Oh, the wonderful world of womanhood! Puberty, menstruation pains, labor and menopause are all stages of a woman’s life. Menopause is not another curse, it’s a beautiful part of a woman’s maturity. Just like grey hair and wisdom, menopause is a sign of elegant age. Perimenopause are the signs and symptoms of menopause well before your period stops. This stage of “pre” menopause occurs as early as the 40’s.

 

You will know that you’re transitioning into this stage once you start experiencing some of these symptoms. Hot Flashes, Breast tenderness, irregular periods, mood swings, vaginal dryness, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, urine leakage, lower libido, urinary urgency, and a worsening symptom of PMS are symptoms of menopause. It’s kind of odd that they sound like symptoms of someone who is either pregnant or PMSing. If you want to be sure that you are experiencing perimenoausal symptoms then get a blood test to check your hormone levels.

 

Even though you may have an increase of symptoms does not mean that you are infertile. That’s right! You can still become pregnant! If you want to get pregnant then there are fertility enhancing treatment that can help you get there before you become menopausal.

 

 

If you want to alleviate some of the menopausal symptoms then take some herbs to help balance your hormones. Black Cohosh is a wonderful herb for the uterus. It reduces cramps and discomfort. It alleviates hot flashes, reduces cholesterol, and blood pressure. Take about a ½ teaspoon of tincture twice daily or capsule form of 250mg 2-4 times a day. Chaste tree which is a dried fruit is a hormone balancer used to fight depression from menopause. 300-600mg tables or ½ teaspoon daily should do the trick. I prefer taking it powder form mixed in juice so that I can cut out the ingredients added to the capsule. It also goes straight into my body versus waiting for the capsule to dissolve.

 

When you’re on the road then yes, the capsule is convenient. Dandelion is one of my favorite roots to take. It regulates bowel movements; it’s great for the liver and will help your liver when it’s under stress from all of the crazy hormones. You can drink it in tea form 2-3 times a day or 1,000-3,000mg capsules, or take 1-2 tsp of dandelion daily. Who would’ve known the white fuzzy flowers you enjoyed blowing into the wind as a kid would be something that would be beneficial to your body later?