Q: Dear Dr. Mao,
I stopped taking Premarin a few months back after being on it for 20 years. Now my hot flashes and night sweats are unbearable. Will acupuncture help?
A: Acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies are quite helpful for these symptoms that you describe. This is what we consider in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a yin deficiency, often resulting from menopause.
I recommend the following lifestyle and dietary tips:
1. Avoid, stress, tension, emotional turmoil, and various stimulants including coffee, smoking, and alcohol.
2. Incorporate into your diet more of the following: black beans, sesame seeds, soybeans, walnuts, lycii fruits, mulberries, yams, licorice, Chinese black dates, lotus seeds, and chrysanthemum flowers.
3. Cook black beans with rice, making it into porridge, and eat twice daily.
4. Make a tea from chrysanthemum flowers, lycii fruits, and cassia seeds. Drink this three times a day.
5. Make lotus seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and rice into a porridge.
6. Make a tea from licorice root, Chinese black dates, and wheat. This will help with extreme mood swings and emotional
turmoil.
You may also find the following products from the Traditions of Tao particularly helpful: “Women’s Wellness” to strengthen your yin, “Ancient Treasures”, “Passages Plus”, and “Hot Flash”. Of course, discuss with your physician before beginning any new health regime.
