For some women who have gone their entire life with no symptoms of depression, it can be a real shock to be in menopause and depression suddenly comes on like a fog. The waves of despair and anxiety can seem so overpowering at times.

On top of that, there is the pain and feelings of guilt that often accompany depression, which only compounds matters. There is a silver lining though! The definitely is a way to restore those good feelings of health and happiness!

One very good answer to menopause and depression is to find a holistic health provider to guide you. This type of depression, known as sub-clinical, is the result of a hormonal imbalance, which is the result of menopause.

It is common knowledge that the hormonal balance in a woman’s body is changed during menopause. As a consequence, you might experience any number of the symptoms of menopause: night sweats, hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and depression.

Many women are advised to take anti-depressants, such as Prozac, Praxil and Effexor. For a woman suffering from clinical depression this is the best option, however, if your depression is sub clinical, you should certainly find out if the cause is a hormonal imbalance.

You can quickly find out a lot by taking a free test to determine if you do have a hormonal imbalance, and, if so, to what degree. A good holistic health care provider will also have a similar test you can take.

Clinical depression

This is a serious condition that requires medical attention and possibly anti-depressants. One characteristic of clinical depression is that it seems to have no apparent cause. An apparent cause could be something such as stress at home, a child leaving home for college, a death in the family, stress at work, etc.

If your sadness has no apparent cause, and simply does not go away over time, you should seek medical help. After your feelings are normal, you will be in a position to use a holistic method of treatment.

Sub clinical depression is cause related

This is caused by the normal trauma of life, such as relationship stress, exhaustion from overwork, stress at home, etc. Typically sub clinical depression is very responsive to restoring your hormonal balance.

Conclusion

The human body is an amazing creation that is always seeking a state of balance, known as homeostasis. This balance is naturally disturbed during menopause and a holistic approach to health can help you.

As you learn to interpret your own symptoms of menopause, you will have the tools you need to find that balance once again. Those good feelings of health and happiness will return and your menopause and depression will be manageable.

Randy Hough has a website: http://SafeMenopauseRelief.com that talks about menopause and depression.

 

Due to estrogen and progesterone levels shifting, the body experiences a lot of different symptoms. With any luck, you may have little or no difficulty with menopause. Some women get lucky and have a very easy menopause and others have a bit more trouble with much more severe symptoms.

Common signs of menopause are:

A change in the menstruation cycle is reported frequently. Regular periods becomes irregular with more or less bleeding. During menopause, periods become more irregular, sometimes periods come more frequently with break through bleeding in between actual periods.

Hot flashes are by far one of the most common symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes demonstrate with a sudden heat flushing over the torso and redness in the face and neck. You may also have hot flashes while trying to sleep and these are called night sweats. Both hot flashes and night sweats vary in severity from woman to woman, they usually disappear a few years after menopause.

Many women also have urinary tract infections, trouble holding urine and a more frequent need to go to the rest room.

Vaginal dryness is also quite common, as the tissues of the vagina become thin and less elastic, and sex can feel unpleasant. Menopause symptoms also include changes in sexual drive and desire; many women experience a sudden loss of sex drive.  For many women, losing their fertility is actually a liberating feeling and they have more sex since they don’t have to deal with the possibility of getting pregnant. One of the joys of menopause is not having a period or having to worry about getting pregnant anymore, but if you are sexually active, you should still use a condom to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases.

A lot of women experience general mood swings and exhaustion. Some women feel a lot more additional stress and anxiety. Women in menopause also tend to get easily tired, sometimes having major fatigue. A full eight hours of sleep many be tough to get because of night sweats and a lot of women report feeling tired.

Another symptom of menopause is changes in weight; in some cases the midsection may become thicker, while fat levels tend to increase. Skin begins to lose some of its elasticity. You will have to work a little harder at staying fit as the body’s metabolism changes a little, it becomes harder to lose weight.

During menopause, many women get heart palpitations or irregular beating, this is commonly a short term symptom. In some cases though these symptoms may mimic symptoms of other diseases, therefore you should consult with an expert to avoid complications and additional problems.

Each woman will experience menopause differently. One thing to keep in mind is that menopause has been experienced by millions of women throughout history and, if you can control your symptoms, you too will survive if you can maintain a sense of humor about it. The best thing to do for yourself during menopause is to just take extra good care of yourself. Sometimes it’s the easiest things that work the best. Things like reducing your stress levels, getting sleep, and exercising, all these will make your transition through menopause much easier.

 

Following are the more common symptoms of menopause:

Changes in the menstrual cycle: This is often the first symptom of menopause. Longer or shorter periods, heavier or lighter periods, or missed periods start happening.

Hot flashes and Night Sweats: A hot flash is a sensation of a sudden feeling of heat, often accompanied by sweating. When they occur during sleep they are called night sweats. Hot flashes are the menopause symptoms mentioned by many menopausal women.

Vaginal Dryness & Urinary Problems: Less availability of estrogen makes the walls of the bladder, urethra and vagina drier and less flexible. This makes the tissue more easily damaged and more prone to infections, leading to painful sex.

Mood Swings: The decline in estrogen and progesterone leads to women becoming more emotionally charged. Such hormonal anomaly leads to women feeling radical emotions like sadness and anger

Heart Palpitations: Menopausal women may feel occasional heart palpitations or irregular beats during this time.

Decreased Libido: Women may feel reduced sexual desire due to hormonal shifts.

Sleep Deprivation: Menopausal women have a tendency to be wakeful. This may be due night sweats or heart palpitation.

Cognitive and Memory Changes: Many women experience forgetfulness, problems with concentration or loss of short term memory.

Headaches: Migraine headaches may increase during menopause as they are vascular in nature. The vascular system is more unstable during menopause; therefore migraines can become more frequent and difficult to manage.

Weight Gain: Gaining weight is common during menopause. Build-up of body fat around the waist can occur.

Fatigue: Many women experience a profound fatigue during the menopause. This is temporary because the body adjusts itself to lower levels of estrogen.

Other symptoms: These may include dizziness, indigestion, hair loss, mouth odor, asthma, aching joints and muscles, ringing in the ears, itching and feeling of creepy insects crawling on the body.

Doctor’s Call: Below are listed some circumstances where a menopausal woman should consult a relevant medical specialist. They are:

-       A heavy period may not be good for a woman’s health. Heavy bleeding can be a sign of fibroid tumors, uterine cancer or uterine polyps.

-       A continuous high blood pressure may lead to a heart stroke or indicative of a major heart disease.

-       Very frequent palpitations accompanied with nausea, breathing problem, anxiety or chest pain could be a sign of heart disease.

-       Suicidal thoughts that arise due to too much depression must also be deterred with professional medical help.

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