More menopause symptoms you might not know about - Part 2

Today's topic

Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, as I mentioned above, I talked about some lesser-known symptoms of menopause but there are many more, which often come as a surprise to women.

So, today I am going to look at 3 more symptoms which women often don’t know about and explain why they can occur or be more frequent during menopause, and offer tips to help each of these particular symptoms.

1. Mouth ulcers

These can be so uncomfortable and can give a lot of pain, especially when you're eating or drinking. The reason for them occurring can be severalfold. We know that falling oestrogen can affect the mucous membranes in the mouth, so your mouth starts to get a lot drier. When this happens, you can become more prone to mouth ulcers.

The other cause can be low zinc. Zinc is one of these minerals that is so important in menopause as it's needed for a huge range of processes that go on in the body. As your body changes through menopause, your need for zinc can very often get really high. If you're low in zinc because it's being used up for all these other things, then you can end up being more prone to mouth ulcers.

What can help?

The main things here that can help would be the supplement Sea Buckthorn Oil to help with the dryness and a zinc supplement, about 15 milligrams, on a daily basis.

At the time you are suffering from a mouth ulcer, try to avoid really hot drinks and foods because they can burn and irritate the ulcer. Also, try to avoid any chemical toothpastes or mouthwashes because some of these chemicals will irritate the mouth ulcer. This is the point to maybe look at organic mouthwashes, preferably without alcohol, and also go for natural toothpaste.

2. The urge to get pregnant

It's amazing how so many women approaching menopause, their periods are changing, their children are probably grown up, some even have grandchildren, and suddenly they get this desperate urge to have another baby. It can seem all-consuming.

I've had a number of women who have been utterly desperate to have a baby and they can't really understand why this is happening.

It's all to do with nature. If we go down to a very basic nature level, then it's all about the procreation of the species, about keeping the species going. As a woman, if you're nearing the end of your fertile life, the body is basically saying, "We need one more child. We need to keep the human race going." And that urge can become very, very strong.

If you're in your late 40s or early 50s, it is still possible to get pregnant at this point. You are not safe from pregnancy until you've been two years without any periods at all. Even if your periods start to miss, you can still get pregnant accidentally, so bear that in mind.

If you do get pregnant as an older mum, then there are more health risks both to you and your baby. I try to encourage women in this situation to look at it logically and to consider all the late-night feeds, for example. It's an understandable situation though and nature is just pushing us that little bit further before we enter menopause.

3. Increase in shoe size

The third one is your feet can get bigger and wider. This can be due to a number of factors. Sometimes, it just happens with age as our feet tend to splay out that little bit more.

If your posture changes and the bones get that little bit weaker, you can end up with fallen arches which can affect the shape of the feet. Swollen ankles can be a really common symptom in menopause as well and obviously if your ankles are swelling, that can affect your feet.

A lot of women tell me that their joints start to ache and they develop things like light bunions. In this situation, if you're getting pain in your feet, it's important to see a podiatrist. This is someone who specialises in feet, and they can find out if anything else is going on.

Sometimes problems in the feet can stem from problems in the hip and they can tell you what's going on all the way down the legs.

If you're in a lot of joint pain with the feet, you can look at herbs such as Devil's claw.

A.Vogel Atrosan Devil’s Claw Tablets | For Aches and Pains

• PAIN RELIEF: Traditional medical product for the relief of rheumatic or muscular pain
• Can be used for the relief of backache
• For general aches and pains in muscles and joints
• 1 film-coated tablet contains 480 mg of extract (as dry extract) from Devil's claw root
• Best taken immediately after food; Can be used with other pain-relieving medicines

"This is a great product recommended by my Naturopath for chronic pain relief and it does take the edge off."

Read more customer reviews

Find Atrosan Devil's Claw in a store near you

If you're getting swollen ankles associated with symptoms such as varicose veins, we have our licensed product Venaforce, which is licensed for the symptoms of varicose veins and taut and tired legs.

Also, remember to drink water. Swollen ankles can often indicate that you're dehydrated and some women find that just upping their water will help with the swollen ankles.

I hope you found these ones helpful and interesting. Again, if any of you are wondering if the symptoms you're experiencing are anything to do with menopause or not, then please do ask and I will do my best to help.

Until then, take care.