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This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive
Managing Menopause Symptoms Through Diet
Every woman experiences different menopause symptoms. Most women have some hot flashes, some feel irritable, a smaller number of women battle headaches, nausea or night sweats.
Whatever your menopause symptoms, the following food strategies just might help make your years around menopause a little more comfortable. I've adapted them from my book Tell Me What to Eat As I Approach Menopause. They'll help you manage your menopause symptoms, while also protecting your heart and your bones.
Remember, what works for one woman may not work for another, and what works for you now may not work as well a year from now. Also, most of the following suggestions have not had the benefit of well-designed clinical trials, so it is difficult to predict how well they will work for you.
Still, the truth is that many of the diet suggestions are things we should be doing anyway -- many years before menopause. If menopause is what finally motivates someone to make important changes in her diet and lifestyle, terrific!
Food Step 1: Eat More Tofu and Soy
Soy may give relief from hot flashes, although that benefit is still being debated by researchers. However, we do know that soy may help protect our heart and arteries by lowering bad cholesterol. Many studies have suggested that this occurs because we substitute soy for meats and animal fat in our diet. So give it a try!
Eat or drink two servings of soy a day. Soy foods will take 4 to 6 weeks to show an effect.
Here are some easy ways to add soy to your diet:
- Choose tofu dishes instead of meat at your local Chinese restaurant.
- Make instant miso soup for a quick pick-me-up snack.
- Make fruit smoothies with soy protein powder.
- Drink chocolate or plain soy milk.
- Buy baked tofu in the supermarket and experiment at home. Add it to salads or stir-fry dishes, even try it on crackers.
- Buy canned soy beans and add them to soups, chili and casseroles.
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VIVELLE-DOT (estradiol transdermal system) IS AVAILABLE BY PRESCRPTION ONLY.
INDICATION
Vivelle-Dot is used after menopause to: reduce moderate to severe hot flashes; treat moderate to severe dryness, itching and burning in or around the vagina; help reduce your chances of getting osteoporosis (thin weak bones); and treat certain conditions in which a young woman's ovaries do not produce enough estrogens naturally. Vivelle-Dot 0.025 mg/day is only used to prevent osteoporosis from menopause. If you use Vivelle-Dot only to treat your dryness, itching, and burning in and around your vagina or if you use Vivelle-Dot only to prevent osteoporosis from menopause, talk with your healthcare professional about whether a different treatment or medicine without estrogens might be better for you.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Estrogens increase the chances of getting cancer of the uterus (womb). Report any unusual vaginal bleeding right away while you are taking estrogens. Vaginal bleeding after menopause may be a warning sign of cancer of the uterus (womb).
Do not use estrogens with or without progestins to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, or strokes. Using estrogens with or without progestins may increase your chances of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and blood clots. Using estrogens with progestins may increase your risk of dementia (decline in memory and thinking skills).
Vivelle-Dot should not be used if you have unusual vaginal bleeding; currently have or have had certain cancers, including cancer of the breast or uterus; had a stroke or heart attack in the recent past (for example, in the past year); currently have or have had blood clots; currently have or have had liver problems; or think you may be, or know that you are, pregnant.
The most common side effects that may occur with Vivelle-Dot are headache, breast tenderness, and back pain.
You and your healthcare professional should talk regularly about whether you still need treatment with Vivelle-Dot.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Full Prescribing Information for Vivelle-Dot.
Ob-Gyn Laura Corio talks about the importance of exercise during menopause.
