Calm Hormonal Havoc

May 18, 2016
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

Natural remedies you need to try.

Haywire hormones can cause even the most cool, calm, and collected woman to feel like she’s going crazy. If you feel trapped in the throes of perimenopause, menopause or beyond, read on for remedies that will take the edge off and restore hormone harmony.

Do keep in mind that while these solutions have been proven remarkably effective for many, they are not a one size fits all. So—if one of the remedies isn’t right for you, I encourage you to try another until you find the perfect fit for your body.

Here are ten fixes for a variety of female concerns.

All-Purpose Healing

If you’re feeling “off,” but you can’t quite put your finger on the cause, try this all-purpose essential oil remedy, which is designed to be anti-inflammatory and calming from your cells to your soul.

Begin by massaging marjoram, jasmine, or rose essential oil with a carrier oil (like coconut) over your abdomen. You can also breathe in the oils by a diffuser or simply drop a few drops of oil on a lightbulb. Other great choices include sandalwood, geranium, or ylang ylang.

Strong Bones

It turns out that prunes are not just for constipation. These boron-rich gems are great to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis. My friend Dr. Janet Zand recently reported an extraordinary testimonial that will be of interest to women of every age and stage of life. Here’s what one of her fans told her:

“I am now 82 and have had four bone density tests, which have told me I have the bones of a 30-year-old. I’m told this is very unusual. One clinician told me that at the normal rate of bone loss, I will be 110 before I have osteopenia. Now I know why. For 35 years, I had a house with a plum tree and made prunes. I have continued daily use of four prunes for 50 years, thinking I was doing it for constipation. What a wonderful side effect to get these solid bones!”

Breast Tenderness

Black currant seed oil is marvelous for soothing breast tenderness and highly effective—showing results for three out of four women. Other herbal options are chasteberry decoction or tincture, fennel seed and sage tea, or marshmallow.

Also, cut the caffeine in coffee and tea if breast cysts are an issue.

Cramps

Try the cell salt magnesium phosphate (6x), putting four pellets under your tongue every fifteen minutes until the cramping stops. This was a secret remedy my teacher Dr. Hazel Parcells shared over three decades ago and it still works today.

Cravings

If you’re daydreaming about sweets and can’t seem to stop, you may be experiencing an overgrowth of Candida in your body. The homeopathic ingredients in Y-C Cleanse work to neutralize Candida, as well as the putrefactive substances skatolum and indolum so you can get back to enjoying the healthy foods your body needs.

Headaches

Evening primrose oil is an effective remedy for headaches (and hangovers, too). If you notice that your headaches seem to be closely connected to your menstrual cycle, a progesterone creme may be the perfect solution for you. You can also try the herb dandelion, which is a liver detoxifier and often reduces the severity of headaches.

Sleep

There are few things worse than lying in bed unable to sleep, counting down how many hours you have left to try to get some shut eye. Try eating at least 1/8 to a ¼ cup of walnuts before bed. They are a high source of tryptophan, which is the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin that will help you calmly drift off to sleep and stay asleep.

Hot Flashes

Iodine is my favorite secret remedy for cooling the fire of a hot flash. Iosol or Iodoral are great for this purpose. You can also boost your iodine intake dietarily by adding kelp granules or gomasio to your meals.

In addition, the four best herbal remedies for hot flashes are dong quai (Chinese angelica), licorice root, chasteberry (Vitex), and black cohosh.

Heavy Periods

To stop an unmanageably heavy cycle, clean up your diet by eliminating caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and spicy foods of all kinds. The following herbal remedies are also helpful:

• Lady’s mantle tea or tincture
• Lady’s mantle with an equal part shepherd’s purse or yarrow
• Cinnamon tea
• Homeopathic chamomilla or Actaea racemosa

A daily dose of Progesta-Key, an all-natural progesterone creme, is also helpful.

Roller Coaster Emotions

Essential oils to the rescue here, especially. Wild orange essential oil will ease anxiety and energize. Cedarwood promotes a sense of belonging and grounding. Bergamot helps to increase confidence.

Vitamin C, pantothenic acid, and licorice root can serve as mood stabilizers by supporting cortisol.

It’s also helpful to add protein and the right fats (think coconut oil, hempseed oil, flaxseed oil, and/or fish oil) to your diet, as well as a good supplement to support adrenal function. Adrenal Formula is sourced from the highest-grade raw bovine whole adrenal gland, bovine adrenal cortex, and tissue glandulars from the spleen and liver. You can rest assured that these ingredients are taken only from hormone-, pesticide- and disease-free New Zealand herds.

These natural healing miracles should help to restore your sanity and sense of well-being so you can be your best self, ever.

Related Articles and Podcasts

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

23 Comments

  1. S keller

    What would you suggest for low libido? Post menopause?

    Thanks.

    S

    Reply
    • Team Ann Louise

      Some women I’ve talked to said that ProgestaKey has given their low libido a big boost. Pregnenlone can also be helpful in this regard.

      Reply
    • Peach

      Hope its okay for me to respond.I use Maca and Cordyceps they help libido.

      Reply
  2. Sheila

    I bought IOSOL at the health food store and immediately the owner said ” take 3 drops in water everyday, everyone is deficient in iodine! I am fatigued, have hair shedding for about 4 years now (it does grow back)but it won’t stop. I’m 54 no more periods as of last year .Use progesterone and a little dab of DHEA or sometimes estriol. Can’t sleep feel anxiety before laying down and my heart palpitates sometimes. Horrible hot flashes at night not bad night sweats anymore, but they wake me up.I am afraid of taking the iodine! I did put on my skin and it disappeared in less then 10 minutes. Don’t know if that’s the correct way, but again ingesting it scares me. There’s so much info out there about to much iodine. Can you help clear this up? I am desperate. Thank you:)

    Reply
    • Team Ann Louise

      Taking iodine orally is the best way to assure that you are supplementing with it. Ann Louise has suggested some food sources listed above with very low amounts of iodine that would be a good place to start. Supplements like Iosol and Idoral can be very helpful when you are iodine deficient. Just start slowly.

      Reply
      • Sheila

        Thank you!

        Reply
  3. Lori

    Hi Annlousie, I’m in perimenopause and I’m experience terrible acne. It this from gut issues and hormonal inbalance? My stomach is beloated most of the time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Acne can be caused both by yeast overgrowth and hormone imbalance. Taking Y-C Cleanse will help with the yeast and the bloating. You also could try ProgestaKey because if you have high estrogen or an out of balance with progesterone acne may result.

      Reply
  4. Debbie

    Is it necessary to purchase organic or FDA approved essential oils, or are most 100% pure oils reliable?

    Reply
  5. Team ALG

    We would always suggest organic oils when possible 🙂

    Reply
  6. Karen G

    I have bad hot flashes at night. I suffer from IBS and try following the FODMAP diet and take Metamucil twice a day, which is supposed to help-it is counterintuitive but supposed to help. It does seem to be helpful. I would like to try the ProgestaKey but have been told not to take hormones because I had a pulmonary embolism. I have panic attacks. I also get atrial fibrilation every couple of weeks. I take carvedilol and xarelto for it and supplement with magnesium. I was also caretaker 4 years for my husband who just passed away. Sorry so much. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  7. Karen G

    I suffer from IBS and try following the FODMAP diet and take Metamucil twice a day. It does seem to be helpful. I get hot flashes at night which interfer with sleep. I would like to try the ProgestaKey but have been told not to take hormones because I had a pulmonary embolism. I have panic attacks. I also get atrial fibrilation every couple of weeks and take carvedilol, xarelto, and supplement with magnesium. I was also caretaker 4 years for my husband who just passed away. Sorry so much. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  8. Team ALG

    Karen G: Hopefully you are taking enough magnesium which should help your anxiety and atrial fib. Many of our community members take 400-1000 mg of Mag-Key which seems to help anxiety issues tremendously. We believe the issue with any pulmonary concerns relates to estrogen replacement not progesterone. You might wish to clarify that point with your healthcare practitioner or call UNI KEY and simply request a progesterone hormone assay to see for yourself what your levels are. Progesta Key has been a miracle worker for many so you may need to actually test yourself to find out whether you are deficient.

    Reply
  9. Lori

    Hi Annlouise, I have one more question. I just found out I have an issue with my sulfate being too high. Would It be a problem for me to take the Y2 cleanse?

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Taking Y-C Cleanse would not be a problem.

      Reply
  10. Brandi

    Hi! i’m 39 and 8 months post complete hysterectomy with both ovaries removed. My dr put me on an estrodial patch 2x week…. and I’m on Effexor 75 mg a day. I’ve put on 20 lbs and still feel cra cra, super swollen and beyond fatigued! lol ive had every blood test done and ev erything is normal so they say its the estrodial. I’d like to stop using both! But wanted to know where I should start. I have a fat flush kit and the protein shake ready also. ANy help would be greatly appreciated. I’m at a loss!!!!

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Brandi you could benefit from doing the Smoothie Shakedown to help detoxify and get rid of the extra pounds. You could take a Salivary Hormone Test to see where your levels are. The estradiol patch may be making you estrogen dominant which can bring many uncomfortable symptoms.

      Reply
  11. Peach

    What do you do for pain with intercourse due to thinning of vaginal walls in menopause.I was taking Bio identical HRT which worked but now my dr wants me off of it because I have an ovarian cysts and thickening lining.The pain is not due lack of lubrication.Taken care of that.Is their a natural vaginal Estrogen you would recommend over the counter or prescription?My Gyn dr is not a functional medicine dr so she only knows medications ,not one in my area.

    Reply
    • Peach

      Or anything else you could recommend besides vaginal estrogen for this.I use coconut oil already for lubrication.

      Reply
      • Team ALG

        Peach you may wish to do a Salivary Hormone Test to see what your hormone levels are. Ann Louise will give you a letter of recommendations along with your results and can address your concerns at that time. Here’s the link to read more about the test:

        https://www.unikeyhealth.com/salivary-hormone-test

        Reply
  12. Barbara Adams

    Just had a hysterectomy with removal of ovaries also. Should I wait for symptoms or start using a progesterone cream to prevent symptoms?

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Many doctors recommend starting progesterone immediately. You can prevent symptoms this way. I’d start with half a pump once a day and see how you feel.

      Reply
  13. Moe

    hello! I would grealy appreciate your advice. I am 48 years old and have been experiencing heavy bleeding on and off since February. Heavy bleeing for weeks at a time, large clots. I have been to my midwife and gyn. We did tests for polyops, fibroids which were negative. Been trying to balance hormones thru diet, essential oils, herbs. I have been doing accupunture as well since May. i had good results at first but recently been experiencing another heavy bleeding episode. I am anemic, been addressing that with foods and vitamins. Feel very fatigued but no other menopousal sympoms. I tried the Lady’s mantle and Sheppards Purse tictures but didnt seem to help. How long should I use those tinctures for? Anything else I can try? Thank you! Just saw you on Know the Cause this AM. Have your book Flat Flush from years ago. Thank you for your work.

    Reply

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