when to stop supplements

[gainsboroughgirl]

Hi, I had terrible hot flushes- nights were sleepless until I tried Vogel's sage which helped a lot for nights. During the day I took FX Menopause which was life changing for me! I still have flushes but nothing as bad as it was and am off the sage. However, is it best to come off the phytoestrogens (the FX menopause in my case) or should I keep on with them- I assume we need some phytoestrogens into old age but maybe diet is enough? I don't want to perpetuate the hot flush problem. I'm 57 now and about three years post last period.Thanks

[Anita Ralph]

Thank you for your question, I am glad that you have found some supplements that have helped you with your experience of menopause. The supplement you mention looks as though it is derived from mung beans and therefore contains ‘phyto-oestrogens’ found naturally within all beans, lentils and flax seed (also known as linseed). These interesting compounds can help provide the building blocks for our body to manufacture the many post-menopausal compounds that can give us the benefits that oestrogen did when we were ovulating and menstruating.
In other words, products like this act as a supplement to our diet (we can of course simply eat these foods), and if we are deficient in these compounds then this can often help improve our symptoms at menopause.

The processes involved in turning these valuable essential compounds in to their active form involve lots of different parts of our body working together in harmony. This is sometimes why supplements like this seem to not work - if one of these processes in our body is not working properly.

Medical herbalists take a detailed case history to try to establish if any of these areas are working sub-optimally, and then apply herbs to these areas. Areas of our body known to be essential in converting phytoestrogens in to safe and active compounds include the liver, the gut and the gut microbiome, the adrenal glands and nervous system, other hormones (such as thyroid hormones and blood sugar maintenance hormones), to list just a few.
This means that anything negatively impacting on these areas can interfere with our menopausal symptoms. For example, IBS, recurrent infections or antibiotic use, chronic inflammation and pain, insomnia, can all interfere with the conversion of phytoestrogens.

Sorry this is a long and complicated answer, but this is the secret to the success of using herbal medicine at menopause. Not only to take a ‘natural phytooestrogen’ but to optimise function within our body so that menopause is successful, and so that our body can utilise the wonderful plant-nutrients from our diet and from our supplements.

It sounds as if you have almost achieved this balance, but without a detailed consultation I am not sure myself which bits of you might benefit from some herbal help, but perhaps my explanation might help you down that path? Eating beans, lentils and flaxseed however provide all sorts of other health benefits that make them ideal for consumption throughout life. I cannot be sure how naturally made your supplement is, but you might like to try to add these foods in and slowly stop the supplement?

[gainsboroughgirl]

Thanks. I have ME and IBS so I've had a very hard time and now vaginal dryness too. I think I might just try a one a day of my phytoestrogen then as I probably wouldn't manage enough from my diet. I find the answers to other questions very helpful too.