Cost-Effective Solutions for Managing Common Menopause Symptoms

By definition, menopause occurs twelve months after a woman’s last menstrual cycle, marking the end of her child-bearing years. The entire menopausal transition, however, lasts an average of 7 to ten years. During this time, the production of hormones decreases, resulting in many uncomfortable symptoms that may continue for years.

The experience of menopause can vary greatly. Some women may only have mild discomfort, while others have more problematic and long-term symptoms.

The only treatments for menopause are those that seek to reduce its symptoms. Doctors may use hormone replacement therapy to achieve this.

But before starting any medications such as those used in hormone replacement therapy, try making a few lifestyle changes to manage your symptoms. Doctors recommend making changes like these for at least three months before committing to hormone replacement, which has risks of its own.

Fortunately, there are many safe and affordable menopause symptom relief options. Here are four of the most common symptoms of menopause and some tactics to combat them.

Hot Flashes

Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause. Caused by a hormonal imbalance, they can make you distressingly hot for no apparent reason. They cause flushing of the face, sweating, a rapid heartbeat, and chills. If hot flashes happen in the middle of the night, they are called night sweats. Night sweats interrupt your sleeping pattern, which will add to daytime stress and fatigue.

Although hot flashes are an uncomfortable disruption, you can minimize their impact if you:

  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Carry a portable fan and water mister spray bottle.
  • Avoid alcohol, spicy foods, and caffeine.
  • Dress in layers so you’ll have more control over your body temperature.
  • Keep your bedding layered so you can easily remove blankets when hot flashes strike.
  • Use bamboo bed linens and pajamas.
  • Keep yourself hydrated.
  • Try natural supplements such as Black Cohosh, Red Clover, Soy, or Vitamin E.

Sleep Problems

It isn’t only night sweats that keep women from sleeping well. The production of progesterone, a calming hormone that induces sleep, declines drastically during menopause. Here are some strategies to help you get the sleep you need:

  • Follow a sleep schedule by waking up and going to sleep at the same time each day.
  • Establish a bedtime routine. Read a book, listen to calming music, meditate or soak in a bath.
  • Turn off your television, computer, and phone because blue light waves suppress melatonin production.
  • Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
  • Avoid caffeine for six hours before bedtime.
  • Don’t nap in the late afternoon or evening. Even a short power nap can disrupt your sleep schedule.
  • Try using melatonin supplements.

Weight Gain

Many women unexpectedly gain weight during and after menopause because metabolism slows. You will need to eat less and exercise more to maintain your current weight. A common reaction is to go on an overly restrictive diet plan that will ultimately fail. A better approach is to gradually introduce a diet filled with an abundance of healthy foods.

Foods to include:

  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Calcium-rich foods such as milk and low-fat yogurt
  • Lean meat, poultry, fish, and eggs
  • Nuts and beans
  • Whole-grain bread, cereal, and pasta

Mood Instability

Some chemicals made by the body, such as dopamine and serotonin, help to regulate mood. Unfortunately, the production of these chemicals slows down when estrogen levels decline, leading to anxiety and depression.

Getting restful sleep and eating a healthy diet will help regulate mood swings, and relaxation techniques will also help. Here are a few to try:

  • Meditation
  • Guided Imagery
  • Deep breathing exercises
  • Aromatherapy using essential oils such as lavender or chamomile
  • Yoga
  • Progressive muscle relaxation
  • Tai chi
  • Massage

Lifestyle Changes That Can Save You Big Money

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the coronavirus pandemic caused an undue amount of harm to the nation’s economy. Many businesses lost millions of dollars as operations were shut down or altered. States jumped in to provide financial assistance to residents in need, leaving their resources all but tapped out. As a result, hard-hit industries have no choice but to raise prices to recover some of the damage.

You’re already hanging on by a thread. Now, you’re expected to sustain a decent life with higher prices and a limited budget. Though there’s nothing you can do about inflation or the economy, you can make things easier to afford. By identifying and correcting poor lifestyle habits, you can reduce financial waste and add to your budget. Continue reading for suggestions.

Go Green

Eco-friendliness is vital to the environment. It’s also a beneficial practice for your health and budget. You’d think that with so many advantages that there would be more people living more green lifestyles. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, as most people are stuck in their ways. They consume more natural resources than they need and generate a lot of waste despite the adverse effects.

If you want to see more money in your budget, switching to green or eco-friendly practices can make a difference. Simple energy and water reduction methods like turning off lights when they’re not used or taking shorter showers can lower your utility bills. Starting a garden reduces your grocery bills and ensures that you’re eating the freshest ingredients possible for an improved quality of life.

The list of waste reduction tips is extensive. So, evaluate your daily habits and assess which methods work best for your lifestyle and budget.

Take Care Of Your Health

Most people are aware of the benefits of diet, exercise, and other healthy habits are to their well-being. However, not everyone understands its significance to your finances. When you don’t invest in your physical and emotional health, it increases your risk of serious medical problems. These problems ultimately lead to you paying more for health insurance, co-pays, treatments, and prescriptions.

If taking charge of your health to sustain a better quality of life isn’t enough to convince you to change your ways, perhaps the prospect of saving hundreds of dollars each year can. Incorporate healthier eating and regular physical activity into your schedule.

You should also ensure that you maintain medical appointments for preventative care and treatment. Whether it’s getting a physical and lab work from your primary care physician or cleanings and x-rays with a dentist Lake Zurich (or wherever you live), these appointments help keep your physical and mental health intact. The same is true for people with existing medical conditions. Keeping your appointments and following the expert’s advice makes your condition more manageable and, therefore, more affordable.

Live Below Your Means

Though low salaries and high cost of living make it challenging to save money and manage your finances, habits like overspending also come into play. Society has led many people to believe that it is better to go broke on things you essentially don’t need, despite the consequences. So, consumers dig themselves into significant debt, buying everything from the latest technology to elaborate homes and cars they can’t afford. Although it feels good in the moment, when the debt catches up to you, it’s another story.

If you want to find more savings in your budget every month, you have to get serious about living below your means. While it may seem like a restrictive and unpleasant lifestyle at first, you’ll come to learn it’s an enhancement. You’ll reduce a lot of financial waste, have more money for the things you need, and ultimately learn ways to do something you enjoy without breaking the bank.

Restoring the economy after the pandemic is going to be an uphill battle for everyone. The best way to deal with this reality is to start making lifestyle changes like those listed above. By simply going green, taking better care of your health, and living below your means, you can increase the amount of money you have to put towards living a less stressful and happy life.

How to Live Like a Celebrity Without the Baggage

Have you ever wanted to know what it was like to live like your favorite celebrities? If you have, there is no need to be ashamed. After all, it is only natural. We see them on big screens that make them look larger than life. If you have ever met a celebrity in person, you have no doubt experienced the involuntary thrill of quick, shallow breaths and a suddenly racing heartbeat that indicates intense excitement. The feeling is a little like falling in love for the very first time.

Celebrities are a lot like royalty. Everything about them is outsized. Their lives are under a microscope all the time. They are only as good as their last performance. And while the praise is over the top, so is the criticism. Few things can withstand that amount of scrutiny. Their relationships are more strained because of it. There is little wonder so many of them are fleeting.

The good news is that you can enjoy some piece of the celebrity experience without having to have the celebrity paycheck or carry the celebrity baggage. It is just a matter of focusing on a few things that make a big difference. Here are three:

Celebrity Health

Don’t allow yourself to get overly impressed with celebrity health. It seems to mostly focus on that which can only be described as skin deep. There is no evidence they live any longer than you do. And do to unchecked vices, they might live a bit less on the whole.

That said, there are a few health tricks they use that are available to everyone. Among the most effective are custom vitamins. You can get the same personalized vitamins and supplements as they use delivered to your door on a monthly basis at a surprisingly affordable price. With that kind of service and convenience, you will feel like a celebrity from the first delivery.

You can surpass celebrity health by doing a better job of watching what you eat. People with unlimited budgets can literally eat anything they want at any time of the day or night. They don’t have to prepare it themselves or even pick it up. They need only tell someone to bring it to them and it is done. You can do better by preparing your own healthy meals and utilizing healthy meal kit services. You can have the best part of celebrity health without the medical interventions.

Celebrity Home Decor

You don’t have to buy a fully furnished and highly designed McMansion to enjoy celebrity decor. Professional designers and decorators love budget tricks and use them all the time. Good decor is in the eye of the beholder. And you can reproduce a lot of what you see in Better Homes for a lot less than you think.

Home decor is not just a useless indulgence for the already over indulged. Your home is your biggest investment. You will spend the lion’s share of your life behind those walls. For your own sanity, it is important that you enjoy the time you spend inside. During the pandemic, The home has had to serve as castle, office, school, daycare, and church. There is a good chance that some of those functions will remain after the immediate danger has passed. Take this time to add some celebrity decor to your home without the baggage of a 36 car garage.

Celebrity Tech

The thing about Coke is that it is the same drink for the CEO as it is for the person on the street. The same is mostly true for technology as well. You can trick out your newly decorated home with the latest home automation hardware for a fraction of what it cost just 10 years ago. You can have connected cameras and locks and doorbells and alarms that you can install yourself without the need of an electrical engineering license.

Celebrities use the same iPhones that you can get for just a few dollars a month. The computers they use to produce TV shows and movies are the same computers you can purchase from your local Best Buy.

It is easy to imagine how different a celebrity’s life must be from yours. But it is not as different as you might think. For a lot less than you thought possible, you can enjoy celebrity health, celebrity decor, and celebrity tech without any of the downsides that come with actually being a celebrity.