Menopause and medication: What is there and what really helps?

Do you also belong to the third of women who suffer greatly from menopause? Then you have certainly already tried a lot to get a remedy. Medicines, natural remedies or perhaps homeopathy? From mild discomfort to severe health problems, a herb has grown against all symptoms of menopause. Or isn’t it?

Medication can help you mitigate certain ailments, but they are not always the optimal solution.

You are in menopause? Then it is statistically likely that you have experienced or are experiencing one of the following symptoms:

• Irregular and sometimes severe monthly bleeding
• Circulatory problems
• Hot flashes and sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Insomnia
• Mood
• Heart turf
• Weight gain

If you’re not sure if your menopause is just around the corner, contact your gynaecologist. With a hormone level test, the onset of menopause can be determined relatively precisely.

We looked at how you can most effectively treat the full range of menopause complaints. What helps and what doesn’t? What are the side effects and what should you look out for? You can find all this in this article.

These classic medicines are used for menopause complaints

The main reason for the numerous menopause complaints is a drop in hormone production in your body. Particularly affected are the female sex hormones estrogen and progestin. They perform a number of important functions and their absence imbalances your whole organism.

Put simply, the estrogens ensure that your uterus continues to do its work. The hormone stimulates cell growth in the organ and builds up the uterine mucosa.

Progestins, in turn, regulate your cycle. If they are taken as medication, they will ensure that your bleeding continues.

The combination of both hormones is important, because the increased cell growth in the uterus also leads to a higher chance of errors in cell division in the long term. One possible consequence is cancer. Only women whose uterus has already been removed can do without progestin during therapy.

Pay attention to these ingredients in the case of medicines

The hormones in the drugs are often composed differently. They are used as tablets, creams or sheaths. The substances used have different degrees of strength. Therefore, always pay attention to the content and dose for medications for menopause symptoms.

These estrogens are commonly used:

• Estriol (mild estrogen, used to treat mild discomfort)
• Estradiol / estradiolvelerate (stronger estrogen with more intense effect, only for use with progestogen or after removed uterus)
• Conjugated estrogens (also weaker-acting estrogens, derived from the urine of mares – less undesirable side effects, but not suitable for longer treatment as they increase the risk of stroke)

These progestins are often used:

• Chlormadinone (synthetically produced progestin, suitable for use with estrogens)
• Progesterone (body’s own progestin with relatively weak effect, also suitable for supplementing estrogen therapy)
• Dydrogesterone (progestin, which is often found in combination products with estrogen estradiol – maximum intake for 1-2 years as it increases the risk of thrombosis)
• Levonorgestrel or norethisterone (also often used in combination preparations – similar effect to dydrogesterone)

The effectiveness of treatment with estrogen and progestin has already been confirmed in many studies. It is therefore not surprising that the classic prescription drugs used to treat menopause symptoms contain precisely these hormones.

Not free of risks and side effects

Long-term treatment with hormones can endanger your body in different ways. The most documented side effects in women taking hormones are:

• More than twice as likely to develop dementia, thrombosis or pulmonary embolism
• About 40% increased chance of developing a disease of the bile ducts
• About 30% increased chance of suffering a stroke
• The chance of developing breast cancer increases by about 25%
• The chance of heart disease increases by about 20%

So, as you can see, hormone therapy is anything but a sugar lick. Experts therefore recommend that the onset of such treatment be thoroughly considered beforehand. It should only be used in the case of particularly severe meny-sani-year complaints and, if possible, not in the long term.

Your gynaecologist can best advise you on this. After all, we are all individual and the menopause is different in every woman. A targeted treatment with hormones can therefore help you, provided the application is well thought out.

Hormone therapy also has positive effects. In addition to alleviating alternating symptoms, women were also found to be at lower risk of colorectal cancer and improved bone health during treatment.

Do homeopathic medications help in menopause?

Well, homeopathy is always such a thing. On the one hand, the effect in science is controversial and studies on it do not provide clear results.

On the other hand, there are many women who report the positive effect of different globules on menopause symptoms.

Since the homeopathic remedies are usually free of side effects and interactions, they are often recommended as a supplement to treatment with other medications.

Here is a brief overview of the most important homeopathic ingredients for menopause:

• Sepia: for sleep disorders, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, loss of libido
• Pulsatilla: for varicose veins or weight gain
• Graphites: for hot flashes, weight gain and skin problems
• Sulfur: for nocturnal hot flashes, high blood pressure, obesity and osteoporosis
• Lachesis: for mood swings, headaches and sleep disturbances

As is common in homeopathy, these substances are then used in the form of removable globules.

Although the effect is controversial, homeopathic remedies can still be a useful treatment approach. It is important to note that in case of severe discomfort or problems with the cardiovascular system, your first route should always lead to the doctor or doctor.

The natural alternative: herbal remedies for menopause complaints

A real alternative to hormone therapy with drugs, on the other hand, are herbal remedies. These are mostly preparations made from certain medicinal herbs.

With them, you can specifically treat discomfort with significantly milder and less dangerous side effects. But the medicinal plants are not completely harmless.

Why is that? After all, natural agents don’t contain hormones at all, do they?

This is true, but the effect of most herbal preparations for menopause comes from so-called phytoestrogens.

These are plant estrogens that can trigger a reaction similar to the body’s own hormone in our organism. However, much weaker.

These phytoestrogens come primarily from soy or red clover. If you take them in, this can lead to a relief of the menopause complaints.

The grape silver candle is also often used for problems in the climate. It is intended to help with hot flashes, sleep disturbances and mood swings. However, this effect has not yet been scientifically proven.

However, if the dosage is too high, there may also be undesirable side effects with herbal remedies. First and foremost, your gastrointestinal tract suffers. But even more severe symptoms such as abdominal or headache, redness of the skin or liver damage are possible.

In addition, natural agents can develop dangerous interactions with other drugs. If you are already taking hormones, or if you are in treatment for a cancer (especially breast cancer), you should do without the plant preparations.

If you want to treat your menopause symptoms with herbal remedies, you should definitely discuss this with your doctor.

Herbal tea can also make your menopause more enjoyable

A particularly mild alternative that does not require hormones is tea from medicinal herbs.

Depending on your complaints about the corresponding plants, grab the appropriate plants:

• Sage helps against sweating
• Peppermint in hot flashes
• St. John’s wort in a depressed mood
• Balm, Valerian and hops for sleep disorders

The upshot: menopause and medication – what really helps?

As you can see, you are by no means helpless at the mercy of the complaints of menopause. However, treatment with hormone drugs should be considered carefully. It’s best to talk to your gynaecologist about it.

For milder discomfort, you can resort to homeopathic remedies or herbal teas.

As a precautionary measure, you should also keep an eye on your holistic health. A lot of exercise, a healthy diet and a positive attitude work here real miracles.