Menopause symptoms you might not know about - Part 1

Today's topic

Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at 3 menopause symptoms you might not know about or be aware of.

There are many known symptoms of menopause but there are also some that can come as a surprise to lots of women and many don't realise that what they are experiencing is actually connected to their menopause.

Today, what I'm going to do is look at these particular symptoms, why they occur, and what you can do to help yourself.

3 lesser-known menopause symptoms you might experience

For those of you that have been following these weekly blogs, a few weeks ago I mentioned GenM, a UK organisation that is encompassing companies and workplaces in helping to support women through menopause.

They conducted an Invisibility Report and found that 51% of women could only name three menopause symptoms. There are 48 recognised ones, as well as a good number that can occur in some women but not in others. So, as you can imagine, a lot of women don't realise that what they're experiencing is menopause and not anything else going on in their life.

So, let's have a look at these particular lesser-known symptoms and what can help them.

1. Old injuries or conditions reappearing

The first symptom is old injuries or health conditions resurfacing. This is a really interesting one because what we think is happening is that as your oestrogen falls, along with all the physical and emotional changes occurring, the body itself can become slightly weaker. These old injuries and conditions that the body was able to keep well under control, suddenly appear out of the blue. This can include aches and pains or old injuries.

It may well be that as a child, you broke your leg or your arm and it took a little while to heal. Suddenly, you feel as if your bones are aching again and you're thinking, "Oh, that's a bit strange. That's where I broke my leg all these years ago."

Conditions such as childhood asthma can resurface, as well as eczema or even teenage acne. It's amazing how many women say that suddenly their faces are breaking out in spots like they did as a teenager. Again, this tends to be because your body is struggling and is needing a bit more support in helping itself through menopause.

With these particular conditions, whatever seems to have resurfaced, then you would treat it in the same way you would have done years ago. I've also got blogs on topics including joint pain and skin conditions so you could look at those to see what you can do to help yourself.

The other thing that can sometimes happen is that emotional issues that you had many years ago can come to the fore. This can be very, very distressing, especially if they were quite traumatic experiences.

If you find that old memories are coming back or situations that you would prefer not to think about suddenly spring to mind, then this may be the point to consider seeking counselling to help you through the process if you're struggling with this.

2. Reoccurring urinary tract infections (UTIs)

This is really a common problem. It's amazing how many women end up getting cystitis. Often what happens is you go to your doctor and get antibiotics. That clears it up but a couple of weeks later you get another UTI. You get treated again, and then in another few weeks, it reoccurs. It can become a vicious cycle.

What can happen here is that as your oestrogen starts to fall, it can affect the level of friendly bacteria in the vagina. These specific bacteria look after and protect the opening of the urethra, which is the tube that goes up to the bladder. If these friendly bacteria decrease, you can become more vulnerable to bladder infections at any time. Taking antibiotics kills off more of the friendly bacteria, leaving yourself wide open to repeat infections.

What you need to do here is to get a vaginal probiotic. These can be really helpful, even for things like vaginal dryness and vaginal thrush.

Also, try to treat the bladder infection as naturally as possible. You could look at our Uva-ursi & Echinacea drops, which are licensed for symptoms such as cystitis.

A.Vogel Uva-ursi & Echinacea Cystitis Oral Drops

• RELIEVE MINOR SYMPTOMS OF CYSTITIS: Traditional herbal medicinal product used to relieve minor urinary complaints associated with cystitis in women, such as burning sensation when urinating and frequent urination
• FRESH HERB EXTRACTS: Contains two herbs traditionally used to treat minor symptoms of cystitis - Uva-ursi (or Bearberry) and Echinacea purpurea
• HOW TO TAKE: Adult women over the age of 18 years to take 15 drops in a little water 2-5 times per day. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids while taking this product.

"I have used this a couple of times now at the first sign of a bladder infection & it worked! Managed to get rid of the infection without needing anti-biotics - fantastic!"

Read more customer reviews

Find Uva-ursi & Echinacea Cystitis Oral Drops in a store near you

If you are getting repeat infections, we have a tablet called Cranberry Complex, which can be taken on a daily basis as a support and a preventative.

The other thing here that is so important is drinking lots of water. I had a bladder breakdown a number of years ago and it was basically due to lots of travel. I ended up getting really dehydrated. I was working in a lot of sunshine, and my bladder just went into a meltdown.

One of the main things I found that helped was to drink lots of water. If you are dehydrated, your urine becomes very acidic and concentrated, adding to the burning sensation, inflammation, discomfort and pain, especially when you are passing urine. If you drink lots of water, not just a sip here and there, but a full glass at a time on a regular basis, this is going to flush the bladder. It will dilute your urine and bring comfort back really quite quickly.

So, for a day or two, you're going to have to be really conscious about drinking water, but it can be something that can work really, really quickly.

3. Breathing difficulties

This was one that surprised us when it first came to our attention because it's not something you would associate with menopause and hormonal changes. However, the lungs are one of the biggest mucous membrane areas in the body and they need to be kept moist during the whole breathing process.

Mucous membranes can dry during menopause (for example, we know that vaginal dryness is really common) but the lungs can be affected as well. When this happens, you may find it more difficult to breathe deeply, you get out of breath going up the stairs or you might find you get out of breath quicker when you're exercising.

Some women who already have asthma find that their asthma gets worse while others may develop asthma. Some other women find that every time they get the cold or the flu, it goes straight to the lungs and they can end up with a continual cough and a lot of discomfort.

For this particular one, there is a supplement called Sea Buckthorn Oil which helps to improve mucous membranes generally. You can also try vitamin C which is really important for the support of lung tissue. A zinc supplement can also be really helpful. Again, remember to drink water.

With breathing difficulties, if you're starting to feel that your breathing is getting a little bit laboured, please just check this one out with your doctor to make sure that nothing else is going on.

I hope you found this helpful. There'll be more next week on menopause symptoms you may not be aware of. If any of you out there are wondering whether what you have is due to menopause, then please leave a comment and I'll see if I can help.

Until then, take care.