Menopause Discussion > Alternative Therapies

Red Clover Complex or Black Cohosh

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Dalhousie:
Hurdity - thanks for the links  I'm starting to navigate my way round this site a bit better now.  I can't find any information to the contrary but I presume it's all right to take Red Clover longer term.  I've been on it a year now.  I think red clover does do something despite the research. 

I started off taking sage & that did zero.  After a while I took red clover & the flushes calmed down.  I stopped taking it & they came back.  I restarted the red clover & they calmed down again but they aren't quite as effective now.

CLKD:
Your body maybe producing more hot flushes?  therefore red clover won't be able to keep up.

Dancinggirl:
Hi vitanana and welcome to MM
There have been a number of studies around the use of Red Clover and it possibly can help to a small degree especially in the early stages of peri meno.  However, I have heard that is not safe for women who have had breast cancer to use Red Clover because of it's estrogenic effect.  Just because something is deemed 'natural' or from natural sources doesn't mean they are safe so advice from a professional is important.
Unfortunately we all experience the meno differently and the benefits of any treatment will vary greatly as well.  I am in my late 50s and when I had a break from HRT for a year I did try quite big doses of Red Clover which didn't have any effect. Most HRT preparations contain 'natural oestrogen these days so are identical to what we produce in our own bodies.  There is even a bio identical progesterone called Utrogestan which is becoming more widely used and considered safer. Do read up all the info on this site and keep posting.  WE love in depth discussions and sharing al thoughts and experiences.  DG x

Sunnydays:
Hi can I add my bit here. I didn't know anything about the peri menopause - I didn't know why I was getting awful headaches before periods and various other changes. When my periods stopped my doctor simply said how good it was that I wouldn't get periods anymore. Haha if only I knew  it isn't always as simple as that!   I tried the lady care magnet and multi vitamins. I'm not so sure the magnet helped but in my own mind the vitamins helped support my store of hormones and I was ticking over sufficiently well which was surprising as I had tremendous family stress and close bereavement at the time.  The main thing that was declining rapidly was 'down below'! Last October however I think my old hormones sighed their last breathe as the change that came over me was awful. The sweats intensified sleep was non existent etc. it was clear to me that Things to balance my hormones wasn't enough - they actually needed replacing!

Sorry rather a ramble but I wanted to get across that for me, I would try all the different alternatives to start with and be prepared to 'lose ' the money if they didn't work. I don't believe that the NHS can provide every type of medecine/remedy that's out there and just because the NHS don't provide it doesn't mean it doesn't work. There are meds on the NHS that stop working after a while. As DG says a good diet and exercise, eg brisk walking, are good to do and I believe  are a medecine in themselves!

I've had NHS meno support for 7 weeks or so now  and it has made a great difference to me but I don't like taking it and so I keep an eye out for alternatives that I can change to when the time is right for me. Just like some of the nasty side effects of some NHS medicines so we have to be cautious about side effects non NHS options.  Hey, we have to be cautious about everything in reality! By the way I have 2 close friends for whom the meno has been liberating, symptoms nearly non existent and not a single supplement in sight! They both exercise a lot. Another friend was knocked for six by the meno and could only survive with NHS products  Just shows how different we all are.

Keep up the posts on these alternatives please! I'm personally especially keen for post meno experiences with them. Thank you

CLKD:
"NHS meno support for 7 weeks .. "  :-\  "but I don't like taking it "  - what did I miss  ;D

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