Healthy regimen during menopause

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for menopausal health care. The core principle is to "take self-body sensation as the core and adapt the adjustment plan in four dimensions: emotional regulation, dietary structure, exercise habits, and medical intervention in layers. Don't force yourself or be overly anxious." This is the most practical conclusion that my senior sister from the gynecological endocrinology team and I came up with following more than 300 follow-up cases of menopausal women. It is not an empty health care routine.

I was particularly impressed by Aunt Zhang, whom I met at the outpatient clinic last week. She was 52 years old and just one year after menopause. She suffered from hot flashes more than ten times a day. I heard from sisters in the community that drinking soy milk to supplement estrogen could relieve her symptoms. In fact, the question of "whether to supplement estrogen during menopause" is a highly controversial topic, and the consensus in different fields is quite different: in the field of Western gynecological endocrinology, it is generally believed that moderate to severe menopausal symptoms (such as hot flashes more than 5 times a day, severe insomnia, For people whose emotions are so out of control that it affects their lives), as long as there are no high-risk factors for breast lesions or blood clots, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the gold standard for relieving symptoms under the age of 60 or within 10 years of menopause, and the benefits far outweigh the risks; in the traditional Chinese medicine system, I feel that menopause is a normal physiological process for women with "deficiency of Ren pulse and weakening of Taichong pulse". There is no need to deliberately supplement hormones from external sources. It can be passed smoothly by regulating the liver and kidneys and soothing liver qi. Many people have obvious improvement after taking Xiaoyao Pills and Zhibai Dihuang Pills based on syndrome differentiation. Additional burden; there are also supporters of natural therapy who firmly believe that they can survive the fluctuations without taking medicine, relying on mindful breathing and regular work and rest. In clinical practice, there are indeed people with mild symptoms who relied on this method to get through the entire stage comfortably. No one can say which one is absolutely correct.

In fact, many people have overlooked that half of the discomfort during menopause is physiological fluctuations and half is amplified by emotions. At the age of 49, my cousin was in menopause and her children were taking college entrance exams. She was known for her good temper before. During that time, she would argue for half an hour because my brother-in-law didn’t put his socks in the laundry basket. I regretted it afterwards, but I couldn’t suppress the energy. She disliked the bitterness of traditional Chinese medicine and was afraid of the side effects of taking hormones. Later, she was dragged by an aunt in the same neighborhood to play softball. She played wildly in the square for an hour every day, and she also did 10 minutes of breathing meditation with a short video blogger when she got home. In less than two months, her inexplicable irritability was reduced by 80%, and the number of hot flashes dropped from five or six times a day to only one occasionally. She herself said, "I go out every day and talk and laugh with everyone, so I don't have time to think about uncomfortable things."

In terms of diet, there is really no need to deliberately stock up on a lot of health products such as soy isoflavones and royal jelly. Eating normally is better than anything else. Whole grains account for one-third of the staple food. Drink 300ml of milk or eat the same amount of sugar-free yogurt every day to replenish calcium. Otherwise, bone mass will fall quickly during menopause, and it is not uncommon to fracture after a fall. Eat more green leafy vegetables, and avoid those high in oil and sugar. After all, your metabolic rate drops quickly at this stage, and it will be more troublesome to have high blood pressure when you gain weight. If you like to drink soy milk, just drink one cup every day. Don’t expect it to cure diseases. People like Aunt Zhang who drink three large cups a day will easily stimulate breast gland problems if they consume too much phytoestrogens. Oh, by the way, if you often suffer from insomnia, don’t drink coffee or milk tea after 3 pm. I’ve seen several aunties say that they can’t sleep all night long. When asked, they drink a cup of pearl milk tea every afternoon. After quitting, the quality of sleep is greatly improved, and there is no need to take anything to aid sleep.

If the symptoms are really severe and unbearable, such as lying all night until dawn and being unable to sleep, having hot flashes and sweating and soaking your pajamas and quilts, or even feeling that life is meaningless and having a tendency to be depressed, don't hold on, you should go to the hospital. If you trust Western medicine, go to a gynecological endocrinologist, check hormones, and do basic assessments. If you meet the conditions, use HRT. Many people will get significant relief after using it for a week. If you believe in traditional Chinese medicine, go to a regular traditional Chinese medicine hospital to go to the gynecology department and prescribe syndrome differentiation. Acupuncture and moxibustion are also useful. I had a patient before who was afraid of taking hormones. He did moxibustion twice a week and drank liver-soothing Chinese medicine. After three months, the hot flashes were basically gone. There is no need to compare plans with others. Some people get angry and have blisters all over their mouths after doing moxibustion, so don’t force yourself to do it. Just try another method. Comfort is the first criterion.

To put it bluntly, menopause is just a special period in a woman’s life, just like adolescence and pregnancy and childbirth. There is no need to regard it as a scourge, and don’t think that “just wait until menopause”. A few days ago, I met Aunt Zhang who was undergoing a review. She stopped drinking too much soy milk, danced for half an hour every day after dinner, and took some medicine to regulate her autonomic nerves as directed by the doctor. Now her hot flashes are basically gone, and her nodules have not grown in size. She told me last time that she signed up for a Chinese painting class at the University for the Elderly, and her life is much more comfortable than before when she was surrounded by her husband and children. There is no standard answer. What suits you is the best way to maintain health.