly from the plastics and chemical industries, including plastic food/drink containers and bleaches called dioxins that are found in many sanitary products. These xenoestrogens are similar enough to genuine oestrogen to trick the body into using them in just the same way as the real thing. However, the body has trouble getting rid of them, thus an apparency of high oestrogen levels occurs, which results in an apparency of low progesterone. The chain of production from cholesterol is slowed down by the controller gland, the hypothalamus, because the messages to it falsely indicate high oestrogen levels!
Another possible explanation for an apparency of high oestrogen levels is that, whilst the production of these hormones is in balance, the breakdown of them is not. If the breakdown of progesterone or testosterone is more efficient than the breakdown of oestrogen, then an apparency of high oestrogen can occur.
On a more general note, hormone imbalances can occur with vitamin/mineral deficiencies. This is because each step of the production and breakdown of hormones is triggered by specific vitamins/minerals, known in these instances as co-enzymes, which chemically enable the required reactions for the production or breakdown processes.
So, how can I help you to prevent or minimise the symptoms of menopause?
- With Kinesiology muscle testing, I can identify vitamin/mineral imbalances (especially whether vitamin E is needed to support the pituitary gland)
- I can muscle test each biochemical stage of hormone production and breakdown, to see if a particular supplement is required to support co-enzyme action. I can then establish the most appropriate supplements for you, as an individual
- I can also muscle test whether soya isoflavones are needed in an effort to protect the body from the effects of xenoestrogens
- I can rebalance the meridian flows both to the endocrine system and throughout the body, enabling the body to function in a more balanced way
- I can advise you with regard to environmental factors and how to minimise them
From personal experience, and from successfully supporting many women with what I do, I have come to realise that this natural development in the female body, over what can be long periods of time, need not be the cause of suffering, either for the woman herself, or for those around her.