Herbal Remedies that work

[MilkItTilITurnItIntoCheese]

I’m 45 and have various peri symptoms. I do not tolerate hormonal contraceptives and as such my dr is wanting to out of hrt treatment. My worst symptom by far is mood swings, anxiety etc so I have just started low dose antidepressants to help with that side of things however I am also bothered by insomnia in the pre period days- waking up hot (but not usually dripping in sweat) and being unable to get back to sleep for 2 hours every night for 2 weeks before a period. As my cycles are getting shorter this is turning into a lot of missed sleep and it makes the other symptoms harder to manage. Can anyone recommend and herbal remedies that may help and are ok to take alongside sertraline?

I have wrestled with the same symptoms for months back and forth to the gp . I've lived on sleeping tablets for months that made me feel crap all day then was given hrt.

But actually I saw another gp who said you dobt need all this, try counselling ( felt stressed at work) herbal valerium, sage and yoga . I was very sceptical , this is never going to work ever stuff . It has ! I can't believe it at all . The biggest benefit I think is the valerium which has relaxed me . Please try as I was so sceptical of herbal remedies but it has defiant helped and I was desperate. Good luck

Yes I know what you mean about desperation. I feel like I’ve been handling hormonal issues my whole life. Erratic periods when I was ttc and now have to go through this process which is proving to be difficult to ease. Thanks for your advice I will look into your suggestions.

Im 45 and have various peri symptoms. I do not tolerate hormonal contraceptives and as such my dr is wanting to out [?] of hrt treatment.

Sorry- is your dr saying you can have or not have HRT? Or you have decided not to use it?

Just so you know- HRT is nothing like the contraceptive pill.
The Pill is made with synthetic hormones and in much much higher doses than HRT. You can't compare them. Bit like saying aspirin is the same as paracetamol.

If your dr is giving you ADs from their own choice, they are going against NICE menopause guidelines. These state emphatically that ADs are not to be used in women with peri unless they are depressed.

(There is a lot of work being done by menopause specialists to try to educate GPs on this but it's a very slow process.)

Modern HRT uses the same hormones as you would have naturally - called body-identical.

Some women of your age are given the Pill called Qlaira which is similar to HRT in formulation and less like the Pill!

The most important thing is that at 45 you are relatively young for this and the NICE advice is supplement with HRT up to 51 to protect your bones and heart.

Honestly, from your description, I'd say you really need to try HRT. it's not a one-way street- you can try it for 3-6 months and if it's not for you, stop.

These symptoms can go on for years. The only scientific research is that black cohosh might work.

Some women use black cohosh, or sage or agnus cactus, but there is not real evidence they make a huge difference. A lot of the effects are a placebo effect or they make no difference but women's symptoms subside so they think the herbs worked.

It's your choice of course, but you need to know the whole picture to make an educated choice.

@MilkItTillChurnItIntoCheese

FYI the NICE guidelines. See that low mood and anxiety are symptoms and to be treated with HRT/CBT, not ADs.

1.4 Managing short-term menopausal symptoms
The recommendations in this section are not intended for women with premature ovarian insufficiency (see recommendations 1.6.6 to 1.6.8 for management of premature ovarian insufficiency).

1.4.1 Adapt a woman's treatment as needed, based on her changing symptoms.

Vasomotor symptoms
1.4.2 Offer women HRT for vasomotor symptoms after discussing with them the short-term (up to 5 years) and longer-term benefits and risks. Offer a choice of preparations as follows:

oestrogen and progestogen to women with a uterus

oestrogen alone to women without a uterus.

1.4.3 Do not routinely offer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) or clonidine as first-line treatment for vasomotor symptoms alone.

1.4.4 Explain to women that there is some evidence that isoflavones or black cohosh may relieve vasomotor symptoms. However, explain that:

multiple preparations are available and their safety is uncertain

different preparations may vary

interactions with other medicines have been reported.

Psychological symptoms
1.4.5 Consider HRT to alleviate low mood that arises as a result of the menopause.

1.4.6 Consider CBT to alleviate low mood or anxiety that arise as a result of the menopause.

1.4.7 Ensure that menopausal women and healthcare professionals involved in their care understand that there is no clear evidence for SSRIs or SNRIs to ease low mood in menopausal women who have not been diagnosed with depression (see the NICE guideline on depression in adults).

Thank you so much for this. I think my dr heard me say the mood swings were the worst part and really didn’t listen to the other symptoms. I had a blood test but that came back normal. Obviously that was one random test once only so doesn’t really tell them anything but it seems my Dr is slow on the uptake if the above. I have been resisting using AD’s for years as I didn’t like how they made me feel ie no highs as well as no lows - and that was when I was suffering from PND. I will look into this further as although it’s early days in the great scheme of Peri I KNOW my hormones are changing.