Menopause health advice

It is a normal physiological transition stage for women. There is no need to endure the discomfort, nor to be overly panicked and pursue "reverse aging". The most reliable solution is always "individualized adjustment + standardized medical evaluation". There is no one-size-fits-all recipe.

I was particularly impressed by the sister Zhang I met at the outpatient clinic last week. She was 48 years old and had just stopped menstruating for half a year. She had hot flashes more than a dozen times a day. She tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep. She read short videos and saw people saying that estrogen supplementation can delay aging. I bought an imported "ovarian maintenance supplement" from overseas and took it for three months. Last week, the physical examination revealed that the breast nodules had increased from category three to category four. I was so frightened that I hurried to the hospital. In fact, this situation is really too common. Everyone either ignores the discomfort of menopause and just ignores it, or they try to find folk remedies randomly. In the final analysis, they all fail to understand the physical logic of this stage.

Speaking of hormone fluctuations, it is really like the unstable water pressure in the water pipes at home. It will be high and low for a while, and water will splash all over you from time to time. It is not that your water pipe is broken, but the main valve is adjusting. It will be fine when the pressure is adjusted to a stable level. You don't have to replace the entire water pipe, and you don't have to endure being splashed with water. Just find a master to adjust the valve. There is indeed a big controversy about hormone replacement therapy (MHT) right now. There is a lot of quarrel on the Internet. One group says that MHT will keep you young forever, while the other group says that MHT will cause cancer. In fact, both sides are too extreme. According to the guidelines of Western medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, as long as there are no contraindications such as breast cancer, unexplained vaginal bleeding, and active liver disease, for women who are within 10 years of menopause or under the age of 60, the benefits far outweigh the risks with the lowest dose of hormone supplements. In the first two months of my pregnancy, One of the university teachers I treated was that his face suddenly started to sweat during class, and he had to stop and use a tissue to wipe it off, which particularly affected his teaching state. After the evaluation, he found no underlying diseases. He took a small dose of hormones for two weeks, and the symptoms basically disappeared. Now the class goes very smoothly and he feels more energetic. However, many schools of traditional Chinese medicine do not recommend the blind use of exogenous hormones. They believe that menopause is a natural process of the gradual decline of kidney qi, and forced supplementation will disrupt the body's own rhythm. They also recommend syndrome differentiation and conditioning. For example, those with kidney yin deficiency who have obvious hot flashes and night sweats should use Liuwei Dihuang Pills, and those with kidney yang who are afraid of cold hands and feet should use Liuwei Dihuang Pills. If you have a weak constitution, yougui pills, combined with external treatment methods such as moxibustion and foot bath, can also relieve discomfort very well. I have friends who adjust their work and rest schedules and use Baduanjin three times a week to almost alleviate the irritable mood and night sweats. This is especially suitable for people who have contraindications to the use of hormones.

Let me talk about a point that is easy to overlook. Many menopausal women always feel frequent and urgent urination. They think it is due to drinking too much water or a urinary tract infection, and taking a lot of antibiotics is not good. In fact, it is caused by the atrophy of the urethral mucosa after estrogen decreases. In this case, the effect of topical estrogen ointment is particularly good, and there is no need to worry about systemic side effects. There is also the issue of bone density. I have a 52-year-old patient who slipped and fell on a rainy day and fractured her femoral neck. The bone density T value has reached -2.7, which is severe osteoporosis. She always felt that her waist and legs were not sore and she did not need to take supplements. In fact, the bone loss rate after menopause is 3-5 times that before menopause. When she feels pain By the time you are young, you have often lost more than 30% of your bone mass. Eating more dark green vegetables, sugar-free dairy products, and spending 15 minutes in the sun every day is much more effective than taking random Internet celebrity supplements. If your bone mass is already low, follow your doctor's advice and take calcium and vitamin D, and use bisphosphonates when necessary. These are all very mature treatment options.

Interestingly, among the hundreds of menopausal women I have interacted with, the ones who ended up in the best shape were not the ones who spent the most money on supplements, but those who were willing to let go of the burden of "menopause means getting old." An aunt retired at the age of 50, just in time for menopause. She used to quarrel with her husband at home. Later, she signed up for a Chinese painting class, went to the park to sketch every week, and went hiking with her friends. When she came for a review last time, she said that except for occasional hot flashes, she basically didn’t feel any other discomfort, and her condition was better than when she was in her thirties and forties when she was busy at work.

If there are any general reminders, I would probably say don’t take it hard. If you feel uncomfortable, go to a regular hospital’s gynecology department or menopausal clinic for evaluation. What works for others may not be suitable for you. Don’t blindly buy Internet celebrity health products, and don’t attribute all your emotional problems to your own “bad personality.” This stage is actually a signal from God, reminding you that it is time to stop and pay more attention to your body. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. It is more effective than any health-preserving remedies.