Hi my name is Debbie and I am the owner of InHolistics Somerset. The reason I decided to write this blog was purely because I woke up this morning and realised that I'd actually had enough of feeling like this. Over the past three, four years, my body's been through an awful lot. I've had two major operations and I thought that what I was experiencing was actually ME because all of the symptoms seem to tie in. Anyway, I managed to get a GP appointment today. I turned up at the surgery and after a good 20 minutes of describing my symptoms and having a really decent conversation with my doctor (and a bit of a cry), she turned around and she said to me, that my symptoms 150% describes the menopause. And even though I've sort of like, saw it coming at some point, you know, I am 50 after all, it was a bit of a shock but also a relief. And basically she recommended that I go on the oestrogen patch and asked me how I felt about that. The first time the doctor has asked me how I would feel about going on some sort of medication, which was quite nice! And I basically said that, as a Holistic Therapist, I'd obviously want to go down a holistic route. So she said that she was going to send me some information and for me to have a read through that information and make up my mind what I wanted to do over the next few days.
So me being me, I came home and had a nap because I was feeling pretty tired after just going to the doctors for half an hour. And then I spent a lot of time looking into my aromatherapy notes on menopause as well as herbal alternatives to the oestrogen. The reason why I was just looking at the oestrogen obviously the fact that the oestrogen patches was what was recommended, because I already have the Mirena coil which secretes progesterone, so I only need the oestrogen side of it and I basically came up with quite a few good alternatives. I have decided to give myself a three month trial on these herbal alternatives during which I hope to check in on a daily basis and record. Just a little bit of how I'm feeling or what I'm doing and just take it from there. And the whole reason behind doing all of this is to not only help myself but to hopefully help other women who are out there that are possibly suffering and don't necessarily realise or know or have the knowledge or the capacity to access help that is not medicinal.
As we know, everything that's medical, it's chemical has side effects as well. And I'm not prepared to put my body through that right now. But on the other hand I'm not going to be a martyr to suffering so hence why I've given myself this three months of a trial period. And at the end of the three months if I don't see an improvement, I will be going back to my GP and asking her for a prescription for the oestrogen patch.
So just wanting to talk you through three little aromatherapy blends that I've made up for myself, I've made two inhalers and one is what I call the relaxation blend because anyone who suffers with menopause knows that you can you're prone to get anxious, you're prone to get heart palpitations, your mind races, you're forgetful, etc, etc, etc. And so I have made two inhalers. The first one has frankincense as a base note. And then it has two middle notes of Geranium and lavender. The lavender being a middle to top and that is purely to have a sniff of as and when I need to. The other one is mainly intended to help with aches and pains. And it has Copaiba as a base note, which as we know is an aromatherapy alternative to CBD almost it's got really really fantastic pain relief properties. And I've combined that with clary sage and peppermint. So clary sage is the middle note and peppermint is a top note. And I've had a whiff of both of them. To be fair, probably about 10 minutes ago when I made them. And it may be purely coincidental, but I do feel better. I have less brain fog, and I'm not as achy as I have been for the rest of the day. I have also made up a blend with two other oils, three other oils in fact, and that is going to be Geranium and basil and clary sage and I'm going to be rubbing that on the soles of my feet before I go to bed. I don't really currently have much in the way of hot flashes at all, but if I did, I would be using peppermint for that and just a little drop of peppermint oil at the very top of your ears is meant to be a really good way to help control those hot flushes. So if and when that happens, I will keep you posted.
From a herbal point of view, I've been doing a lot of research and red clover keeps coming up as does sage and I have found a clean sage and red clover isoflavonoid by British Supplements and I've ordered a three month supply of both of those. So we will see how we get on and hopefully I'll be able to carry on checking in with this blog. Over the course of time keep you updated. Please feel free to give me your comments. Give me your feedback tell me what you're going through. You know, I might be able to help you as well. All right. I'll speak to you soon. Lots of love 💗
#holisticalternativesforsupportingmenopause #oestrogen #progesterone #clarysageessentialoil #menopause #aromatherapysupportformenopause #redcloversupplements #isoflavanoids #herbalhelpformenopause #menopausesymptoms #geraniumessentialoil #stopsufferingwithmenopausesymptoms #holistictherapiesformenopause #peppermintessentialoil #aromatherapyinhalers #aromatherapyblendsformenopause #puttingoffhavingthepatch
Day 2
I had a really rubbish night, although I did actually remember to rub the aromatherapy roller on my feet before I went to bed. The roller has sage, clary sage and peppermint and it's mixed with some fractionated coconut oil. I noticed that as soon as I got into bed, I didn't have any of the normal sort of restlessness symptoms that I normally get when I get into bed so that was good, but because I'd slept a fair bit during the day, I woke up at about half two to go to the toilet, my usual middle of the night marathon and I just couldn't get back to sleep again. I was lying there for ages and decided to come downstairs at about three half three, made myself a chamomile tea, a Whittards Sleepy Tea, whiich I must remember to have before I actually go to bed instead of in the middle of the night. That sort of helped to wind me down again. I put my sleep mask on and listened to a whole hour of binaural beats and was still awake but very relaxed. So I was still resting in bed and then managed to fall asleep probably about half five only to be woken up by my husband's alarm at six so it wasn't very long lasted. I did manage to get back to bed and I woke up this morning feeling a little bit creaky but not as bad as I was. Yesterday when I woke up, as soon as I had my shower, I used my inhalers and I took two Arnica homeopathic pillules, which I took to have yesterday as well and forgot to mention that in the blog. And to be fair, by the time I'd come downstairs, all of that that crankiness, that stiffness, those aches and pains had disappeared, which is good. I feel quite perky, quite productive, have already had a client and it's just gone 10. I've got another two clients lined up for this morning and then I have an easier afternoon. So I will touch base with you. Hopefully either later on today or tomorrow, and speak to you a little bit more
Day 3
So this is sort of like a continuation from day two because there were things that I'd missed out on yesterday's blog. I'm not sure that realistically I'm going to be able to write something every day even though that is my aim, purely because life just gets in the way and I have a million and one other things to do as well. I've woken up relatively early today. I think it was about five. But for once in a very long time, I haven't actually woken up feeling shattered. I did wake up with some slight aches and pains which I will take some Arnica for shortly. But other than that, I think from a physical and mental point of view, I actually feel really good. I've done my inhalers. My supplements haven't arrived. yet. I'm hoping that maybe today or maybe Monday they will get here but I am still taking all of my others which is a dandelion root, Candida complex and turmeric as well as a CoQ10 multivit and Borage, which is meant to be quite helpful for menopause as well.
I was quite productive yesterday in as much as I managed to complete two tasks of my creative writing challenge that I'm currently doing. I'm quite pleased about that. Because yeah, the content that I ended up writing was actually quite nice. It's been a long time since I've done any productive writing per se. So that was quite an achievement and I'm planning on doing part three, after I finish with this blog. My plans for today…… I'm not sure. We have an 80% chance of rain. And even though I feel like getting out and doing something it might not be possible because of the weather. So perhaps I'll check in a little bit later. Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I had what I think were a few hot flushes last night. I was feeling very warm in bed, very itchy and basically had to keep sticking my legs and arms out from under the duvet to cool myself down. Whereas normally I get into bed and I'm really cold, especially my hands and my feet but last night for some reason it wasn't it could be the fact that I did actually have a very sneaky glass of wine. Before bed. I don't usually drink. I very, very rarely drink. But we had a pizza for tea and I just fancied some something else to drink. So, there was something left in the fridge from a few weekends ago that I finished.
Day 4
Good morning. So here we are on day four and I realised I haven't uploaded day two and day three yet so it's all going to be uploaded together. Not long woken up, had a really good sleep last night and as usual, I had rubbed the sage and Clary Sage roller on my feet and I also used my sleep Scentred aromatherapy roller that is really effective at getting me off to sleep. I actually woke up feeling a little bit achy, but not too much, just had my supplements. The red clover and the sage that I've ordered still haven't arrived. It’s Sunday today, you know, Royal Mail, all of that jazz. Hopefully I will get them this week and can start reporting back any additional improvements that I notice as a result of taking them.
I would say that I'm using my inhalers maybe three to four times a day and just doing the roller before going to bed and taking the Arnica maybe two or three times a day. I say Arnica but it is fact and Arnica, Rhus Tox and Rhut Grav blend that seems to be helping with easing the aches and pains, which means that I don't have to reach for the Nurofen which is what I have had to do on really bad days in the past. I'm feeling in my mind, really positive that I'm actively seeking to help myself. Whereas with previously not exactly knowing what it was and thinking that it was some sort of, you know, really bad illness. I was sort of like, in a sense of, I don't know, almost felt a little bit depressed about not knowing what was going on with me but at the same time just feeling it and experiencing it. So actually having that confirmation from the GP has spurred me in the right direction and given me the go ahead and the push forwards that I need, to access all of these wonderful tools that I use with my clients as Holistic Therapist and Kinesiologist.
One thing that I wanted to mention that I'm not sure I mentioned it before, actually, is that I've done two online free challenges recently. You know how it is, you come across all these free challenge for this and free whatever for that on SM. But I usually just sort of dismiss them and scroll on past. But the Insight Timer apps that I use for my meditation had a 10 day mantra challenge and I love mantra and I thought oh, this would be a really nice incentive to get back into doing something that I really loved. Because I always used to look forward to the end part of sadhana where we'd spent like an hour and a half just chanting mantras and it was like a celebration of successfully enduring the practice and feeling so alive and so vibrant that whenever I chant a mantra, I feel like that. And I just wanted to say that the end of the 10 days, I feel like something has shifted for the better in me. That feeling when you finally breath fresh air after days of being cooped up.
That inspired me to sign up for a five day creative writing course and I've absolutely loved and I feel like it has brought back to me something that I had lost. For a long time as a teenager I was a prolific writer and you know, in my teens and twenties, I would write and write and write poems, stories, all the time writing, and that stopped. And I mean stopped. I think when I realised that I was in the wrong marriage, I was married to the wrong person at a very young age, it hit me bad. That’s how the writing stopped and I never really got back into it. And there have been times during my life where I've really wished that I had that skill again, and deep down part of me knowing that actually I haven't lost it, it is there. It just needs to be rekindled somehow. And I really feel that these five days that I've done have really reignited that passion that I've had for writing and I'm even thinking of just sharing some of the work that I've done because to be honest, I'm quite impressed with myself even. You might not feel the same way. But you know, We're all entitled to our opinion on that one. Here goes one piece…..
Don't go off somewhere else.
When your travelling mind entices you to explore
Exciting new lands, scenes and spaces.
When your yearning body begs you
To move to stretch or shift
O even just to satisfy an itch.
When your breath decides to race
As though it is being chased and hunted
By the Enemy Unknown.
When your heart beats so fast,
You think it may just jump out from within your chest,
Where it has been held hostage, captive.
When the tears refuse to flow bottled up inside welling,
Your eyes brimming, bursting
To shed these little drops of emotion but fail.
When your achy feet refuse
To take another step in the direction
That hasn't been conducive to a better version of you.
Don't go off somewhere else.
Instead, ground yourself to Mother Earth.
Feel the soil between your toes.
The air against your skin.
Feel the weight of your body
Noticing the shifts as you breathe deeply.
Flooding yourself with lifeforce
Stand in your honest truth
As your adversaries bounce off your aura.
Your aura so vibrant, so precious, so protective,
Your extension a part of you, of who you are.
Nobody can do this for you.
YOU are you. YOU are strong.
I also decided to make myself my own body scrub using himalayan sea salt, organic oats and essential oils. The smell of this one is divine....and the perfect for my morning shower!
If you have enjoyed reading my early days' experience, feel free to head over to Facebook and ask to join my group called A Holistic Menopause Mission. See you on the other side!