10 most commonly asked menopause questions - Part 1

Read the full video transcript below

Today's topic

Hello, and welcome to my weekly video blog. And today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, well, believe it or not, this is the third anniversary of my starting these video blogs and I'm absolutely amazed that we are still going. When I was first asked to do them, apart from being slightly scared of sitting in front of the camera, I thought, "Oh, we've maybe got enough subjects to do it for a few months, and here we are three years later."

And you know what, it's all thanks to you lovely ladies out there that I am still sitting here today because it's your questions that are keeping us going. And you've no idea how appreciative we are of all the lovely comments and the questions that come in on a weekly basis, so thank you so much.

What I've decided to do this week and next week is that we have a database where we log all the incoming e-mails and telephone calls about the menopause, so I can do a yearly report on what the most asked questions are. So for this year, we've got a slightly different set of ones, but I thought what I would do is to just very quickly go through five this week and five next week.

Commonly asked menopause questions

So these are the top 10 queries that we have had this year on the peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause. So here we go.

Question 1: I am getting hot flushes, how can I stop them?

Top number one is well, I'm sure you can all believe it, is hot flushes. And one of the things that we're asked the most is, "How can I stop these flushes and sweats?"

Now, one of the best remedies, if you want to go down the natural route, is a herb called sage. And what I'm going to do here with each of these queries is give you a link to previous blogs that will go into these in a lot more detail. So hot flushes and night sweats, you're looking at herbs such as sage, you're looking at calming the nervous system.

Remember to drink lots of water because we know that things like dehydration, low blood sugars, and anxiety can trigger hot flushes as well. So not surprising, this was number 1 on our top 10 list.

Question 2: Am I in the menopause?

The second question is, "Am I in the menopause?" And so many of you out there are really not sure when the menopause starts, what's supposed to happen, how long does it go on for?

So this is quite a general question. It's a difficult one to answer purely because every single woman will have a unique menopause in terms of when they start, how long it's going to last, and the type of symptoms that they're likely to experience. One little tip though, the time you start the menopause, the age you start the menopause, and the possible symptoms you may experience can be hereditary, so if you can ask older female relatives very kindly when they started the menopause, what sorts of things they experienced, that might give you a little bit of a clue, although it's not set in stone.

One of the main things that we've realised over the last few years is that lifestyle and stress can play a huge part in how you go through the menopause. So even if your older siblings, mother, grandmother, may have had quite an easy menopause, if you are really stressed, if you're having a hard time with life in general, then that can cause symptoms to escalate or get worse, so just be aware of that one.

Question 3: Will HRT stop my menopause and what happens when I come off HRT?

Question number three is, "Will HRT stop my menopause and what happens when I come off HRT?" We have a huge raft of questions on HRT. These are just a quick few of them. What I would suggest though is if you feel that you need to go on HRT, if you want to go on HRT, is to discuss it in-depth with your doctor.

We get so many women who have been prescribed HRT and just don't realise what's happening to them, what it's supposed to do, how long they're supposed to stay on it. So if you want to go on HRT, then you discuss with your doctor, "Is it the best thing for me? How long am I likely to be on it? What are any potential side effects and what happens when I stop?"

And that should give you a much better idea of what HRT is going to help or not help with as you go through the menopause. One of the other main queries we get is so many women either have to get taken off HRT quickly or they decide to stop HRT, and they don't realise that there is the possibility of withdrawal symptoms.

Basically, you're going from a high level of HRT to your own natural hormone levels which will be a lot lower and that quick hormonal fall can then trigger symptoms such as flushes, and sweats, and joint aches and pains. So all I would say here is that if you are wanting to come off HRT, if you can, really take your time with it, maybe over six months or a year just to ease yourself off the HRT, if at all possible.

If you're on it and you've been told you have to come off it in the near future, then plan things as well as you can and really support your nervous system well.

Question 4: My periods are very heavy, is this normal?

Question number four is, "My periods are really heavy. Is this okay? Is this normal?" Right, there's two issues with this. If your periods are starting to get a little bit heavier than normal, if they're getting a little bit longer maybe over one or two days, if the time between your periods is getting shorter, instead of 28 days, it's maybe 25 days, then yes, this is normally considered okay.

You can look at herbs such as Agnus castus if you're not on any other hormonal medication because that can very often help to ease this and get things back to normal. However, if you are flooding, if your periods are lasting two to three weeks, if you're only getting a gap between each period, then this is not good for you.

You can end up with very low iron, you can end up anaemic, very, very fatigued. It can cause anxiety and low mood. And this is just not the way it should be, so it's very important if you're finding that your periods are affecting your daily life, they are lasting a lot longer, they're a lot heavier, then please go and see your doctor.

Natural remedies, such as Agnus castus, will not be strong enough to sort out this kind of hormonal imbalance, and it really does need medical treatment, so please, if you're in this situation and you haven't sought medical advice, then please don't delay with this.

Question 5: Can I still get pregnant?

Question number five is,"Can I still get pregnant in the peri-menopause and the menopause?" The answer is yes, it is still possible. One of the things that's happening in the UK is the number of menopause babies is increasing because women are unsure of how long they need to wait after their periods have stopped before you're safe from pregnancy. The general consensus is that if you're under 40, it's 2 years, and if you're over 50, it's only 1 year.

Now, in our experience, we find that quite a lot of women over 50 can go without a period for a year or more and then they come back. There's nothing sinister going on, it's just the fact that their hormones are having one last little fling.

So our advice is regardless of how old you are, that if you don't want to get pregnant, then you need to wait two years until after your periods are finished.

The other question we get regarding pregnancy is, "I am approaching the menopause and I want a baby. I'm desperate for another baby."

And yes, you know, as I've just explained, it certainly is possible to get pregnant in the peri-menopause. What's happening here is that our drive, the natural instinct, and drive, if you're looking at life on a sort of more animal level is the procreation of the species.

And we know that quite a few women, their desire for a baby seems to override everything else here. And it can become, very sort of single-minded. All I would say here is, again, if you're in your late 40s and early 50s, and you're really wanting to get pregnant, then please discuss this thoroughly with your doctor.

The older you are, the more risk to yourself and to the baby, and if you're in this what we would call hormonal fog of wanting a baby, then sometimes, we don't understand how tiring and how emotional it can get to have a baby when you're over 50, so all I would say here, just discuss this thoroughly and look at all the repercussions of getting pregnant at such a late age.

So I hope you find these interesting. If any of you have any comments or any questions about anything at all, please scroll right down and you'll find a comment box at the end of the page.

Next week, I'm going to go through the next top five queries, so I'll look forward to seeing you then for another A.Vogel Talks Menopause.