Homeopathy With Heidi - 20160601 - prerec for 01Jun16 (#16 - Homeopathy And Menopause) FINAL

The radio show is discussing homeopathy and menopause. Menopause is a natural transition in a woman's life where hormonal changes occur. It can cause physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. Traditional treatments often include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and antidepressants, but these may have side effects and not treat the underlying issues. Homeopathy offers a more natural approach to managing menopause symptoms. It is important for partners to understand and support women going through menopause. Homeopathy looks at overall symptoms and treats individuals holistically. You're tuned to Radio Kidnappers, the voice of Hawke's Bay. This is the homeopathy program with Heidi Beck. How are you going Heidi? I'm fine, how are you Ken? Good, another month has flown by, we're almost getting into the middle of winter now. Oh, it's getting chilly out there. You could probably go somewhere else to the other side of the world, maybe on holiday and soak up the rays over there, wouldn't it? Yes, well I'm actually doing that, so I cannot wait. Good on you. Today we're going to talk all about something that a man doesn't really want to know too much about and that's homeopathy and menopause. Before we start talking about it, you've got a quote for us. I do. Just remember, once you're over the hill, you begin to pick up speed. So that's to all those women out there who dread menopause and think it's something horrible and unfortunately so many suffer this dreaded transition in life. What is menopause? We hear a lot about it, but what is it? Well, it's basically that there's a change, we aren't fertile anymore, and we just begin that next chapter in life, sort of like the third chapter. First you're young and you're growing, then you hit puberty, which is a huge transition and so many suffer with that, and then again it's the menopause. And it's a huge time of hormonal changes. And hormones, they don't just affect the physical body, they also affect the mental and emotional. And so for some, and that's how I think it should be, it should be a smooth and gentle transition and not this horrific journey that so many of my clients are on. And that's not necessarily a short journey either, is it? No. I mean, a very common symptom is hot flushes. And I actually had a 64, 65 year old lady come to me who's been suffering hot flushes for the past 15 years. And it is actually something that affects men as well. Because she's sleeping next to her husband with a fan on her in the winter. So he's got menopause. And getting up in the middle of the night, changing because you've sweat so much that you're just soaking wet. That would be depressing, wouldn't it? Yeah, so the poor chap's suffering menopause as well, isn't he? He absolutely is. And of course menopause isn't necessarily, I mean it obviously comes to just about every single woman, but it can strike you early in life as well, can't it? Well, early menopause can actually start around the age of 40. And the normal age is 50 to mid-50. And I guess the latest would be about 58. But it can strike you much younger if you have a hysterectomy. And that is then overnight you're thrown into menopause. And that is again a very brutal and huge transition for the body to go through. And there are also studies that women who go through a horrific emotional shock or trauma, the body can also just shut down and you go straight into menopause. Right. And last month we spoke about arthritis and some of the traditional medicines that are prescribed to help us get through arthritis. And what are some of the traditional treatments that we might be expecting to get when we go to our doctor and say, I'm going through menopause, what have you got for me? Well, a lot of women come out with hormone replacement therapy. So those can be synthetic hormones or then hormones often made from the mare, so a horse. Yep. Horses' urine. And the other thing is, and that is what I find pretty alarming and sad, is that they will then end up with antidepressants as well because it is so frustrating, so debilitating, and the emotions are so affected and go so up and down that they're put on anti-anxiety, antidepressants, and obviously that's not treating the underlying issue, is it? So what does the HRT do to your body? I mean, does it bring the balance back? Well, hormones are very delicate. The body really has a very small range of adjusting and supplementing and producing more or reducing. So if you're on a synthetic hormone replacement, it's sort of like a dose and you're constantly getting that same dose. It's just, well, a very brutal way of regulating. How do you know you're going through menopause? So you wake up one morning and you think, oh, I'm going through menopause. Is that how it happens? Well, the transition can be within a year or one and a half years. So basically what happens is that the menses just has longer gaps. So instead of being monthly, it might be three monthly or there just might be a very slight bleed that, you know, lasts a day or so and then it might be six weeks. So that transition just comes on gradually. But then usually after a year, one and a half, then it's menopause. Before it's called perimenopause or premenopause. Then it's menopause. And once that is confirmed that there is no more cycle, then you're postmenopausal. Because once you're postmenopausal, is that it? You think, phew, that's all over. Everything comes back to normal? Well, that's the ideal. But as I said, this lady was 65. She had been without a cycle for the past 15 years and had been on hormone replacement pills and it just sort of got everything even more out of kilter. So she came to me as a last resort, had tried basically all natural therapies that she could think of as well. And we worked through it and I gave her a remedy and it stopped. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, so that was pretty amazing, yeah. We'll take a break and have a song in a minute. But just before we get there, I just want to, and we always talk about it, if we go to a traditional medical practitioner and he prescribes a drug for us and we know there are side effects to every drug, what's some of the side effects to HRT? Well, again, it's individual, right? Some women will just say, wow, I'm back to my young self. But then you're not going into that natural phase of life and there can be increased risks of cancer. It's still controversial, HRT, isn't it? It is and because it's synthetic and we are supposed to reduce our estrogen levels as we grow older, that's just a normal process, by keeping it elevated, well, everybody will react differently, but it's probably not the healthiest. No, indeed. Okay, we're going to take a break. We're going to have a song and when we come back, we're going to talk some more to Heidi about homeopathy and menopause. What's your song, Heidi? How about You Are the Sunshine of My Life? Here it is. You are the answer of my life Forever you'll stay in my heart I feel like this is the beginning So I've loved you for a million years And if I thought our love was through I'd find myself drowning in my own tears You are the sunshine of my life That's why I'll always stay around You are the apple of my eye Forever you'll stay in my heart You must have known that I was lonely Because you came to my rescue And I know that this must be wonderful I could so much love be inside of you You are the sunshine of my life That's why I'll always stay around You are the apple of my eye Forever you'll stay in my heart You are the sunshine of my life That's why I'll always stay around You're back on Radio Kinepas, the voice of Hawke's Bay. This is Homeopathy with Heidi. Now Heidi, if we want to take advantage of your services and come to see you for a homeopathic remedy, just remind our listeners where you are and how we can get hold of you. Okay, so there are various ways to get hold of me. Either through the website which is www.thrivehomeopathy.co.nz and there is a link where you can make your booking yourself or you can e-text me or call me on 021-335233. Now today we are talking about homeopathy and menopause. Now menopause, men don't like talking about menopause because just looking at some of the symptoms and there must be 50 or 60 in front of me and let's just talk about some of them. I mean cramps, feet swelling, canker sores, addiction to alcohol, nosebleeds, you go off sex, you have hemorrhoids, you have convulsions. It's scary isn't it? It is and there's even more. The hot flushes, the night sweats, insomnia, mood swings. Those are things that will actually affect the partner as well. Concentration goes down. Memory loss is a big one. Weight gain is a huge one. Loss of libido. So again those are all things and I think in a good relationship and if you've been together for so many years, it is important for the partner to understand that it is due to hormonal changes and that your wife isn't just getting fat and cranky and tired and forgetful and hot and cold because she's being a complicated, weepy woman. It's actually something going on in the body. You'd probably find out that most couples wouldn't talk about it, would they? Yes, unfortunately. It depends on the relationship and some men are fabulous, very understanding, supportive and sort of suffer with their partner and others, well, I guess they just don't want to know about it but I think that's not really the best approach, is it? Well, I wonder just when we made this one tape back like last month, we did talk about arthritis and I see that one of the symptoms for menopause could well be neuralgia arthritis. So if I come along to you as a woman, which I probably won't, but let's just say I was a woman and I came along to you and you said you might have neuralgia arthritis and you might be treating me for arthritis homeopathically but I'm really going through menopause. How would you know the difference? Well, in homeopathy, it's not that important and you won't just come and be treated for that one condition, right? It's not like, oh, this week we'll treat menopause, next week we'll treat your arthritis. We will look at what are your overall symptoms and when did it start. Okay, it started with hormonal changes and this started because of that. So how is your mood? And the words and the way people describe their mood, you know, I feel angry and I want to stab someone because I'm so angry and then we get to the complaint about the arthritis and we describe, okay, how is that pain? And then the person might use the words, oh, it's a stabbing sharp pain. So there you go. There's already a connection between the mental emotional and also the physical experience of what is going on. So I guess that's a good thing about coming to see you because if I went to my doctor and said, look, I've got insomnia, he might just think, okay, I'm going to treat for insomnia. Whereas you're holistic, you're going to sit me down because you spend a lot more time with me probably than my general practitioner. So you're probing and investigating. You're just like a detective, aren't you? Yes, it is. You'd be pretty good in the police force. I always feel like collecting the puzzle pieces, all this information and then putting the puzzle, the full picture together and then finding the remedy that is going to help. So if you're not sleeping, why aren't you sleeping? What's going on? Do you wake or are you restless? Is it heat that wakes you? Is it cold that wakes you? And since when? Okay, so since your cycle has stopped, so it's hormonal. And then how do you react when you are awake? Do you have to get up and go to the toilet? Or do you get up and you stretch? Or do you have to change because you're so wet? Or are you worrying? Or, you know, what is going on with your insomnia? And then that gives me an indication to do I need to give you a remedy that is more hormone balancing or is it more mental-emotional? So, yes, very complicated. Yes, it is very complicated. Now when I was printing up the worksheet on this one, there's 25 pages of it. And some of the stuff that you can... I don't know if I'm going to pronounce this correctly Folliculinum. Folliculinum. Oh, that's the one, yes. Now that will treat or that's a remedy for probably, just looking at the page here, 15 or 16 different symptoms of menopause. Why doesn't it treat the whole lot? Well, it's actually estrogen hormone made into a homeopathic remedy, right? So by giving it, it can sort of help rebalance this imbalance of estrogen and then the severe reactions that you have on a physical and also mental-emotional level. So it is a remedy that we use for infertility or for young women who have been on the contraceptive pill for a very long time that has sort of, well, suppressed the ovaries from producing the eggs, the ovum, and now all of a sudden they want to have a baby and the system just isn't kicking in properly. So that would be a remedy to help stimulate. And so when going through menopause, there's another big shift and it can also help to rebalance and get the body to do what it should be doing. I know guys don't like talking about menopause but just looking at that particular homeopathic remedy that you've been talking about and it says it will help with hair loss. So if a guy came in, purely to say, look Heidi, I almost feel that way myself. Heidi, my head is falling out. It's just a sign of getting older, I suppose. But would you say, well, try this stuff? Well, we actually, we've got testosterone as a remedy as well. So it, again, depends on, is it hereditary? Is it in patches or is it uncertain parts of the head or the body? Is there also, at what age is this hair loss occurring? What happened before? You know, was there some thing that happened in your life? An accident or trauma. It could be physical, mental, emotional. And so that would be taken into consideration as well. Was there some illness? Was there some drug treatment? Is it a side effect of that? So, yes, we do look into that. And according to that, even hair loss can be addressed, yes. You raise a good point there that hair loss might be hereditary but can you wind back the gene clock on that? So Sally, you don't need to lose your hair. You could have a homeopathic remedy which will stop you doing that. Is that possible or not? No, I don't think we have. You can't reverse the gene. No, but we can help repair, you know, DNA problems or where cells have now, yeah, malfunctioning and mal-reproducing. We can do some things with that as well. Would you recommend homeopathic remedies going hand in hand with traditional medicine or would you recommend that someone who's going through menopause give you a try as a first port of call? So, you know, you're going through menopause, let's go and try a homeopathic remedy first. Well, most women do try various natural supplements, herbal things like increasing their soy or red clover teas. If you go to the health shops and pharmacies, they usually will point you in that direction first and often that will be sufficient. If there's more going on, well, I can't tell you what to do but I'm always an advocate for trying the safest, non-toxic, most natural approach first. Absolutely. And if it doesn't, you know, satisfy or help, then, you know, take the next step. But you can do it the other way around which several people do as well or you can do it parallel, whatever. Now, when we talk about homeopathic remedies, we always talk about homeopathy as being a holistic approach to health. And last month, we talked about maybe looking at our diet when it came to keeping our florescence check. What about diet with menopause? Is that a big deal? Well, yes. As I said, increasing soy is often good because soy contains estrogen. But then on the other hand, if you have too much estrogen, that's sort of cancer-promoting, right? So, again, like every month, it's about the balance. Check your diet. If you are already eating a lot of soy products, well, then don't increase. But if you aren't, then maybe taking some more soy or some kelp and seaweed and, you know, things that will help you with hot flushes. There is a possibility. What's your advice to the guys out there who are suffering menopause with their wives? Well, I think if you want to have a really good supportive relationship, the key is always understanding but also talking and finding out what is really going on for your partner and how is she feeling, what can you do. Sometimes it's just taking her in the arm and holding her while she's having a sobbing moment or letting her stomp her feet and be angry and don't take it too personal. She's talking about you guys here. I know, that's why I'm saying it clearly. But the other thing is sometimes as the outsider, you can observe what's going on for your loved one and she might not even be realizing, you know, these extreme mood swings or this change in her personality or memory. So then you could be the partner that says, hey, honey, let's go see what help we can get you. Okay, we're just about out of time, Heidi. So before we get to the end of the show, we just want you to remind us. We want to come and see you at your practice. Where are you? So number one, Lampton Road on Hospital Hill in Napier. Very easy access, great parking. I know people freak out when they hear the hill but it's very easy to get there. And yeah, beautiful clinic setting. And I work from Monday to Thursday. So any time is a good time. Give you a bell. Okay, now what should we do for the week, for the month? Well, how about we close with age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. And that's from Mark Twain. So have a good month. ♪♪