Tea Time with Jo|Transition Peacefully into Menopause

There are so many things that are considered “normal” just because they are common and struggling through Menopause is one of them. A lot of women don’t know that it is possible to transition into the menopausal years peacefully without the hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, insomnia, etc. In this blog, we are going to explore ways to prepare for the transition so that it may be as smooth and peaceful as possible. Put down the Black Cohosh and check this out…

“Menopause Lasts How Long”?!

The entire process of menopause can be separated into 3 phases: 

Peri-Menopause: The time frame in which hormone levels start to decline and menstruation becomes erratic.

Menopause: When the hormones that produce a period have ceased production and a woman goes for 12 months without a period.  

Post-Menopause: The time frame after menopause (12 months of no period) and beyond. 

From beginning to end, this process can take YEARS, and here’s the kicker…you may have symptoms of menopause the ENTIRE time, including the post-menopausal phase (which ends when you die). A huge part of undergoing this process peacefully involves supporting your body’s ability to balance hormones at each phase. If you decide to not look after yourself because “you are done having children”, “your period stopped years ago”, or “you had a hysterectomy” don’t be surprised if the symptoms of menopause creep back in when you are well into your 60s or 70s, and beyond. 

Setting Up for Success

What you do in whatever stage you are in is going to affect the subsequent stage. This goes all the way back to puberty. How you care for your menstrual cycles is going to affect your fertility. How you care for your pregnancy and postpartum phase is going to affect your Peri-menopause stage. And, how you care for your Peri-menopause stage is going to REALLY affect how you feel during menopause. All of these stages require our body to use a great deal of energy to keep our hormones balanced and to recover. If we don’t support our bodies with enough rest during each phase, it will become harder for hormones to remain balanced and this will lead into the development of symptoms.  

“Cold” Menopause

From a TCM lens, Menopause occurs when there is Kidney Deficiency (Deficiency in the Kidney energetics). According to the theory of Yin and Yang; Yin is cool and Yang is hot. This means that a deficiency in Kidney Yang can lead to feeling very cold during the menopausal years as opposed to feeling very hot (which is more of a Kidney Yin deficiency). Often times, when someone suffers from Kidney Yang deficiency, it is often a “double whammy” because they can oscillate between feeling like they are on fire from hot flashes, to feeling like they are freezing to death, within a few minutes. A lot of the cold-type menopausal symptoms don’t be addressed at all by Western medicine. I’m here to tell you, I see you and TCM (as well as other Holistic & Alternative medicines) can help. 

Consider Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be very helpful in balancing the Kidney energetics mentioned above. Besides using Acupuncture points that pertain to the Kidney meridian, treatments can also be applied to manage stress (a huge factor that can affect sweating), improve digestion (which often becomes altered with drops in estrogen), improve sleep and encourage the Liver to metabolize hormones more efficiently. If irregular or heavy bleeding are part of your menopausal journey, Acupuncture can help with that as well. 

Consider Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is also very helpful in balancing Kidney energetics. Some patients respond much better to herbal medicine than to Acupuncture, others do better with a combination of both. Generally speaking, TCM sees herbal formulas similarly to prescribed medicine in the sense that you are supposed to take your medicine for a certain period of time until the issue is corrected. When it comes to menopause, you can expect to be on an herbal formula long term until your body fully transitions. It is common for the formula, or the dose, to change as your symptoms change. For this reason, it is important to touch base with your herbal medicine practitioner at least every 1-3 months, rather than trying to purchase the same formula indefinitely off of Amazon (which I highly suggest NOT doing). 

That being said, be careful with taking single herb supplements marketed for menopause. Black Cohosh seems to be the most widely recognized herb for hot flashes and other menopausal “heat” symptoms. The problem lies that “heat” can vary from person to person. TCM makes the distinction between deficient heat (Yin deficiency) and excess heat (Fire toxin). Back Cohosh is considered cooling and does help to clear excess heat; however, a great deal of menopausal symptoms are caused by deficient heat. This means that Black Cohosh may feel like it is helping at first, but then can appear to either stop working or make night sweats and hot flashes worse. Herbal formulas, consisting of more than just one herb, are much better suited at treating all of your symptoms since they can combine other complimentary herbs to balance the formula. You may be surprised to know that none of the major menopausal formulas in TCM contain Black Cohosh and they still work remarkably well. That’s not to say that Black Cohosh isn’t effective, just that it would work better in combination with other herbs better suited to your particular needs. 

Consider Pelvic Hydrotherapy/Vaginal Steaming

If vaginal dryness is one of the unfortunate symptoms you are dealing with, you may want to consider Pelvic Hydrotherapy (aka Vaginal Steaming). Since your vulva and vaginal opening are positioned over a steaming pot of herbs, the steam itself can promote more moisture and lubrication in the area. In addition, the properties of the cooling herbs used in the steam can become absorbed by the body, which further aids in reducing night sweats and hot flashes. It’s almost like an alternative method to taking herbs internally (though not as powerful). 

Steaming can be very helpful in reducing the discomfort and pain of intercourse when vaginal dryness is occurring. 

Learn more about Pelvic Hydrotherapy here.

Consider Avoiding Drying Foods/Drinks

Regardless of whether your menopausal phase behaves more like a Kidney Yin or Kidney Yang deficiency, one common characteristic of menopause is Dryness. Dry hair, dry skin, dry mouth, and as mentioned above, dry vulva/vagina. Some of the ways that this can be improved upon is by staying hydrated (this means water + electrolytes/minerals) and avoiding things that dry us out. Drinks that dry us out include alcohol and coffee (regardless of whether it is decaf or not) and caffeinated teas. 

Foods that dry us out include overly spicy foods such as hot peppers (chilis, jalapeños, habaneros, Carolina reapers, etc), Wasabi and Horseradish. 

Opt instead for more moisturizing foods such as fruits, vegetables, and seafood.  

Embrace Rest 

Our society teaches us that productivity is tied to our worthiness. We are always in the mode of go-go-go, often forgoing enough time to rest and recover. Out of all of the treatment strategies that I employ with my patients transitioning through menopause, it is very apparent that rest and stress management make the biggest difference in their symptoms. Once they go on vacation, they will feel great and not have a single hot flash despite drinking more wine or eating out of their norm. The moment they come back to “real life” symptoms return almost instantly. Our body has to delegate its resources to keeping us up and running. When it is running on fumes, it will prioritize things like organ function, over temperature regulation. When we look at our energy as a type of currency that our body uses to keep it going, it makes sense how some departments are going to get budget cuts in order for more necessary departments to maintain productivity. While on vacation, stress reduces dramatically so the budget used by the adrenals (part of Kidney energetics in TCM) can now be allocated to temperature regulation, sleep, etc. 

 You’ll notice that hormonal therapy was not even mentioned as an option. While it may work well for some people, it is very much a bandaid solution that does nothing to address the root cause. Since long term use of hormonal therapy contains many risks (arguably greater than the benefits) it is an option I strongly encourage doing your own research before proceeding. 

I hope that you learned something useful from this post. My goal is to further drive the point home that “common” does not equal “normal”. Regardless of what stage of menopause you might be in, there is hope for making it much more manageable and even peaceful /comfortable.