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Overview
Women typically enter menopause between the ages of 45 to 55 when they may produce only one-tenth of the estrogen they used to prior to menopause. This often results in sleep loss, weight gain, irregular and painful periods, lowered or no libido and other uncomfortable symptoms. For this reason, women can use natural sources of estrogen--bio-identical hormones or food sources, such as tofu.
Identification
Steroids are compounded for each woman by her doctor to include only the hormones that she is deficient in. Using acupuncture and consuming Chinese herbs, such as black cohosh, and eating foods high in phytoestrogens, such as tofu, can help women reduce painful symptoms from menopause. Estrogenic foods include beets, apple, alfalfa, carrots, citrus fruits, eggs, cinnamon, celery, dairy foods, flax seeds, garlic, potatoes, yams, red beans, sunflower seeds and sage.
Significance
Bio-identical hormones help replace the three different types of estrogen a woman produces--estrone, estradiol and estriol. Women see their doctors to get a saliva, blood or urine test to determine what hormones they are deficient in before they supplement. Alternately, women might consider adjunct therapies, such as acupuncture and consuming foods high in phytoestrogens, that are similar to estrogen.
Function
If levels of estrogen drop too low, women may lose all their sex drive, experience painful intercourse, have difficulty sleeping, gain weight or experience depression. Only by getting your hormone levels tested by a doctor, will you be able to determine if natural hormone therapy is for you.
Misconceptions
It is a misconception to believe menopausal women are always lacking adequate estrogen. In some cases, a woman may be producing too much estrogen and not enough progesterone or producing too much testosterone. Note the symptoms you have and discuss them with your doctor.
Considerations
If you do not like giving blood for a test, ask your doctor to use a saliva, urine or hair analysis to test your hormone levels. You can also have her test for all of your hormones, not just estrogen and progesterone. Consider having your thyroid hormone levels tested, for example. Some women develop hypothyroidism in later life.
