I am really confused about supplements

[BanyanTree]

The more I read, the more confused I get. Last night after months of procrastinating I finally found some supplements I wanted to buy.

I went to see a Gyno in April and she told me that she thought I was handling things well and just to take a very good multivitamin and come back if symptoms got worse. To be honest, I am doing OK but on occasions (say every 3 months) the anxiety overwhelms me a bit and I lose sleep and then I am a mess. I am also quite irritable.

Last night I found a good menopause multivitamin I wanted to take and ordered them. I also found a good meno support herbal supplement that had a mixture of sage, Agnus Castus and Black Cohosh. They are out of stock and now the company has just told me that they are no longer able to sell it as Black Cohosh is deemed a medicine.

To me it just feels unnatural popping loads of pills not prescribed to me by a Doctor. However, I do want to start dealing with these symptoms and am looking to take sage, black cohosh and agnus cactus. Where do I start though? I am not sure what dose I need or is safe.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Good point about blood tests. Low thyroid and B12 deficiency also common in women and symptoms can mimic perimenopause/menopause.

I began taking sage complex from victoria health at Xmas and it seems to have halted the hot flushes and brain fog. Its a mix of all sorts of useful herbal things.

Dignity, how much Magnesium do you take? I read that it should be 320mg for women over 30. I am thinking of topping up my magnesium as well.

Has anyone read "Natural Solutions to Menopause" by Marilyn Glenville? She seems to have a very good approach to try and tackle symptoms through nutrition.

Sorry, a couple more things re magnesium.

Is it water soluble?
Is it a mineral that is best coupled with another for effectiveness e.g. calcium?

Banyan- I think you need to work out what symptoms you want help with and then choose the supplement that may help if your diet isn't giving you all you need. The RDA of magnesium is listed as 320 - 400mgs. You can get all of this from food- brown rice, spinach and other dark green veg, almonds and other nuts, quinoa. Magnesium helps muscle function and can help sleep but using too much can give you loose bowels. I take Osteocare which is a calcium and magnesium supplement with other minerals for bone health. The daily dose of 2 tablets (300mgs magnesium) is too much for me along with a high fibre diet so I take one and make sure I eat other foods- almonds every day, broccoli or other greens, etc.

In my own experience diet can help meno symptoms but for me it wasn't enough. I had the 'perfect' diet and according to my dr, but I still needed HRT. I didn't start HRT until I was almost 53 so perhaps diet and lifestyle did help a lot. It's worth a try of course, but for some women it's never going to be the answer.

Sage worked for me for ages (bad pmt, headaches & flushes in peri) and maca was helpful too. With full menopause I got bad insomnia and anxiety and nothing seemed to work for that, so now on hrt which does thankfully. I haven't tried all the supplements you mention op but one thing to think about is to introduce them one at a time otherwise you can't tell what works and what doesn't. Good luck!

Hello all, I have just found this thread & would like your views.

I suggested the mini-pill (loestrogen) for my peri symptoms and the Doctor was happy-ish to prescribe it. After 6 months, my period are back to short & normal and i think the brain fog is reducing but I'm not sure TBH.

My own fault, I then started taking St Johns Wort/Black Cohosh a month ago, and it's completely messed up the pill's effect on my period. It could be placebo, but I also feel calmer.

so, what's your view (i have a call with the Doctor, but not for another week)? would I be better sticking to the pill, or moving across to these herbal supplements.