Do anti-depressants bring menopause relief? It may seem hard to believe, but many medical doctors prescribe anti-depressants for menopause relief! This is a classic case of not having a holistic approach to healing, for sure. During menopause, many of the symptoms can be severe and quite disrupting, such as depression, anxiety, nervous tension, hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. In some respects, there may be some similarity between mental illness and these symptoms, but the underlying cause is very different.
One reason that doctors prescribe anti-depressants for menopause symptoms is because the doctor is trained to prescribe medications, not search for a holistic connection between hormones and the symptoms. It is much easier just to give out the medication and get the quick, dramatic results of improved feelings and mood. This might help temporarily, but the root cause is still the same. Treating symptoms apart from the cause is never going to essentially help the woman. What about side effects? This is a very important issue because these powerful anti-depressants, such as Effexor, Prozac, and Praxil, all can produce some significant side effects. Some of the known side effects are headaches, vomiting, nervousness, and sexual dysfunction. Often the side effects can be worse than the symptom being treated! Effexor has some very disturbing side effects as well, such as increased blood pressure, adverse lung reactions and even heart failure! Another common effect is the reduction of REM sleep. When you do not receive enough deep sleep, the consequences can be dire and introduce a whole new set of symptoms. There must be a better way Surely there must be a better way to treat the symptoms of menopause than with anti-depressants. Maybe it made sense in the 1950's, when public awareness was rather low and medical doctors were regarded with god-like status. But that was then, and this is now! It reminds me of the old magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, where models dressed up in white smocks to look like doctors. They pushed cigarettes as a tonic! I forgot about those ads until an elderly co-worker brought in some old magazines and sure enough, there was the doctor smoking a Chesterfield cigarette and promoting it as a tonic! Fortunately there are numerous natural ways to get safe menopause relief. It is not at all necessary to take anti-depressants to help with your depression, anxiety or hot flashes. Here are a few of the well documented natural methods
By doing a little research you can learn how to manage your own menopause symptoms. By working with your health care provider (as long as he/she is using a holistic approach), you can develop and simple and effective plan to make your life much more even and fun again! The best way to begin researching this is by taking the hormone assessment sponsored by the Women To Women clinic. It is very informative and free! You can take it here.
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