Is It Menopause or Is It Aging?

That's a question that many doctors are trying to answer. Many menopause symptoms such as weight gain and forgetfulness are often more age related, and both aging and menopause can contribute to an increased risk of osteoporosis. Even night sweats could be caused by a thyroid condition. More information on this topic from the North American Menopause Society can be found here.

Health conditions can also trigger a recurrence of menopause symptoms. I have had rheumatoid arthritis for 21 years and for the past 19 have been in remission, thankfully. I'm always very vigilant about keeping flare ups under control, but last November one got the better of me and I have been going through a full blown flare up for the past several months. What was totally unexpected was that the inflammation triggered hot flashes. Can't tell you how depressing that was. Chronic arthritis pain that kept me from sleeping, then hot flashes on top of that.

I finally went for acupuncture treatments and part of the treatment was a total review of what I eat and drink. Two red flags were coffee and wheat. I remember when my hot flashes were at their peak I was told the same thing. Anyway, apparently these two things are huge inflammation triggers and the increased inflammation was then triggering a return of the hot flashes. Vicious cycle, which was easily broken by giving up coffee and wheat. Within a week the pain was subsiding and so were the hot flashes. Four weeks later I have it under control and still avoid coffee and wheat because the side effect of that has been weight loss - always a good thing.

So, if you are trying to handle health issues as well as menopause make sure your health care practitioner is asking you the right questions and take a good look at what you are consuming, some simple diet adjustments may pay dividends.