Keep Your Sanity During Menopause with Herbal Remedies

Menopause presents its fair share of challenges to just about every woman. Even those women lucky enough to survive “the change” relatively unscathed are still likely to experience some symptoms. During menopause, you may experience hot flashes, night sweats, loss of sexy drive, vaginal dryness, insomnia, memory loss, depression, and sudden mood swings.

Many women opt for hormone replacement therapy to deal with this difficult time. Many women dealing with the symptoms of menopause can be helped through hormone replacement therapy. However, if you are afraid of the side effects that can sometimes accompany hormone replacement therapy, you may want to consider alternative therapies.

Many women go through menopause without learning about the many alternative herbal remedies that can help them through this difficult period. Here are a few suggestions about herbal remedies that can help ease the most common symptoms that women are prone to experience during menopause.

Black cohosh: This herb has successfully been used to help treat the hormonal imbalance that many women endure during menopause. Black Cohosh attaches to the estrogen receptor sites in the body and helps correct the hormone imbalance that most women experience during menopause.

Black cohosh also helps reduce the most common symptoms of menopause, including night sweats and menopause. Most herbalists recommend procuring dried black cohosh root to make a healing tea. Simply cut half or one teaspoon of the root and seep it in a pan of hot water. Cover the pan and let it simmer.

Once the tea has cooled to room temperature, drink half to one cup of black cohosh tea a day. You can also purchase black cohosh tablets at your local health food store. Most naturopaths recommend taking 20 milligrams two times a day. In liquid or tincture form, take half a teaspoon of black cohosh diluted in a small glass of water each day.

Motherwort: This herb is often described as the “cool” herb, which makes it suitable for treating the symptoms of hot flashes. Motherwort is also thought to help alleviate other common symptoms of menopause, including irritability and mood swings.

Motherwort can most easily be taken as a tea. Prepare a motherwort tea by pouring one pint of boiling water into a pot containing one ounce of leaves. Steep the leaves for approximately 10 minutes, strain them, and then drink the tea at room temperature. Then drink half a cup of tea up to three times a day, as needed.

Motherwort can also be prepared and consumed as a tincture. Simply take two droppers full of motherwort tincture every ten minutes until your symptoms begin to subside. This usually occurs after two or three doses. If you are unable to take regular ten-minute interval doses, take two droppers once an hour.

Sage: This is a good herb for women who are having regular hot flashes. Traditional herbalists recommend consuming sage in the same way as motherwort. The most effective way to take this herb is as a tea. Simply follow the same recommendations as motherwort.