Natural Health: Menopause

Q. I have suffered from menopausal symptoms since 2008.

I am now nearly 51 years old and am at my wits’ end, especially during the night when I am woken up out of my sleep every hour or hour and half with hot flushes (severe heat, sweating, feeling very, very uncomfortable like I have the flu). The symptoms (day and night) have got progressively worse as I move towards full menopause and my quality of life has deteriorated in that I have no energy in the evening time and find myself very sluggish in the morning due to lack of quality sleep. Otherwise, I am in good health and not on any medication.

I recently attended a doctor who recommended I go on a diet for my blood group (O positive) and while it was a good idea from a digestive point of view, it had no effect on my menopausal symptoms. I follow the diet for more than 90% of the time and also avoid any foods which ‘heat’ me up in any way, especially after 6 pm.