What My Sister Says About E-books

I was talking to my sister the other day. She’s a voracious reader, she’ll read anything. I’ve seen her reading cereal boxes at breakfast. So, her latest thing is downloading electronic books from the internet. She’s four years younger than me and just starting to feel the symptoms of perimenopause. She recently bought several e-books about menopause, but only really cared for a couple of them. She knows about my blog so she wanted me to suggest them to you, in case you might be interested.

The first one is called Menopause A-Z. She liked this one because of the chapter about how to recognize “early” menopause. I told her at her age it probably wasn’t early. Needless to say her brother needs to learn a bit more tact. The other thing she liked was that it came with three free reports. Her favorite among those was “Hot Tips for Hot Flashes.”

The second one is How to Conquer Menopause. This one was her favorite, even though it was a little more money. She felt it was more comprehensive and told her what she wanted to know about hormone replacement therapy. Plus it came with 5 free reports. We are a family who likes our free stuff!

Some of you have asked me about Internet Marketing so if there is interest, I’m thinking about putting together a free guide for those of you who are interested in making some “pin money.” I’ll rant about why I got into it and my experiences with “job security.” Don’t get me started on that one.

When Does Menopause Start?

One of the first questions an OB/GYN hears from a woman is “when does menopause start?” And actually the question has two answers. The most obvious one is the average age is 51. It’s different for every woman, of course, but the range can be from 47-53. But the other, not so common answer to the question- when does menopause start -is it starts at the end of perimenopause. Perimenopause is the roughly four year period leading up to menopause. Menopause itself is that day when a woman has not had her period for twelve months.

Common but troubling symptoms can include:

· Hot Flashes

· Vaginal dryness

· Severe mood swings

· Irregular periods

· Joint pain

· Stress

Stress can be a real problem for many women. It leads to severe feelings of overwhelm. It can wreak havoc on your emotional life. These symptoms can be linked to hormonal changes. There are a number of popular approaches to stress reduction. You might try bicycling or yoga. Qigong and tai-chi are both very effective for reducing stress. My wife likes this tai-chi standing exercise that I taught her. She is able to get into a zone for ten minutes or so and says her stress just melts away. It seems to help with the hot flashes and mood swings, as well. I know a couple of women who swear by acupuncture for relieving symptoms. My middle sister, who’s 46 and just starting perimenopause, says she couldn’t do without her black cohosh supplements. This is a common herb native to North America.

We started with the question- when does menopause start –and answered it. Then we talked a little about symptoms. And finally we discussed what you can do to help treat those symptoms. Menopause does not have to be the harrowing experience that is sometimes made out to be. With a little patience, everyone will survive it.

How About an Herbal Menopause Remedy?

When I first started researching topics dealing with my wife’s mood swings and hot flashes, I came upon a web site that suggested using a natural herbal menopause remedy. We are always concerned about what goes into our bodies, and I wanted to find something that would help alleviate her symptoms. There is surprisingly a great deal of information about the use of a herbal menopause remedy. Here’s what works and why.

One of the herbs most frequently mentioned is Black Cohosh. This herb is wonderful for relieving hot flashes and seems to help reduce cramps and congestion, as well. Black Cohosh has been used by Native American women for generations for alleviating these sometimes debilitating symptoms.

Chaste tree is another herb that is widely used. The berry from this plant is an excellent hormone balancer and is used for alleviating a woman’s depression.

Oddly enough, one of the more common herbs used in helping a woman overcome menopausal symptoms can be found right out in your backyard (although I’d probably find a purer source). Dandelion root is a liver cleanser and also acts as a hormone balancer.

We’ll take a trip to the Orient for the next useful herb-ginseng. Studies show that ginseng strengthen the adrenal glands, enhances your immune system’s function, increases energy, and helps normalize blood pressure. Of course, today a great deal of the ginseng used here in the US is grown right here.

Now, you’ll always want to consult your physician before beginning any regime of herbal medicine to make certain that it doesn’t interfere with any other medicines you might be taking. My wife did this as well, of course. She has found that a combination of proper diet and exercise (particularly the tai chi standing I taught her) works well. Then she combined those with herbs, and menopause symptoms have reduced dramatically. I hope the same can happen for you!

So there, we’ve covered some the more commonly used herbal menopause remedies and the symptoms that they can address. There are more, of course, but these are some of the more commonly used ones.