EP14: Homeopathy for Menopausal Hot Flushes

Welcome to the Homeopathy at Home podcast. I'm Marcus Fernandez and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey into the world of homeopathy. This podcast is inspired by my book, Homeopathy at Home, which aims to empower you to take charge of your health using simple, effective homeopathic remedies. Together we're going to explore how homeopathy can be the key to unlocking your body's innate healing wisdom. Whether you're dealing with everyday ailments such as coughs, colds, strains and sprains, sore throats, or just seeking to enhance your health and wellbeing, this podcast is your guide. So let's dive in and discover the transformative power of homeopathy in your everyday life. Welcome to another homeopathic session and today we're going to be talking about hot flushes in the menopause. Eight homeopathic remedies that you can use. So hot flushes, hot flashes, it means the same thing and we're talking about it in respect to the menopause. So most women will experience hot flushes when going through the menopause and it can start at the perimenopause. So before the menopause stop, which can be a few years before the menopause. I think it's one area that's not really discussed very much around perimenopause and the symptoms leading up to it. So it can lead all the way up until you stop having periods. And then these top flushes can last even, you know, years afterwards. And they can come on very suddenly, spread all over the body. A lot of perspiration, a lot of sweating, a lot of heat, and can come the daytime, nighttime, the morning, any times of the day. And they can be mild. Some women, they can be very mild, but other people are very severe, very severe and can really, really affect their lives and can affect especially sleep and the people can't sleep properly and that has a, obviously a knock on effect to the rest of the life. So this can be a really sort of troublesome thing to have whilst you're going through the menopause. And it's thought that it can be caused by the change. Well, it is the changes in your hormones which affects your body's ability to regulate temperature control. And again, it's part of the transition of menopause and it's part of the process. It's like with puberty, there's a transition and menopause is also a transition as well. So when you're prescribing homeopathically, I would say use a 6C or the 30C of the homeopathic remedy. And I'll say to all of you, go back and watch that video I did a couple of weeks ago on the top tips of prescribing, how to prescribe, how to take an acute case, how to prescribe around potency. And I go through the principles of homeopathy. Again, it's really good. Just get that reminder. But I would suggest use a 6C or 30C because these are the potencies you can get in the health food store, over the counter and during the hot flush. If you have one, take one dose every 15 minutes or even more frequently, you know, if it helps and it wears off intervals, at least, you know, three or four doses or until the symptoms improve. So if the symptoms improve after taking the first dose, then you can stop the remedy. You don't need to take it. But we're looking for keynotes. Remember, I talk about a lot about keynotes. So when we go through these remedies, these eight remedies I'm going to go through, are you looking for keynotes of that remedy that fit your case or the person you want to prescribe for? Okay. And we look for the three legged stool. So you need three legs of the stool for the stool to be stable. So I would say look for three major keynotes of the remedy which fit. And this is really important. So you can give the acute remedy here for the hot flushes, but often you need the constitutional remedy underneath. So I would say all means try these remedies and it may really help and deal with the hot flushes as you go through them. But sometimes I would say you probably need to go and see a qualified practitioner just to treat you constitutionally. So often you can need the constitutional remedy as well. So. And again, if symptoms persist, you've tried these different acute remedies, then I'd say go and seek a qualified homeopathic practitioner because there may be things that needs to be addressed which is not easily addressed just through acute prescribing. Sometimes you need more of a chronic remedy. So. So I hope that was a good little review there of how to prescribe. Again, keep it simple. Don't go into analysis. Paralysis. Keep it simple. Try a remedy. If it works, you'll know it works. Doesn't take a long time to work. There's a bit of a myth in homeopathy. It takes a long time to. Homeopathy. No, it can be instantaneous like that. You will feel the effect of the remedy. So I was. And if it doesn't work, then try another remedy. But at least you're down from 3,000 odd remedies down to eight remedies you could possibly choose from. Okay, so these remedies I'm going to go through now aren't all the remedies that you could possibly use for hot flushes. I'm just going to bring it down to the, that you sort of really need to know about. Some of them you would have heard of, some they might not have heard of. But again you can, if you can't get them over the counter health food store, you'd be able to get it from one of the homeopathic pharmacies wherever you are, wherever you are in the world. Okay, so let's look at this first remedy here. We're going a, we're going to alphabetical. It's not order of importance, purely alphabetical. Okay, so imelium nitrate, this remedy is flushing of the face, heat and throbbing pulsations all over the body. So they get hot flashes, fluid, followed by hot drenching sweats and then they get cold and clammy skin. Now what you find is that's more of the upper part of the body, say from the stomach upwards where they'll get this heat and this sweating and perspiration. But the lower part of the body can be cold. In fact it can be icy cold. It's like all the blood is suddenly gone from half the body to the top. And with these hot flushes and the flushes of the face and the heat and the throbbing sensations also they get anxiety and the anxiety is as though something bad's going to happen. They feel something is bad's going to happen. And it's like they have to get air, they have to get fresh air. They have to be maybe open a window, get fresh air when they're having the flush. But the anxiety is one of the keynotes here. With this remedy they can get left sided headaches with throbbing and bursting sensation in the head and in the ears. They can feel this throbbing in the ears and in the head, pulsating, but often on their left side. And this surging, the surging of blood to the head and to the face. And the face can be red, scarlet, fiery red. And what they do get again another keynote with this is violent beating of the heart. Really feel the heart going boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And also the carotid arteries here you can actually they can feel it like beating here. The Sensation. Now, they're better for cold water, better for open air, also better for exercise. If they exercise, they feel better for. They're worse heat, worse in clothes or stuffy warm rooms, and worse for emotions. So if they get very emotional or the anxiety goes up, then often this can bring on a hot flush as well. And one of the keynotes for this remedy, what we call a strange, rare, peculiar symptom, is they have a constant desire to stretch. They need to stretch. It's like they can't stretch enough. They feel better for stretching. So you may find they become obsessed with, I don't know, yoga or anything where they're stretching, but they feel better for stretching. They need to stretch. They can't get enough of a stretch. It just makes them feel so much better. So a really, really good remedy to know about. Next remedy, belladonna, which I'm sure all of you have heard. So, again, with belladonna, unlike a lot of these remedies, you're going to see this hot flush, but it's a sudden. The thing with belladonna, things come very quickly, whether it's a fever, whether this comes very quickly. So this sudden hot flush, again with a bright red flush face. But you'll see they have, like, shiny eyes. The pupils died late. And if, you know, in Victorian times, they used to put belladonna in the eyes. The woman used to put them in the eyes so the pupils would dilate and it was seen as being as though the eyes were sparkling or seemed to be something to be more attractive. Congestive headaches. With belladonna, it feels like all the blood just suddenly pulls or surges in a particular area. So congestive headaches, but this time worse on the right side with a red face. Now, remember the other remedy, it was left side. This is right side, dry, hot skin. And belladonna, they can be so hot, it radiates. You can feel next to the person, it's like they radiate this heat and you have throbbing and burning sensations throughout the whole body. Again, keynotes for belladonna, throbbing and burning, but they perspire or sweat on covered parts anywhere they're covered up, so with clothes, and only dry in the head, but they'll perspire with the uncovered parts of the body. And the thing with belladonna, and I've seen this particularly in fevers, but people will describe this to you, that the heat, it's like you can see steam rising from the person. So say they take the top off or the coat, whatever they've got on and they're having a hot flush. You'll see like steam coming off the body, they're that hot. So the flushes can come and go just as quickly. So the flesh can come and then it can go just as quick. And that's, that's a belladonna. But another keynote for belladonna is they desire lemonade or lemons, hence the picture of lemons. They desire lemons, they'll want lemons or lemonade. You know, squeeze a lemon into some cold water to drink it. They feel better for that. They can be worse around 3pm in the afternoon, late afternoon. It can also be worse around 11pm as well. But the afternoons can be quite an aggravation time for belladonna and especially with these hot flushes. Next remedy, simisofuga, or known as black cohosh. You'll know this and I know this is used in herbal form often for people with hot flushes, women with hot flushes, but sometimes they, in a herbal form, it can interfere with medications they may be on. So we always go for the homeopathic. Now with simisifuga. One of the big keynotes mentally is they feel very gloomy, very negative. They feel everything is wrong in their life, as if there's a big black cloud over everything. So this can be a depression or these feelings that come on around menopause or perimenopause or menopause. And they have many pain, simia, sifuge. They have aching pain, shooting pain, soreness, the joints, particularly the big joints, the muscles, the nerve, everything. There are pains all over again since maybe the menopause. And they also have left the ovarian pain. Simisa figure on. The keynotes also have pains that go from hip to hip as well. But also they have a particular affinity simulifigure with the nape of the neck and the back, stiffness and contraction in the neck or the back. And they have this general feeling of being bruised all over, all over. The body just feels sore, the muscles feel sore. And this is one of the main remedies for arthritis since the menopause, again, as I mentioned, affecting the large joints. And they can have the hot flushes as well at the night, in the morning. But actually they're generally very quite chilly. So if you see somebody who's been chilly ever since the onset of menopause, gone very chilly. Better for open air, better for warm wraps, worse for drafts, worse for alcohol, wine particularly worse for. So this can bring on the flushing as well. This can aggravate the mental symptoms, worse change of the weather. So anything where the weather's changing, it can set them off as well. But I think some of those keynotes as I talked about, especially their mental and emotional and also the achiness and pains as well as the hot flushes, then you're going to think of Simisifuga next remedy, goninum. So this is where they have flushes of heat in the face, ascending from the pit of the stomach to the head. And with these hot flashes, there's pulsation along with the heat, and again, severe palpitations. But they describe this wave sensation, like a wave coming up into their head and they get a headache, but it can keep coming in waves. Again, the face can be flushed, alternating being pale. So after the hot flush is gone, the face can go very pale. It's like all of a sudden the blood's just drained from the face and they have perspiration or they sweat on the forehead or on the chest. So again, you can see these rems have different characteristics and this is what we're looking for. So they have a throbbing and bursting headache. Again, if the blood is surging back and forth into the head, they can have a pounding pain in their head. With a head feels very, very heady. But they're worse if they lie on a pillow, they can't lie down, they have to have the head elevated or elevated, say they're in bed, but throbbing of the temples, worse for motion, worse for walking. So again, you've got this remedy with hot flushes, hot flashes, but big keynote here. You're going to see they've also got these headaches, these throbbing and bursting headaches. They can be very averse to the husband, the partner or the children. And also they dwell on past events, recall old grievances, things that have happened to them. So again, there's another remedy that's like this, we'll talk about later, but has an aversion to loved ones, virgin to partners, and very irritable. But as I said, better if they elevate the headaches, better if they elevate it, because like I said, the worst if they lie down, better for cold applications, worse for heat, worse for movement, worse for hot weather. So all this can bring on and aggravate the hot flushes and hot flashes. So again, think of this, think of the throbbing, think of the headaches, think of the mental symptoms as well. But think of this wave that comes up next, remedy lachesis, one of the main remedies here for menopause and flashes again, rush of blood to the head again, which is common with these flushes and flashes, flushes of heat, but with cold feet. So again all the blood surges like upwards and ascends and this ascending heat that goes up. But one of the keynotes for Lachesis, if they can have a sensation of a lump in the throat or constriction around the throat. So constriction, think of the snake and the constriction around the throat. Or they feel like they've got a lump in the throat, they can have a feel of pressure or burning on the top of the head. So again we looked all these remedies, we looked the temples, the left, right, this is burning on top of the head, the vertex on the vertex and throbbing. Now I put in brackets there, high blood pressure. Because lachesis is also a great remedy of high blood pressure, especially again around menopause, but again with their headache. It can be bursting, it can be pulsating, but this better for pressure, they feel better for pressure. So even though they feel pressure on the head and it's burning, they feel better for pressure, pressure for holding. Their head cannot bear anything tight or constricting around them. They need loose clothes, nothing around the neck. The neck is a particular thing. They don't. But even around their abdomen, they don't want anything tight. They want things to be loose. They can't stand the constriction. Again, look at the, what we call the doctrine of signatures. And the remedy comes from the snake venom of the lacusar's bushmaster snake. They can be mentally, emotionally, they can be very jealous, suspicious, you know, they get a bit paranoid and they'll have these emotional outbursts. So they also can be very loquacious, talking all the time, it's like going to this very, very talkative, loquacious state. Very jealous, very suspicious, even suspicious of taking the remedy. But what are you giving me? Not going to poison me, is it? And they can be very suspicious. But also these outbursts, these emotional outbursts that they can have and they can say, I don't know what's wrong with me. So again, you're looking at these keynotes of these remedies and trying to differentiate between these and the other remedies, as I said about. They also have palpitations like a lot of these remedies do, because lachesis is a, is a whole, so heart remedy, but it has palpitations. Worse for lying on the left side. This is a left sided remedy. Worse for lying on the left side. Worse from a warm room. So we said worse from heat, worse from constriction of clothes, Worse for the sun, worse from alcohol. This can really aggravate them, but it can aggravate the hot flushes as well, aggravate their mental and emotional state. Same as the heat of the sun. Again, think of the snake, you know, his son. And worse on waking, so they can wake up often can wake up with a flush, wake up with a headache. They feel work that often can be aggravated by waking. Better cold drinks, better open air, better for discharges. So better when they perspire, better when they sweat. And often this is the remedy. It's never been well since menopause. This has never been well since. I feel like I've changed into. I just don't recognize myself. Next remedy, sepia. So with sepia, with the hot flushes or hot flashes again, the heat ascends as if hot water poured over her. People will say that it feels like somebody's poured hot water all over me. But actually they're very chilly as well, Generally quite chilly. Lack warmth and they'll be chilly even in a warm room. And they can have an anxiety with the hot flushes. Again, profuse sweat. Then they suddenly feel exhausted afterwards, so they have the hot flush. They'll perspire, they'll sweat. Then they suddenly feel weak afterwards. And they can awake with these hot flashes, particularly at night, that awaken them up. And they have to get up sometimes, have to open the window. They need some fresh air. They just need to get some air. But they're incredibly irritable, Very, very irritable, very sensitive, worn out, exhausted. And often they'll describe themselves as feeling emotionally numb. They feel shut down emotionally, just like they just don't have it, just got nothing to give. They feel numb. So they desire to be by themselves, be alone, and have an aversion to loved ones, as we said previously, like an aversion, their partners, their children, worse from cold air, worse morning and evening, worse for standing this don't have the energy to stand. But they're better for pressure, okay, so they feel better for pressure, better for warmth of the bed, even though they'll wake up sweaty. But when they first get in, they're going to be cold. They may put lots of clothes on because generally quite chilly. But then wake up with all this heat. And their partner might say, well, why do you. Why, why do you got to buy so many clothes on? Just that's why you're having these hot fleshes. I don't Know, they don't understand. They'll say, you know, I'm chilly, I'm cold. When I go to bed, I feel really cold. But also they'll feel cold with the sweat after the sweat after the perspired. And they feel very cold because they feel cold and clammy. But the thing keynote about sepia, they feel better for being busy or exertion. So they're better for exercising, better for running, better for dancing. They do feel better for moving the body because the thing with sepia is about stagnation. The system feels stagnant and stagnation. So the more they move their body, the more they feel better by themselves. So these people will run, they will exercise, because that's the only time when they feel themselves again and again. A big keynote of sepia is complete loss of libido or very low libido. It's just like, no, this, not, not interest, feel flat and they have no energy. Next remedy, sulfuric acid. This is a really interesting remedy. General aggravation, again at the menopause. These, these, these remedy states, when you're in the state, very angry, very irritable, and everything must be done in a hurry, very impatient. So they eat quickly, they'll be busy, they'll be doing all these things and everything's done very, very quickly. They walk, you know, they've been walking somewhere, but they will start walking fast and they end up almost like jogging, running. It's like they're. Everything's got to move, be done quickly. They get very, very impatient. It's like everything's, you know, they feel that everything's slowed down, that everybody else is slow, but it's their internal state, so they can have severe hot flushes. The picture here, the person's like on fire. They feel like they're in a furnace. Followed by sweating, perspiration, but then this trembling, they start to tremble afterwards. Again, a strange, rare, peculiar symptom. Again with this remedy, upper parts are affected, like again from the sort of chest or from the abdomen upwards is affected. And they have these drenching sweats with this sour odor, really sour odor. And again, like sepia, they can have weakness from perspiration. They feel weak afterwards. Again like cpf, very chilly. But they have this symptom when they eat warm food, they get this sensation of heat inside. Internally worse open air, worse towards evening, worse during sleep, better moderate temperature, better hot drinks, better for the seashore. And one thing with sulfuric acid is that they can crave alcohol. Okay, they crave Alcohol. So let's do the next remedy. Last remedy, sulfur. So with sulfur, this is a very, very common. One of the most common remedies in the homeopathic materia medica. Again, sulfur flushes of heat. Feels too hot. Again, this pitch is great. You know, the woman's in bed at night, partners asleep, and they're just burning and it feels so hot. They want the wind open. They'll sleep with the windows open. Again, these flashes of heat, ascending, throbbing that are sudden, violent throughout the whole body. But with sulfur, they get this perfume sweat, mainly at night in the bed. And again, they have almost like a sulfur odor from that perspiration. It really is smelly. That's why. No wonder they got the windows open. You definitely want the windows open with a sulfur person. So they sweat under the arms, they sweat on the hands, and they sweat on the feet. Again, different. It's like particular areas, feet, hands under the arms. But it's very smelly. The soles of the feet burn at night, baking out of sulfur. They feel like they're on fire. And they have to keep put the feet out of the bottom of the bed because they want them uncovered. And as well perspires in the nape of the neck or the back of the head. Again, offensive. Worse by heat, worse warmth of the bed. So they'll be kicking all the covers off. So again you have this battle sharing the bed with somebody's chilly and they're hot. They have to go and sleep into another room. They feel like they need to get the coldness. Or even in bed, if they'll turn the pillow over just to get the coldness or the cold part of the bed. They may go to the other side of the bed upside down just to get the coldness. Or go into the spare room to get again the coldness to cool them down. So the worst by heat, worse one for the bed, worse in humid. Again, this will really aggravate the hot flushes. Worse after a bath. Bathing worse at night, better open air. Better lying on the right side so you can ask people which side. Look left. Oh, no, no. Always got to sleep on the right. And better for sweating. They feel better if once they've sweated, have a big desire for spicy food, which can aggravate. They can really aggravate the hot flushes. And sometimes have skin eruptions as well. With itching as part of the sulfur pitcher. You don't have to have that. It's not a huge keynote. But they may find that the skin is a bit. Itchy because it sulfur has a bigger big affinity with the skin. So that was top eight homeopathic remedies. Some of them you'll recognize, some of them you don't. Again, when we went back when I went for the review of how to prescribe, use a 6C, use a 30C. And the thing is, don't get so hung up about potencies. You know, it's about the remedy. So if you give the right remedy, then you'll find the potency is just a tuning in. You've got to get the remedy, the right remedy and one helps. Then stick with it. If it works, stick with it. But if it doesn't, oh, it's, you know, you may be down to two or three remedies. You can't decide. Take one of them. Just try it. You have to try it. And remember the remedies are like keys to a lock that is turning the key into the lock. And then the body will help stimulate and to heal itself and get it back into, into its innate healing wisdom and connect it there. So all the REMs are trying to do is get the body back into some kind of balance. It's just trying to help the body do what it, what it needs to do. But remember, when you're prescribing, remember the clams. I always talk about this concomitant location, etiology and modality, sensation. So things like modalities and sensation modalities, what makes it better, what makes it worse? Sensation, is it throbbing, is it stinging, is it shooting? This is what how you differentiate between your remedies. But please go back and watch the top tips describing because I go into detail how to do this. I think that's the end now. So thank you so much. Really great. Thank you to see you all and hopefully see you soon. See you next time. Bye bye. Thank you so much for joining me today on the Homeopathy at Home podcast. I hope you found today's episode enlightening, empowering and made you feel that you can become a competent home prescriber. Before we wrap up, I just wanted to invite you to explore my latest book, Homeopathy at Home, published by Hay House and Penguin Random House, where you'll find even more insights into homeopathy's transformative power. So for more resources updates, please look in the show notes below. And until next time, keep embracing homeopathy. Use it in your daily life. That's how you learn homeopathy, by using it. Until next time, take care. Thank you.