Healthy tips for menopause

The core secret of healthy health during menopause is never to eat soy isoflavones uniformly and endure discomfort, nor is it that everyone needs to take estrogen supplements, but A physical and mental harmonization program tailored to individual symptoms and living habits - there is no universal formula, the best solution is what suits you。

Last week, I met 48-year-old Sister Chen in the outpatient clinic. Her face turned pale when she took the physical examination report. She said that three months ago, her best friend said that estrogen supplements can resist aging and relieve hot flashes. She bought imported estrogen supplements from overseas without taking a test. As a result, the breast nodules increased from category 3 to 4a during the physical examination. Fortunately, further punctures showed that they were benign, but she was scared to never eat them again. I’m not being alarmist. Menopausal problems seem to include hot flashes, night sweats, and short temper. But when it comes to everyone’s triggers and tolerance levels, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

From a modern medical point of view, the core causes of menopausal discomfort are declining ovarian function and declining estrogen levels. If you experience hot flashes more than five times a day, suffer from insomnia for more than a month, or even lose control of your mood to the point where you cannot get along with your family and colleagues, you can seek out a gynecological endocrinologist for a comprehensive evaluation. After excluding estrogen-dependent tumors and high risks of blood clots, standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is the most effective solution for relieving moderate to severe symptoms. This has become a global consensus among obstetrics and gynecology. However, the premise of this plan is "standardized evaluation". You must not buy medicine blindly. People who have breast nodules, uterine fibroids, or endometrial hyperplasia must strictly follow the doctor's instructions for regular check-ups. Don't use other people's experiences to apply to yourself.

Different from the precise intervention ideas of Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine takes a different approach to regulating menopause. Traditional Chinese medicine does not care about the amount of estrogen at all. Instead, it feels that most of the discomforts at this stage are "kidney yin deficiency, liver stagnation and spleen deficiency." Many people have heat in the upper part and cold in the lower part. Their faces are on fire, but their feet are cold. They have diarrhea after drinking ice water, and they get angry after eating some warm tonic. At this time, it is not about "toning", but about regulating yin and yang. There used to be a 51-year-old aunt who changed her clothes three times a day when she got hot flashes, and drank American ginseng and dendrobium water every day. As a result, the more she drank, the more she became afraid of the cold. Later, she was prescribed a prescription that added dried ginger and cinnamon twigs. After two weeks of drinking, her hot flashes were reduced by more than half. She thought it was magical - to put it bluntly, the yin fluid you add cannot be transported and transformed, and it is blocked in the middle burner, and the fire still floats upward. It is effective when it is unblocked.

Regardless of whether you choose the intervention plan of Western medicine or the conditioning ideas of traditional Chinese medicine, doctors on both sides agree that you should pay attention to some small details in life. I really don’t have to be harsh on myself with the requirement of “light diet” every day. Last time I chatted with Dr. Li from the gynecology department, she didn’t take any medicine when she was in menopause. She just walked around the park twice every day after get off work, went home to catch up on two episodes of idol dramas, ate a piece of dark chocolate when she felt uncomfortable, and had to eat her favorite sauce elbow once a week. Her blood lipids and blood sugar have been very stable, and she passed smoothly. You see, it’s much better than forcing yourself to eat salads and boiled vegetables every day, which makes you feel full of resentment. The same goes for exercise. Don't force yourself to complete the 150-minute exercise KPI per week. You can dance square dance until you are sweaty and happy, walk in the park with your old friends for 40 minutes and feel comfortable, or even clean up the cabinets and wipe the floor at home. As long as it is not uncomfortable to move, it is better than forcing yourself to run 5 kilometers and end up with sore knees that you can't walk.

Many people ask me whether soy isoflavones, which are popular on the Internet, can be eaten. This is actually quite controversial. Western medicine believes that for people with mild to moderate hot flashes, supplementing with no more than 120 mg of soy isoflavones per day can indeed relieve some discomfort and will not cause too much fluctuation in hormone levels. ； However, most Chinese medicine practitioners believe that the purified isoflavones are still too biased. Instead, it is better to drink a cup of pure soy milk and eat a piece of marinated tofu every day. The phytoestrogens obtained from food are milder and can also be supplemented with protein and calcium. It is much more cost-effective. If you want to take it, try it in a small dose first. If you feel no discomfort after taking it and there are no problems after the reexamination, then continue taking it. If you feel breast swelling and pain or irregular menstruation after taking it, stop it immediately. There is no need to worry about which one is right and which one is wrong.

To be honest, there is no magical "secret" to menopause. This is a normal stage of a woman’s life. It’s not a disease. Don’t feel embarrassed, and don’t be afraid to talk about your discomfort. When you want to get angry, just say "I don't feel very well right now, and I want to stay alone for a while." You don't have to hold it in or feel like you're being pretentious. If you really feel uncomfortable, go see a doctor. Throw away other people's good methods when they make you feel uncomfortable. Do whatever makes you feel better. This is more effective than any expert advice.