Home Remedies For Hot Flushes And Night Sweats

Hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings are all symptoms of the menopause, which, although not an illness, can cause untold misery to many women as they get older. Cutting out caffeine is particularly useful for most symptoms of menopause, and there is a range of teas and tisanes which can actively help to relieve symptoms.

Home remedies for Hot Flushes

Mint is a famous cooler, so add fresh mint whenever you can to salads. Drink peppermint tea or add some peppermint essential oil to your bathwater

Sage is know to be the herb of old age. Make up a sage tonic wine by taking a handful of fresh sage leaves and letting them stand in a bottle of at least two weeks. Sweeten with honey and leave for another week. Strain the liquid through a cloth and bottle it. Drinking a glass before lunch and dinner is most beneficial.

Another great menopause tonic contains borage leaf, lemon balm, raspberry leaf, burdock root and plantain leaf. All you need to do is to steep the herbs in hot water and drink the liquid during the day in order to lift your spirits.

Home remedies for Night Sweats

Drink two cupfuls of sage tea each day. Place three teaspoons of sage leaves in a pan and pour two cups of boiling water over. Cover and simmer for five minutes. Make it up in the moning and keep it in a thermos flask for drinking during the day. Ginseng tea is often recommended because it contains plenty of B vitamins and minerals. It also helps boost a flagging libido!

Try marigold tea made from an infusion offlower heads in a litre (1-3/4. pints) of boiling water, steeped for ten minutes. Drink it three or four times a day.

Place the leaves of lemon balm under your pillow at night, or drink a cup of lemon balm.

Home remedies for General Symptoms

Calendula, hops, ginseng, sage and wild yam all have oestrogenic action which can be helpful - take these as an infusion or supplement. Eat plenty of rhubarb, oats and celery which contain similar oestrogen­stimulating substances.

Some foods have high levels of phytoestrogens (natural plant oestrogens), and these may have a beneficial effect on menopausal symptoms.

Many of these compounds, which are called isoflavones and lignans, are found in soya foods, flax seeds and some herbs.

In Asia, where women eat a diet high, in soya foods, they report fewer menopausal symptoms and also have a lower incidence of breast cancer. Some trials have also shown that a diet high in soya decreases the incidence of hot flushes.

Other foods that contain phytoestrogens include mung beans, pumpkin seeds, tofu and tempeh, so try to include these foods in your diet.

Eat plenty of nettles, dandelion and plantain, which can all be added to salads.

As a general tonic, you could run yourself a hot bath and add essential oils of rosemary or lavender, and this will soothe and refresh you.