“Conventional Medicine Doesn’t Cut It for Menopause”- Wellness Guru, Elissa Scott

Your period shows up this month and vanishes for the next four months.

You’re suddenly dealing with the occasional sensation of a furnace burning at uncontrollable temperatures within your body. The doctor says they are hot flashes – or hot flushes, in Australia.

Your vagina becomes extremely dry and it’s sometimes painful.

Your libido hits an all-time low.

You’re gaining so much weight and feeling heavy all the time – slowed metabolism.

Your bones are weak and nearly brittle – osteoporosis.

The headaches are so splitting and discomforting that they affect your daily activities.

Your brain fog is so intense that you walk into the kitchen and can’t remember why!

One moment, you’re happy and feeling fly. Then next, you want to crawl into a hole and cry your eyes out for no reason – mood swings back and forth throughout the day.

You’re irritable, your anxiety is shooting up, and you’re going crazy, dealing with too many changes at the same time. It’s all too much. It’s all so unfair.

The harsh reality of menopause.

Between the ages of 45 and 55, most women would begin to go through menopause – the period where a woman’s menstruation ceases. Some women may start menopause earlier and others may start well into their fifties – the exhausting dynamism of the female body. Menopause is triggered by a change in the balance or secretion of reproductive hormones and as a woman gets older, her estrogen levels tend to drop dramatically. Eventually, the ovaries stop releasing eggs, menstruation ceases permanently, and natural conception is no longer possible. 

For many, the symptoms described above may span 4-7 years from the last time she has her period. For others, they may last as long as 10-12 years. Some women would have the occasional hot flash for the rest of their lives.

It’s annoying and exhausting, but menopause is a natural and normal condition. It doesn’t exactly have a one-stop relief, but it’s one of those conditions that can be managed and prevented from interfering with a person’s health and happiness.

Does conventional medicine really help?

Hormone Replacement Therapy is the most recommended course of treatment for relieving menopausal symptoms. It’s a process of increasing the depleting levels of the female reproductive hormones – estrogen and progesterone. Depending on the severity of a woman’s symptoms, a doctor may prescribe estrogen, progesterone, or a combined administration of both. HRT can be administered as pills, patches, topical and vaginal creams, and it may take anywhere from weeks to months to see results.

However, HRT also comes with many side effects that may be more discomforting than the symptoms it tries to relieve.  

“Conventional medicine just doesn’t cut it when it comes to menopause,” says experienced wellness entrepreneur, Elissa Scott, founder and CEO of The T Lady, and Australian-based menopause tea brand. “During Covid when the machines that make HRT broke down, panic set in, and doctors in the UK prescribed antidepressants for menopausal symptoms. It was unbelievable. I believe it’s the education around this subject that is lacking and I can’t wait until the day Western Medicines run alongside Chinese Medicine in education facilities. Big Pharmaceuticals create customers not cures, and this needs to end.”

According to the UK’s NHS, Women who have the following conditions may be unsuitable candidates for HRT:

–          Hypertension

–          A history of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer

–          History of liver disease

–          Hemophilia

Feel better every day: Here’s what you can do

A study published in The Journal of The North American Menopause Society reports that behavioral/lifestyle approaches, combined with natural remedies and alternative medicines, seem to provide better relief for menopausal symptoms for many women. Where conventional medicine is often localized, natural alternatives take on a more holistic approach, targeting all-round relief and wellness to maintain a healthy quality of life.

Elissa’s company, The T Lady pioneered Menopause Tea, a leading herbal tea solution made with the top five recommended herbs for menopause. Packaged in a plastic-free pyramid-shaped tea bag, Menopause Tea was created out of Elissa’s need to combine her love for empowering women with a well-researched, caffeine-free, natural solution for easing the discomforts of menopause. Menopause Tea stands out as a leading female wellness tea solution because it targets symptoms during perimenopause (the stage before actual menopause), menopause itself, and postmenopause (after menopause).

The herbs in Menopause Tea are certified organic compounds sourced from the essential growing regions in the USA, India, and Croatia, hygienically manufactured and packaged to provide long-term wellness and optimum health. They include:

• Black Cohosh
• Wild yam
• Skullcap
• Withanian Indian Ginseng
• Red Clover

What’s the verdict?

Do your own research. Talk to your doctor and ask other women about their journey.

For many women, menopausal symptoms may not be bothersome enough to interfere with their daily activities. However, if you want to consider natural alternatives to ease your symptoms, be sure to discuss them with your Obstetrician or Gynotherapist. The herbs in Menopause Tea have little to no side effects and should be combined with the following lifestyle changes for satisfying results:

–          Exercise daily for 15-30 minutes

–          Quit tobacco, reduce caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate intake

–          Eat more fruit and vegetables

–          Sleep at least 7-8 hours daily

–          Avoid high carbohydrates diets

–          Drink lots of water daily

–          Add calming essential oils to your bathwater

Menopause is natural, but it doesn’t have to be dreadful or debilitating. You can go through your menopausal years and still live a happy, rich, and healthy life.