We’d just got into bed when I started shivering, convinced the temperature in the bedroom had dropped dramatically. Hardly a big deal, but that’s not how I saw it. ‘What the hell’s wrong with the heating?’ I demanded. My partner, Paul, shrugged: ‘Since when have I been a plumber?’

This was a red rag to a bull. ‘Don’t be facetious,’ I snarled. ‘I want to know what’s wrong.’

‘Maybe you turned the radiator off,’ said Paul.

‘I didn’t. Did you?’ I snapped. ‘What going on?’

By now, Paul was beginning to lose his patience.

We ended up having an enormous row, then Paul, my partner of 14 years, stormed off to sleep in the spare room, and I slammed the door behind him.
Still I couldn’t back down. ‘That’s right. You take the warm bedroom,’ I bellowed through the walls.

Denial: Lisa Maxwell, pictured left with TV cook Mary Berry, spent almost two years refusing to consider that she might be entering the menopause – despite terrible symptoms which suggested just that
The awful thing is that, even while I was ranting and raging, I knew I was acting like a woman possessed — but there was nothing poor Paul could say or do to calm me down.

At the age of 48, I am in the grip of something over which I have absolutely no control — the perimenopause.

Technically, the menopause refers to your last-ever period. Hot flushes, mood swings and other typical ‘menopausal’ symptoms are actually part of the perimenopause, which can begin up to ten years before a woman’s periods (finally) stop.

Until a few months ago, I didn’t even know the perimenopause existed. And I wouldn’t have wanted to know, because admitting to being perimenopausal was admitting that I am officially getting old.

Even now, if you dare to suggest my behaviour is down to hormonal blips, I will, in my madder moments, rage at you for being sexist and patronising.

The menopause is something that happens to old women, not to women like me — women in our prime who have always been lauded for our glamour and still feel sophisticated, sexy and vibrant.

If you admit to being menopausal, it seems to me you become the butt of jokes about batty old women having hot flushes and growing beards. That is why it has taken every drop of my courage to talk about this publicly.

I’m only writing about something so personal now because I can see that I have been in denial.

Happy at work: Lisa, pictured presenting ITV’s Loose Women alongside Andrea McLean, Sherrie Hewson and Jane McDonald (left to right), describes her job as ‘wonderful’, but admits she hid her mood swings from colleagues

For almost two years now, I have suffered horrifying mood swings, flying off the handle at the slightest provocation, crying, and making excuses not to go out, because I have felt so exhausted.

Paul has been asking me for months to get help and finally, aware that I have been putting our relationship under strain, I have listened to him and visited my doctor, who confirmed that I am approaching the change of life.

I’m hoping that, if I can be open about what’s happening to me, other women might recognise what’s going on in their own bodies.

It’s hard to be precise, but I think my symptoms started about two years ago when, suddenly, I felt as if I was inhabiting the wrong body.

I’ve always prided myself on being cheerful and even-tempered. I work hard at being chirpy and funny, and never bring my problems to work as a panellist on the television show Loose Women.

I think I’ve managed to hide my mood swings from everyone there, but it has to come out somewhere and poor Paul took the full brunt of them when I started lashing out at him for the slightest thing.

Shopping in New York on a family holiday two years ago, Paul wandered off in a department store with our 12-year-old daughter, Beau. I couldn’t see him anywhere, and went mad. When I finally found him, I tore a strip off him then stormed off.

Back at our hotel, the argument became so heated that I ended up throwing a slipper at him. Beau stood there, trying to make sense of her usually sane mother’s appalling behaviour.

Paul was horrified: I knew I was behaving badly, that I was being unreasonable and destructive, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I was angry most of the time, and increasingly tearful.

Fatigue became another major problem. Even after 14 hours of sleep, I felt tired.

For months and months, I blamed my volatile behaviour on everything from lack of sleep, to stress. But, deep down, I knew that wasn’t it.

Fair cop: Lisa played DI Samantha Nixon on award-winning police drama The Bill for eight years, before leaving in 2009 to join Loose Women

I live in a beautiful home in the Cotswolds with a man I adore and a daughter we cherish. I have a wonderful job, and I’ve never suffered from the adverse effects of stress.

I have been in showbusiness for more than 30 years, after landing my first acting role when I was 11. Even when I was working on The Bill — I played DI Sam Nixon for eight years until I left in 2009 to join Loose Women — I’d often turn up, be given pages of new dialogue to learn in 30 minutes, and still be on set without batting an eyelid.

But by last year, my moods were getting considerably worse, and it was Paul who finally forced me to face what was going on.

He couldn’t understand why someone he loved, and who loved him, would behave in such an unreasonable way, so he decided to do some research.

In the summer, he looked up my symptoms on the internet, then told me he thought I might be going through the change of life.

Predictably, I was furious. ‘I’m far too young,’ I snapped. He was only trying to help: why couldn’t I be grateful, instead of raging at him?

I was in a planning meeting for Loose Women in September when the subject of the menopause came up. Someone — I think it was Carol Vorderman — mentioned the perimenopause as a possible programme idea.

My ears pricked up and as everyone started talking about the symptoms, I ticked them off in my head. Mood swings, exhaustion, forgetfulness — I had them all.

I’ve never liked going to the doctor, so instead I started to keep a diary of my unstable behaviour, writing it down every time I acted out of character.

Still glamorous: Having always been known as a sexy actress, Lisa has struggled to come to terms with the oncoming menopause, saying she doesn’t want to feel her husband is ’shackled to an old granny’

I realised that the moods seemed to be at their worst a few days before my period, and also immediately after it. Since I’ve never suffered from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), it came as a shock to realise that my hormones could be causing me so many problems.

In the past, when other menopausal women talked about lying in bed all day with a hot water bottle and crying, I would roll my eyes impatiently because I didn’t understand what they were going through.

Even now I struggle to accept being associated with a condition which to me has such grim connotations as the menopause.

So this week I took a deep breath as I walked into my GP’s surgery. I knew I had to do it, if for no other reason than I felt I owed it to Paul to seek help.
My doctor has confirmed that my symptoms — which include mood swings, insomnia, painful periods for the first time in my life and tearfulness — are almost certainly likely to be caused by the perimenopause.

I am now awaiting the results of blood tests which will assess my hormone levels. I have an appointment with a gynaecologist next week, then I’ll need to weigh up all my options.

I may need a course of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), which obviously has its downsides, but at this stage, I’m willing to consider anything.

Meanwhile, I am trying to come to terms with the emotional consequences of entering the next stage of life. I am sure most older women will have found it difficult to say goodbye to their younger, more fertile selves. The thought of never again being able to bear a child is painful, even if your own family is complete.

Mother and daughter: Lisa and daughter Beau, pictured at the UK premiere of Disney Pixar’s ‘Up’ in 2009

Don’t get me wrong, I feel incredibly lucky to have Beau, but though Paul and I would have dearly loved more children, it wasn’t to be.

We met at a party in London when I was 32 and at one of the lowest points in my life. I’d just come back from a disastrous three years in Los Angeles where I’d been offered the role of Daphne Moon in Frasier but then lost it over a daft misunderstanding with the producers. I was struggling with all that when I met Paul, who is tall and blond and like a young Robert Redford. We talked all night, and I knew straight away that he was The One.

I’d never wanted children before meeting him, but he quickly convinced me we would make great parents. I fell pregnant with Beau with great ease and being a mother to her has been utterly joyful. But sadly, even though we dearly wanted to give her a sibling, it never happened.

I fell pregnant twice, in 2008, when I was in The Bill, but I miscarried both babies. That was a heartbreaking time and I felt like a terrible failure. I thought I’d dealt with the fact I would never have more children, but only last week I had a strange dream about being forced to have a termination, and woke up sobbing. I can only think that facing this next phase of my life has forced me to address this all over again as it now seems more official that I won’t have any more children.

So, one element of my emotional struggle is about me as a mother; the other is about me as a woman. Admitting that I’m perimenopausal means admitting that I am not as sexy as I once was.

At 43, Paul, a sculptor, is five years younger than me and still a fantastically sexy, attractive man. Other women check him out all the time, and I don’t want him to feel he’s shackled to an old granny.

When you’ve prided yourself on being fancied by your partner and he’s always saying you’re fantastic and that he has no reason to play away from home, you want to try to maintain that.

All this has made me realise that life can be dreadfully unfair to women. We spend our best years beating ourselves up about jobs, children and relationships, then finally we reach a stage where we’re happy in our own skins.

Once we have reached our 40s we are confident and very aware of what we want out of life. Then, out of nowhere, we get thwacked by the dreaded menopause, and in my case, start behaving like a madwoman.

Well, I for one, am not going down without a fight. But I do wish I’d faced reality earlier. I’ve put Paul, Beau and all the other people I love through hell because I couldn’t acknowledge what was happening or get medical help.

The menopause comes to us all, but for a lot of women it’s a secret we don’t talk about. We’re scared of ageing. We’re terrified our partners won’t fancy us, and that our workmates won’t take us seriously.

I can’t say that I’ve finally embraced the ageing process, but I’m determined to prove that the perimenopause will not get the better of me or damage the people I hold dear.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2099614/Loose-Womens-Lisa-Maxwell-I-wont-let-menopause-defeat-me.html#ixzz1n4jeZbwo

Cognitive behavioural therapy can help women deal with the distressing symptoms of menopause, such as hot flushes, that many suffer afterbreast cancer treatment, according to a new study.

Because of the nature of the cancer and of the drugs they have to take, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is not recommended for the 65% to 85% of breast cancer patients who suffer from hot flushes and night sweats which can disrupt their working and social lives and disturb their sleep.

Researchers led by Prof Myra Hunter of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London, found that weekly group sessions of CBT enabled women both to decrease the level of discomfort they experienced and to cope with it better.

The study, published in the Lancet Oncology journal, recruited 96 women who had been through breast cancer treatment and were suffering menopausal symptoms. Half were given weekly 90-minute sessions of CBT, which included learning “paced” breathing – filling the lungs and exhaling slowly until the hot flush passes – and strategies to deal with the emotions and the situations they found themselves in. The other half had usual care.

The researchers found that women given CBT reported that their problems had significantly diminished at nine weeks after starting therapy, and at six months they still found the hot flushes and night sweats less of a problem. Their mood, their sleeping patterns and their quality of life had all improved.

Hunter said it was not unusual for CBT, a psychological therapy, to be used to help with physical health problems.

“We don’t exactly know how hot flushes work, but we know stress seems to make them worse. Women who are more anxious before the menopause might be more likely to have them. With any physical symptoms, the way you manage them can make a difference,” she said.

Paced breathing, using the diaphragm, helps to lessen the impact of a flush, she said. “It also gives you something calm to focus on, so you are not thinking negative thoughts.” Women who wake up at night because they are sweating are more likely to go back to sleep if they learn how to remain calm rather than getting distressed.

Hunter believes that CBT may also help healthy women in the general population who are suffering menopausal symptoms. Between 20% and 25% of all women experience hot flushes and night sweats, which are caused by a drop in the level of oestrogen in the body at menopause.

While HRT relieves the symptoms, concern over an increased risk of breast cancer, which was identified in 2003, has cut the numbers of women taking it.

Before 2003, 30% of women with problems were on HRT, but now only 10% use it. Antidepressants can also help, but many women are reluctant to take those too.

Hunter and colleagues are doing a further study on CBT in the general population. While therapy for breast cancer patients is best carried out in groups in hospital, where women can support each other and have professional help, she thinks healthy menopausal woman might get benefit from self-help manuals.

It’s one of the most Googled words on the Unternet: menopause.

Right now, 50 million women are dealing with it. Menopause starts without warning and at some point, will happen to every woman. But there are ways to make menopause work for your body rather than against it.

Staness Jonekos was engaged when her body started to change. It was planning her wedding that got her thinking about planning her menopause. Jonekos created the “Menopause Makeover.” It’s a guide that answers questions, gives the pros and cons of treatment options, tracks eating habits, weight loss and exercise plans. “There’s a lot of myths that come with it and a lot of mistakes women make as they go through menopause,” says Jonekos.

Dr. Chrisandra Shufelt is a certified menopause practitioner with Cedars-Sinai. Shufelt says one of the biggest mistakes is believing everything you read. There are some 4.4 million links to human growth hormone on the internet. Some women believes it gives them more energy, helps them sleep and relieves hot flashes. But, it doesn’t work for all.

Studies show there is no proof human growth hormones help. In fact, studies prove HGH can make medical conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease worse.

Another mistake that makes Shufelt cringe is paying $120 for salivary hormone tests to prove you are in menopause. “There’s no scientific data to show that those hormones are stable,” says Shufelt. Only one test is proven and that the FSH or the follicle-stimulating hormone test.

Experts say once you are diagnosed, changing what you eat can help control the severity of hot flashes. Caffeine, sugar, spicy foods and cinnamon are known triggers. the deabte on soy rages on however.

Jonelos worked with doctors to create a menopause food pyramid which includes eating:

• 25 percent of calories from healthy fats like avocados and tuna
• 35 percent of calories from low-fat, lean protein like salmon and chicken
• 40 percent of calories from low to medium glycemic carbs such as brown rice and oatmeal

Not only can women change their eating habits to help get them through, they can also change their exercise plan. Jonekos exercises five days a week, 30 to 60 minutes at a time. She added cardio exercises which include swimming, spinning, weight lifting and crunches.

“I’ve witnessed women who have wiped out their symptoms by exercising. I witnessed women who wiped out their symptoms cutting out sugar,” says Jonekos. ” She lost 25 pounds in 12 weeks and thanks menopuase for it all. “I’m way healthier today than when I was in my 20’s, and I look better in a swimsuit!”

Experts say another mistake women make is they only have their estrogen levels checked. Many menopausal women also have trouble with their thyroid. Low thyroid is also associated with low energy and weight gain.

There are 50 million menopausal women in America and yet, menopause is still considered a taboo topic. Many women know that it is an inevitable part of life — a phase that they can’t escape, no matter how hard they try — but they do try to escape it or at best pretend it doesn’t exist. After all, no one wants to admit they are getting older; young is in and everyone wants to stay young somehow, but that doesn’t stop the clock. Time marches on. So why not find a way to deal with this elephant in the room? In this age of abundant knowledge at our fingertips and openness about many topics past generations just didn’t talk about, we need to start talking about menopause. And not just when it happens, but before it happens. Many women experience changes in the years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause.

One of the most distressing and common symptoms for the majority of women is weight gain due to changes in hormone balance: progesterone, testosterone and estrogen decrease and androgen increases. These changes affect a woman’s body and how it burns and uses calories, in turn affecting its ability to lose fat. In fact, research shows that 95 percent of menopausal women who diet will regain as much as two-thirds of the weight they lose within one year of completing a diet program, and almost all of it within five years. And nine out of 10 American premenopausal and menopausal women will gain weight (as will 70 percent of all women worldwide, due to varied diets and other cultural influences), says Amos Pines, MD, former president of the International Menopause Society. They can expect to gain 10 to 20 pounds, which translates into needing clothing that’s one or two sizes larger. Many menopausal women become frustrated, discouraged, annoyed, and angry as they gain the weight. I can’t say I blame them.

After working with over 10,000 menopausal women in my practice over the past 23 years, I have seen some misconceptions and myths that women have believed that have hindered their success in navigating the dreaded “change.” The good news is you don’t have to believe those myths. There is a way to get your body back. Here are a few of the biggest myths I have come across in my work with premenopausal and menopausal women.

1. Myth: “If I starve myself, I won’t gain weight during menopause.”

Good news: dieting is out. With nine out of 10 women gaining weight during menopause, I’ve heard my share from desperate dieters. What women fail to realize is that their body chemistry completely changes, so that the old ways of staying slim simply won’t work going forward. Eat like a bird or skip a meal and you risk gaining instead as metabolism slows to defend against what feels to your body like starvation. You’ve got to eat to get thin. But women need to know what and how to eat in order to increase metabolic rate and burn body fat. Small amounts of food at frequent intervals rather than three big meals a day will help regulate blood sugar, burn calories, melt fat and get you thinner.

2. Myth: “I can avoid the menopausal muffin top if I work my butt off doing high intensity exercise.”

There may be nothing like an intense, sweaty workout to make you feel on top of your game, but it won’t help you shed the pounds or the pouch. High-intensity exercises like Zumba, spinning or step — though great for cardiovascular conditioning — burn more sugars than fat, doing nothing for weight loss. To trim the fat, you need moderate cardiovascular activity, like a three mile walk or 45 minutes on a treadmill. Though walking is less grueling — no huff, no puff — you do need to do it every day.

3. Myth: “It’s not fair; menopause is starting earlier and earlier these days.”

We can’t blame hormones in the food for this one. It’s all your mother’s fault! With 99 percent certainty, women go through menopause at exactly the same age their mothers did. And in much the same way. Night sweats? Hair loss? How irritable was she? Just ask her. And make it sooner than later; many moms can’t remember, and when they do, there’s often selective memory at work. When asked by one daughter what her menopause had been like, one mother responded, “Oh, just fine,” to which her other younger daughter, the one who’d been living at home at the time, piped up, “Are you kidding, Mom? You were a wreck!” No need for women to feel they are entering a phase that will leave them out of control. With more communication and more women joining in the conversation they can find a way to take control of “the change.”

4. Myth: “Menopause has done me in. I’ll never get my body back.”

There’s nothing like menopause to wreak havoc on a perfectly good body. From extra pounds to muffin tops, hot flashes to hair loss, it’s no wonder women get depressed. Through understanding how food, diet and exercise affect the menopausal woman, symptoms can be mitigated and the damage reversed. The trick: understanding metabolic mechanisms and then manipulating them. The right proportion of protein to carbs, the amount of fat intake and revving up fat-burning movement will all help to regulate blood sugar and burn calories. Armed with information specific to menopause weight control, women will no longer ask,”Why is it that the older I am, the more I exercise and the less I eat, the fatter I get?”

The bottom line is that menopause doesn’t have to snatch your body and replace it with an unhealthier one; you can get your body back by understanding what is happening and applying common sense and do-able principles. For more see www.drharpaz.com and www.menopausereset.com.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – Menopause, one of the most Googled words on the Internet, is a condition that every woman will experience. Some women have developed a new strategy to get through it called “Menopause Makeover.”

Two months after being engaged to a younger man, Staness Jonekos said she started seeing the symptoms of menopause.

“Six months before my wedding, I gained 30 pounds, hot flashes, I was in no mood for a honeymoon,” Jonekos said.

But planning her wedding got her thinking about planning a menopause makeover. The 46-year-old created a guide that gives the pros and cons of treatment options, tracks eating habits, weight loss and exercise plans.

“There’s a lot of myths that come with it, and there’s a lot of mistakes that women make as they go through menopause,” said Dr. Chrisandra Shufelt, a certified menopause practitioner at Cedars-Sinai

Shufelt says don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. Studies show interventions like human growth hormone are hit-and-miss, and can make heart disease and diabetes worse.

And paying $120 for a salivary hormone test to find out if you’re in menopause is a waste of money.

The only blood test that’s proven is the FSH or follicle-stimulating hormone test. Once diagnosed, Jonekos says changing what you eat can help control the severity of hot flashes.

Caffeine, sugar, spicy foods and cinnamon are triggers. Jonekos worked with doctors to create a menopause food pyramid. She eats 25 percent of calories from healthy fats like avocados and tuna, 35 percent of calories from lean protein like salmon and chicken and 40 percent of calories from low glycemic carbs, such as brown rice and oatmeal.

“Just simply switching from white bread to brown bread, white pasta to whole grain pasta, from potatoes to yams, that was huge,” Jonekos said.

Another change was exercising 30 to 60 minutes five days a week. Jonekos swims, spins, weight lifts and loves her crunches.

“I’ve witnessed women who’ve wiped out their symptoms by exercising. I’ve witnessed women who’ve wiped out their symptoms by cutting back on sugar,” Shufelt said.

“I’m way healthier today than when I was in my 20s, and I look better in a swimsuit,” Jonekos said.

Another mistake women make is the only hormone they get checked is their estrogen, but many women going through menopause also have trouble with their thyroid. Low thyroid is also associated with low energy and weight gain.

Sex is different once you hit menopause or perimenopause, but it can still be the best you’ve ever had. A female OB-GYN explains.

Most women notice a change in their sex drives, and maybe their sex lives, as they start to enter menopause. But just because these shifts are natural doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to make sex better, and maybe even your best yet.

I recently had a great conversation on this subject with Jennifer Landa, MD, an Orlando-based Ob-Gyn who is the Chief Medical Officer ofBodyLogicMD, which connects both women and men with doctors trained in identifying and treating hormone imbalances. Jen is the author of the new book The Sex Drive Solution for Women: Dr. Jen’s Power Plan to Fire Up Your Libido, and she has some interesting, very do-able advice on how to keep your sex life as satisfying as ever:

Redefine Great Sex

You’re probably not ripping your partner’s clothes off the way you did in your 20s, but is that really a problem? Landa told me about a recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine, which polled women over 40 (and up to 100) about their sex lives and found that libido (as in the urge to have sex) declined with age far more than sexual satisfaction did. Meaning that even though the women were less interested in having sex than they once were, when they had it they had no problem becoming aroused or achieving orgasm.

“When women think of libido they think about the libido of their 20s, which at that age is very much a Darwinian drive like eating and sleeping, but in your 40s and beyond you don’t really need that drive any more, from an evolutionary perspective,” she says. “So we need to ask ourselves if there’s really a problem with that—as long as you can still become aroused when you do have sex, maybe it’s okay that you don’t crave it quite as much as you once did. So many women come into my practice and say that they don’t care if they ever have sex again, but when they do they enjoy it and have orgasms easily.”  That’s why Viagra doesn’t work in women, says Landa. “Viagra doesn’t change desire, it just helps with arousal, the blood flow to the genitals—but most women don’t have problems with arousal, it’s the desire that’s missing.”

Try a Pro-Libido Lifestyle

A “pro-libido lifestyle” is what Landa calls her plan for boosting your libido as much as you can, and enjoying sex as much as ever, or more. “You can still have the best sex of your life, but it’s more of a process,” she says. Here are some of the key points:

Stress less. Stress not only distracts you, it has a very negative impact on your sex drive on a hormonal level. “There’s a hormone called pregnenolone which is the precursor to the rest of your hormones, and when you’re stressed out too much of it goes to make the stress hormone cortisol, and there’s not enough left to make sex hormones like testosterone,” says Landa.

Eat pro-libido foods. Nope, not Valentine’s Day standards like chocolate or champagne, but cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. “These contain a compound called Indole 3 Carbinol which balances hormones and reduces estrogen dominance,” says Landa. For more on estrogen dominance, which can be a cold shower for your sex drive, readmy recent post on the subject.

Exercise (of course). Yep, you know you should exercise, but did you know that working out improves your sex life both my increasing circulation (to, uh, every part of your body) and by upping testosterone levels? “Strength training is especially good for boosting testosterone,” says Landa. “I suggest that women go work out with their partners before a date, or as a date in itself, because they’ll have better sex afterwards.”

Cut back on sugar. “It’s one of the worst things for your body, and that includes your sex drive,” says Landa.

Stay in the moment. “My secret ingredient for good sex is mindfulness,” says Landa. “You need to take time to focus on the moment, and on your five senses. We are all so busy and stressed that sometimes we’ll eat a great meal and not even really taste the food. I encourage women to set aside time to get into a space of mindfulness and focus on their senses, maybe in a bath with candles and music, or whatever it takes.” She recommends the classic book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. “It can be read a little bit at a time, and gives you an idea of how to still the mind’s chatter and just be present. It’s one of the best things you can do for libido.”

Bring something new into your bedroom. “You can’t expect to eat at the your favorite restaurant three times a week for decades and not get a little bored by it, so it’s super important to bring novelty into your sex life,” she says. “When you do new things with your partner it releases different chemicals in your brain, like dopamine, which is great for sex. Whether it’s something mild like new lingerie or something more wild, anything new and different is good.”

But if you’re finding at menopause that libido isn’t the only thing that’s not working, and you’re having trouble with arousal and orgasm too, you should consider getting your hormone levels checked. Because, as the women in that research show, it’s not natural for menopause to equal the end of great sex.

Dr. Oz has become an incredibly popular health figure in today’s culture.

Hundreds of thousands of people turn to him for his down-to-earth advice on many health problems.

During one recent television program on menopause and menopause supplements Dr. Oz recommends various ways to naturally alleviate the often distressing and debilitating symptoms of menopause.

He outlined a plan of attack, so to speak, that women could do to avoid or relieve symptoms such ashot flashes and night sweats, mood swings and depression, and PMS symptoms such as bloating and cramps.

The 3 most important menopause supplements Dr. Oz recommends are:

Vitamin B6 for helping to control mood swings and other emotional symptoms of menopause.

Secondly, Dr. Oz also recommends a natural herb called Chasteberry for menopause symptom relief.

Lastly, for symptoms such as bloating and water weight gain, Dr. Oz suggests that Magnesium offers the best relief.

Vitamin B6 to Help with Mood Swings

Fluctuating hormone levels can cause mood swings, and B6 has been proven to naturally lower depression and irritability.

Dr. Oz suggests that supplementing with Vitamin B6 can improve mood and relieve symptoms such as depression and anxiety.  It also helps with insomnia.  Many studies conducted worldwide have proven the benefits of this important vitamin in maintaining good emotional health, especially during menopause.

The Benefits of Chasteberry for Menopause Symptom Relief

Chasteberry contains phytoestrogens which are equal to estrogen and progesterone, the natural hormones in women.

Chasteberry is a fruit that grows on a small bush found in the Mediterranean and in Asia.  The benefits of Chasteberry have been known for centuries and it’s long been recognized as an effective herb used to treat a variety of problems in women.   In fact, it was used as far back as in the ancient Roman times and has even been mentioned in writings of Hippocrates.

In modern times, a study was conducted in London that showed that Chasteberry is effective in helping to reduce anxiety, mood swings and insomnia in women.  Another advantage is that’s been recognized more recently is that it seems to reduce prolactin levels in the blood.  Prolactin levels that are too high will cause irregular menstrual cycles.

Because it is a dwindling supply of these natural hormones that cause the symptoms of menopause that we often find so troubling, stimulating these hormones naturally can relieve the symptoms in a natural and safe way.

Magnesium to Help with Bloating and Water Retention

Magnesium is a very important mineral for menopausal women.

It helps to reduce fluid retention, but it also promotes calcium absorption, which is essential for healthy bones.

It’s highly recommended for overall health, but it is especially beneficial to menopausal women and women suffering from PMS symptoms as well.

Be sure to drink lots of water too.  I know it sounds counteractive, however drinking lots of water and supplementing with Magnesium helps promote healthy kidney function.

Goodnighties Recovery Sleepwear is new ionized nightwear fabric which also moisture-wicks and is anti-microbial. It’s America’s latest sleep option in a category of solutions from serious prescription sleep aids to orange light bulbs. Goodnighties is a breakthrough innovation and a ‘dream’ for the chronically exhausted. Those with night sweats from menopause or illness are also experiencing the benefits of this innovative fabric. Currently made for women with a men’s line coming soon.

New Goodnighties sleepwear is poised to capitalize on America’s hidden sleep epidemic that is eroding productivity in an already weak economy. In business terms within a global market, this can mean the difference between success and failure.

In the past, the phrase ‘bottom line’ is known to define a measurement for ‘top line growth’ or ‘increasing efficiencies’, but in today’s fast times, it’s boiled down to a single word… ‘results.’

With ‘results’ in mind, the search then for the ‘bottom line’ has become part of American vernacular which has found itself in everything from weight loss and obesity issues to better sleep solutions.

The link of these two serious health issues ironically was confirmed by well known Surgeon and Talk Show Host, Dr. Mehmet Oz during a recent appearance with the TODAY Show Anchor, Ann Curry. The segment began with the alarming number that “70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders” announced by Ms. Curry. Dr. Oz continued with a disclosure that “Sleeplessness is the single most overlooked transgression in America”, leading to a myriad of health issues from high blood pressure and cancer to long-term memory loss. Dr. Oz continued by explaining the link between sleeplessness and obesity; “if you don’t sleep well you’ll crave carbohydrates which can lead to obesity.” This information is part of a cover story titled “Sleep Better in 2012″ detailed in Parade Magazine.

So what’s the ‘bottom line’ here?

Dr. Oz suggested simple solutions for better sleep that are rooted in common sense. ‘Lower body temperature’, ‘put electronics away’, herbal remedies like ‘taking melatonin’ – all great ideas, but what he missed is American ingenuity at its finest. It’s a simple solution in fabric that can be found in Goodnighties Recovery Sleepwear. When attention spans are lost from chronic exhaustion, the idea of a high-performance fabric for better sleep is definitely a new concept that needs enlightenment. Yes, the idea is counterintuitive but ‘bottom line’ is bottom line. Clearly stated this week by new customer, Rita Heller from Stoughton, Wisconsin; “I read about your product in Women’s World magazine, and decided to order a pair, expecting them not to help. I was shocked when I woke up the next morning after waking only once! I usually woke up four times a night!! For the first time in years I awoke refreshed and without severe pain!!” Mrs. Heller continued with “Anyone on the fence, just try a pair. It will be the best thing you have ever done!”, an unsolicited bottom line testimonial!

Goodnighties is made with a new patented ionization process called IonX® technology that embeds negative ions into the fabric fibers to stimulate blood flow to tired muscles helping to promote natural healing and ultimately better sleep. Dr. Albert B. Ouimet, the lead textile scientist on this breakthrough innovation, has worked for years in high-tech fabrics. His most recent position was with Warnaco’s high-profile divisions; Calvin Klein, Chaps, Speedo, Warner’s, Olga, Nautica Swim and Lejaby in France. Dr. Ouimet was also instrumental in developing Speedo’s Fastskins competitive swimsuit. He received his degrees from the United States Naval Academy, (Annapolis, Maryland), Naval Post Graduate School (Monterey, California) and the University of Rhode Island. Bottom line…. Dr. Ouimet is an expert in fabric technology.

“The fabric we developed that is now used for Goodnighties Sleepwear is a hybrid of great attributes; superior ionization, moisture-wicking with an added benefit of being anti-microbial” …. “For people in need of a restful night’s sleep there is nothing better” says Dr. Ouimet.

100% Made in the USA Goodnighties has hit the market at the perfect time. Women with insomnia for whatever reason, are excited to finally have a simple no-pill solution to sleep better. So far the brand is selling briskly to all corners of the globe.

One busy reviewer also confirmed the consumer rave reviews; Chicago Tribune reporter, Seka Palikuca succinctly stated…”If you’re a skeptic, as many of us are, you might be wondering how fabric can possibly help you sleep better. Well, we put it to the test and found the fabric ultra-soothing and ultimately relaxing. There was also no waking up in the middle of the night to throw off the covers. Bottom line-we slept better.”

For more information, please visit www.goodnighties.com.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/24/prweb9131006.DTL#ixzz1kRIT4e87

It’s not your fault. You’ve been programmed to think that you’re not good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, or perfect enough. It’s on the cover of Photoshop-ed magazines at the grocery store, reinforced on TV, and referred to in current — and unfortunately catchy — songs that objectify women. So much of what surrounds us today is appearance-driven, and there’s a natural tendency to adapt to our surroundings. This unfortunate marriage between societal pressures and our brains has birthed a critical voice in our heads telling us that we are quite simply not good enough. Picture a sumo wrestlersitting on your brain. He is huge, powerful and controlling (and heavy!), but does he wrestle you down or are you tripping over your own shoelaces? It’s never too late to reevaluate the budget of your energy wallet, and make sure that sumo isn’t taking more than he’s owed!

Have you ever tried to silence the sumo with a louder voice telling yourself not to think so much? Over-thinking is something many women do and have done their entire lives. That sumo is only reinforcing negative thoughts, impairing problem solving and throwing a wrench into everyday life. When women enter menopause, several of their symptoms can work together to create a menopause monster. Weight gain and insomnia can partner with depression to make a tornado of negative thoughts and feelings that seems impossible to diffuse. Society’s obsession with slowing down the aging process is unhealthy, yet difficult to avoid. It’s easy to slip into an energy-sucking ocean of negative thoughts when you’re in a sinking boat. Stewing over a hot flash can bring you to an archive of bad feelings you’ve had in your journey through menopause, leading to an unproductive, negative self-reflection, and confusion, and if there’s one thing you don’t need more of when you’re in menopause, it’s confusion!

Your sumo wrestler erodes your ability to solve problems by keeping you fixated on the analysis phase. So how can you think positive, take action, and re-purpose your energy to achieve hormone happiness in menopause?

Do not suffer in silence.
Remember, 50 million women are currently in menopause in the United States. You are not alone. Find a perimenopause and menopause specialist to be your menopause partner. Reach out to your friends and family, and consider throwing a Menopause Party. Sharing your experiences with other women who are going through it is not only a wonderful source of comfort, but it can boost your self-esteem. Get the help and support you deserve.

Put yourself on the top of your to-do list.
Make time for you! Take time to pamper yourself — read a book, grab lunch with a friend, take a long, luxurious bubble bath or go to the movies. Whatever you do, enjoy it.

Be mindful of healthy eating. CNN reports that this will help balance out your plummeting metabolism, mood swings and might even help you sleep better. According to MSN Health, metabolism does slow with age. Find a form of exercise that makes you feel good. Call a friend and go for a walk or a bike ride or join that gym that you’ve been avoiding. Release some endorphins — it feels good and Reuters says modest exercise will also help lower your blood pressure.

Be less self-critical and more proactive.
Send your sumo packing! Listen to your body and start recording your symptoms in a Menopause Symptoms Chart. Then take this chart with you to your perimenopause and menopause specialist so that your doctor will understand exactly how you are feeling and be able to develop a personalized program for you.

Imagine your negative thoughts as bubbles floating by that you can acknowledge as you please and pop when you want. It’s difficult to control your thoughts, especially when they are reinforced by everyday norms. You will find when you shrink your sumo, you spend less energy on feeling terrible, refocusing it on finding solutions and celebrating your happiness and progress.

Try to live sumo free!

Remember: Reaching out is in. Suffering in silence is out!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-sarver-dolgen/budgeting-your-energy-in-_b_1216515.html