This Vacation, Leave Your Menopausal Baggage Home!

By Ellen Dolgen

Around this time of year, we all start thinking about planning those summer vacations.  Most of us spend weeks and weeks preparing for our trips. We research, Google, Facebook and become all “aTwitter” about where to go, what to eat, what sites to see and what to wear.

Preparation for a Healthy Life Trip
On this year’s vacation, remember to put yourself on the top of your to-do list.  Spend some time getting your perimenopause and menopause ready to go on your trip so that you can have a great time. Begin by familiarizing yourself with the many symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Start charting your symptoms with my handy Menopause Symptoms Chart, and find a Menopause Specialist with whom you can discuss these issues openly and honestly. Find hormone happiness before you leave! Act now!

Adjusting to the Weather
Hot flashes and night sweats are very common symptoms of perimenopause. On road trips, you may still be hot in twenty-degree air conditioning, and on airplanes, you have to try to aim that tiny spout right at your forehead to even get a whisper of relief. Traveling by plane, train or automobile, your body temperature isn’t as easy to control as an adjustable thermostat. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could just turn ourselves down a few degrees when needed?

Unless you’re going to Australia or either of the poles, you’re likely to remain hot on your summer vacation. Of course, your idea of an arctic vacation could be standing in front of an open refrigerator. If you’re in perimenopause, you’ve probably been in your own personal summer since the dead of winter. There’s nothing fun about waking up in a pool of sweat, and hot flashes and night sweats can make your beach vacation a little, um, swampy.

You can also try: acupuncture, yoga, meditation, reducing your alcohol intake and caffeine (especially before bed), cut back on spicy foods, and try a Mediterranean Diet to help reduce your weight.  Try to reduce stress. I usually recommend trying one thing a time to see what works best for you. Some women find help with black cohosh. You can find this ingredient in Remifemin. (No, I am not being paid to tell you about this product)

Speak to your menopause expert about systemic hormone therapy options which come in pill, skin patch, gel, cream or spray form. Many women find that this is the most effective treatment for relief of troublesome menopausal hot flashes and night sweats.

Spicing Up Your Getaway
When I first entered perimenopause, I was shocked by the fact that my vagina had taken its own personal trip to the Sahara Desert. It didn’t matter whether I was on my summer vacation – my vagina was dry, uncomfortable and sex was painful. Landing strip or not, there was certainly not going to be any visiting aircraft with me feeling the way I did! Vacations are about letting loose and enjoying your time away from responsibilities and daily stress, and a parched vagina makes you feel anything but sexy and amorous. There are lots of great options on the market for relieving the discomfort and bringing fun back to the bedroom (or wherever else the mood strikes you). It might be time for a lube job!

Local Estrogen Therapy (LET) can ease vaginal symptoms of menopause, such as dryness, itching, burning and discomfort with intercourse. LET can offer more long-term, ongoing relief. Some women need a combination of LET and lube. Speak openly and honestly with your menopause specialist and you can get the help you need!

Act now so that you can leave your menopausal baggage at home and enjoy your much needed vacation!

You deserve it!

Ellen Dolgen, spurred by her own experience struggling with the symptoms of menopause, is devoted to helping women everywhere. Through EllenDolgen.com and her FREE eBook, MENOPAUSE MONDAYS The Girlfriend’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving During Perimenopause and Menopause, she shares the expertise of numerous specialists to replace confusion and embarrassment with medically sound solutions, presented in an entertaining and informative way. From hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, mental fogginess, loss of libido, heart health, and lots more in between, EllenDolgen.com provides empowerment for women to become their own best health advocates. Her motto is: Suffering in silence is OUT! Reaching out is IN!