Manage Your Menopause Naturally. Maryon Stewart
side effects. As a result, we can joyously embrace all the days we’re blessed with, feeling confident that we’re still in the driver’s seat.
Most of the natural wellness books I have written over the years are fully medically referenced. (See the extensive reference section at the back of this book.) My drug-free approach is well supported by the medical literature. Much of that research might just as well be a secret, though. Women are often left in the dark during menopause, asking their doctors and friends for advice and not getting many answers other than suggestions of drug or hormone therapy, which at best should be considered a short-term solution. It’s a scandal and very unfair for womankind, because there is an effective solution that can be tailored to your individual symptoms, lifestyle, and budget.
This Six-Week Natural Menopause Solution is based on the program my team and I pioneered at the Natural Health Advisory Service (NHAS), an organization I ran in the 1990s, which helped hundreds of thousands of women all over the world. There is no need to suffer alone or to be conned into taking products that don’t even contain what they say on the label, or haven’t been shown to be either safe or effective. With the right knowledge, women can easily overcome their symptoms and reclaim their well-being naturally.
There’s no need to suffer during menopause. There’s an effective solution for you, and it will be my pleasure to help you feel better!
Perhaps because women often put the needs of others before their own, many of us don’t make time to look after ourselves properly. In addition to the physical symptoms we suffer from, the changes to our waistline and appearance occur so gradually that often it’s not until one day when we glance in the mirror and get a shock that we realize just how far south we have traveled! Though you may be one of those women who dread aspects of this journey, I can assure you that women who have been through my Six-Week Natural Menopause Solution overwhelmingly regain their zest for life, get back into good shape, experience increased self-esteem and libido. Many end up feeling better than they can ever remember.
I feel passionately that women should be able to get proper direction at what can be a hugely scary stage in life. There is simply no reason to suffer when you can feel so good! I hope this book boosts your well-being now and in the future. You are most welcome to join one of the virtual classes I run at maryonstewart.com/masterclass, where I often answer questions live.
Navigating Perimenopause and Midlife Mayhem
When signs of perimenopause first appear, it’s common to wake up in the morning feeling like life as you knew it is a dim and distant memory. Your hormones are in the driving seat, and you are left clinging on by your fingernails. Gone are the days when you rolled over in the mornings hoping your partner was in the mood for some fun. Instead of snuggling up for comfort and love, you are only too pleased to be on your own side of the bed, throwing off the covers as the heat overpowers you. When you cool down, you start to worry that having sex will be a nightmare, leaving you feeling sore instead of satisfied.
Repeated nights interrupted by drenching sweats leave you feeling overwhelmingly tired. Your skin takes on a pale hue and circles appear under your eyes, making you look like you haven’t slept for weeks. You drag yourself out of bed to get on with your day, but you struggle because you have no energy. You have gained weight through comfort eating, and your clothes are too tight, while lack of exercise has made you despondent and depressed. Frequent, unannounced “power surges” make your face as red as a beet, and you feel like you are melting. You wonder where all this may be going. How will you cope? Should you seek advice? Take hormones? You go online to find some natural alternatives, but the overwhelming amount of information makes you feel even more confused than you already are. In the back of your mind you wonder whether your partner will be supportive or might get fed up with the significant change in your relationship. Some of the things that are happening to you may even be too embarrassing to discuss with close friends, so you sit in not-so-splendid isolation, wondering what comes next.
By week 6 of Maryon’s Natural Menopause Solution I was pretty much symptom-free. My vaginal tissues healed, and my libido returned, which delighted my husband. I feel really great again. I can’t believe the difference. I’m so grateful.
— Helen Wilde
These are the reasons I developed my Six-Week Natural Menopause Solution. It can take you from feeling stressed, washed out, irritable, tired, and confused and in hormonal turmoil to feeling sexy, wise, intuitive, turbocharged, and cool (what I call the midlife SWITCH), and brimming with happy hormones. That might seem a big stretch right now. Your first mission is to be trusting and come with me on a journey to reclaim your mojo and get back in the driving seat.
Menopause literally means the end of menstruation, although most of us use the word more loosely to describe the physical and mental changes that we experience in the years before and after this event. It generally happens any time between the ages of forty-five and fifty-five, with around fifty-one being the average.
At birth, our ovaries contain thousands of follicles, or egg sacs, in which egg cells ripen and develop. At puberty, our ovaries start to release an egg each month under the influence of two chemical messengers, or hormones, produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. These two hormones, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), in turn trigger our ovaries to produce two more hormones, estrogen and progesterone, which are responsible for thickening the lining of the uterus in preparation for conception and pregnancy. If no egg is fertilized, estrogen and progesterone levels decline, and the egg, together with the built-up uterine lining, is shed. This accounts for the bleeding during a period.
As we move through our forties, the supply of eggs we were born with starts to run out, and our ovaries stop releasing an egg each month. This means we no longer produce so much progesterone and estrogen. Eventually, our ovaries run out of eggs altogether, progesterone production ceases, and estrogen levels fall to an all-time low. Because estrogen is required for many bodily functions besides reproduction — including maintaining strong bones, a sharp mind, and a healthy heart — it is inevitable that we feel the effects as our naturally occurring estrogen levels drop. Replacing the body’s own estrogen with estrogens from plant sources not only replenishes our supply but also prevents the estrogen receptors in our cells from binding to estrogen-like chemicals in the environment (such as hormones used in meat production and some chemicals leached from plastics), which increase our risk of cancer.
Perimenopause
The body goes through a series of changes in the eight or so years leading up to meno-pause. These are known collectively as perimenopause (peri meaning “around”). The first sign that things are on the move is usually a change in the pattern of your periods. They may become irregular, longer or shorter, heavier or lighter. Other signs include hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, loss of libido, loss of energy, sleepless nights, and difficulty concentrating, all of which may worsen over time.
Most of us are unprepared for perimenopause. For some women, it may simply be the inconvenience of never being sure when their period is going to arrive. If you are less fortunate, you may experience a worsening of PMS symptoms, as well as frequent mood swings and more “black” days.
PMS Meets Perimenopause
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) refers to the physical and mental symptoms that occur just before the arrival of a period, then diminish or disappear shortly afterward, such as mood swings, bloating, food cravings, and digestive upset. Studies reveal that PMS is most prevalent in women in their thirties. But for some women, PMS never quite goes away. If your PMS bumps into the start of your menopause symptoms, which is quite common, then you have the worst of both worlds! In fact, due to the hormonal instability of perimenopause, PMS can become even worse.
Reliable research has found no consistent hormonal abnormality among PMS sufferers. Experts now think