Guest Author - Carolyn Chambers Clark, ARNP, EdD

1. Question: Fatigue is common during menopause. What foods can add to fatigue?

Answer: In researching LIVING WELL WITH MENOPAUSE, I found that milk, sugar, chocolate, eggs, and wheat (including bread, pasta and cereal) are the foods most likely to create fatigue.

2. Question: Hair thinning occurs around menopause. What can a woman do?

Answer: B-vitamins are important to hair health. If you drink alcohol and caffeine, you are promoting the loss of these valuable vitamins and need to restrict their use and eat more whole grain breads and cereals, broccoli, wheat germ, fish, most nuts, prunes, raisins, watercress, dandelion greens, poultry, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and other fresh vegetables, mushrooms, and soy products

3. Question: Many women suffer from hot flashes around the time of menopause. What triggers them?

Answer: One of the main reasons I wrote LIVING WELL WITH MENOPAUSE was to share what I learned about relieving hot flashes. Alcohol, caffeine, sugary food, hot foods and or hot beverages can trigger hot flashes. Keeping a food/hot flash diary to find individual triggers is also a good idea.

4. Question: What simple environmental actions can women take to reduce the depression, nervousness, and irritability so characteristic of menopause?

Answer: I found research that showed smoking or being around smokers, and taking steroids and antidepressants have all been associated with depression. Ways to fend off depression include time management methods and shortcuts and asking your family to share responsibilities. Volunteering to help others is a great research-backed method to reduce depression. If women are too depressed or anxious to take action, it's important for them to find a counselor who can help get them back on track with daily activities, and help make menopause the positive experience it can be.

5. Question: Many women fear that if they don't take hormones at menopause, they'll age quicker. What advice do you have?

Answer: There's no reason to look old after menopause. If you eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, stay away from fried and fast-foods and environmental toxins, take care of your skin and exercise, and use the stress reduction techniques found in LIVING WELL WITH MENOPAUSE women can look youthful and feel great for many years post-menopause.

6. Question: What are some acupressure points for headache so common at menopause?

Answer: There are many acupressure points. The ones for headache include working along the base of the skull, the outer edge of each eye socket, a point where the brow meets the bridge of the nose, and the webbing between the thumbs and index fingers.

7. Question: How can exercise help insomnia, poor circulation, weight gain and other problems so characteristic of menopause?

Answer: Research has shown that early morning exercise, complete with stretching, for at least 3 hours a week can improve sleep quality and increase fitness. Walking, cycling, dancing or some other rhythmic sustained effort can energize and reduce fatigue, as well as firm and tone, help with weight loss, and enhance circulation, keeping the body youthful and healthy.

8. Question: Anxiety and depression are big problems at menopause. What other things can women do to reduce these negative feelings?

Answer: I recommend writing about an upsetting event. Writing has been shown in numerous studies to reduce negative feelings. Even writing about mundane things like what you had for lunch can help! Purchase a journal and take some time every day to write. Not only will journal writing relieve negative feelings it also provides a permanent record of progress.

9. Question: Husbands and other family members often don't have a clue what a menopausal woman is going through and what to do about it. What's the best way for a women to tell her partner about her menopause experience and what to do to help her?

Answer: Start by giving your husband or partner a compliment detailing what's already helpful and negotiate additional aid, for example, "I want to thank you for not disturbing me when I was exercising. That really helped a lot. I also want to tell you that I've been suffering from cold hands for a while now and I'll be using a relaxation tape to increase circulation. When you have time after dinner, I'll massage your feet if you'll massage my hands."

10.Question: I understand that weight gain, higher blood pressure and water retention often occur around menopause. What's a good way to lose weight, lower blood pressure and reduce water retention that doesn't involve dieting or exercising?

Answer: LIVING WELL WITH MENOPAUSE provides many easy and effective ways to lose weight. One of them is based on a Chinese Medicine method. Sit, stand or lie down.

Lean forward and rub the hands down the outside of the legs from thighs to ankles and repeat 12 times. This helps dispel energy from the body by activating the gallbladder, bladder, and stomach meridians, thereby assisting weight loss, and reducing blood pressure and water retention.