Gillian Sinclair, a homeopath at our Bath centre, shares some thoughts on embracing the hidden imbalance of your monthly cycle, and learning to work with, not against it...
As a homeopath I often find myself helping women of all ages with different health issues associated with menstruation. And, in doing so, I often find myself reflecting on how my own female health has been and is, as I embrace the post-menopausal phase of life. Menstruation is part of who we are but that doesn’t mean that it goes well for everyone or is not a contributing factor in our reactions to stress, upset, and emotional events in our lives.
On one hand, these issues are “not an illness” but on the other they are often the hidden imbalance that we are expected to cope with privately. There are some things, including homeopathy, that can help with these imbalances and which take into account the different phases of our lives.
A regular monthly cycle that culminates in a refreshing and trouble-free period is often elusive when we have a lot of life to deal with, but making time to discuss what has changed, what is inconvenient, and what we would like to happen is an essential part of looking after ourselves so that we can carry on with whatever is thrown at us.
From painful periods to heavy bleeds, migraines, sore breasts, insomnia, or at least very restless sleep to mind-boggling PMS or overeating the one thing we would not normally consider putting in the trolley, it can all feel like a repetitive rollercoaster.
However, I have found that a few well-chosen remedies can rebalance those glitches so that a gentle and quietly concluded cycle can be achieved.
My own personal first experience of homeopathy came about when I mentioned casually whilst seeing the homeopath for my baby son, that I couldn’t make an appointment for the date being offered as I would be in the red zone and it would therefore be a bad time for me to negotiate the underground with a baby, a buggy and the small suitcase of stuff required to travel with a small child!
Could we possibly make it for the week after, I asked. When I saw the look on his face, I realised I had perhaps overshared, but undaunted he said I should definitely come to see him in two weeks, without the baby and equipment, and have a chat about what I was experiencing. I made the appointment and then spent the journey home thinking of all the reasons that it wouldn’t work for me, but at the same time I knew he was right. At the time, I was accepting that each month I lost almost two weeks of normal operating standards due to raging PMS, two days of cramps, three nights sleep lost for no apparent reason, extra laundry from an uncontrollable bleed, and the guilt of ‘what did I just eat, it’s a diet for me next week’.
All pretty extreme, I grant you, but at some point most women experience some of those symptoms and, as much as you might have been told, it is possible to alleviate some of them and work to reset others. You deserve the time needed to take a little time out and address the problem.
Our bodies change all the time, so it is normal for things to be different in our thirties compared to our twenties or forties, and also compared to our fifties - that is life and often the adjustment needed is small, but has a big positive impact. So, have a think about these little inconveniences and make time to take a proper look at them and ask what can be done.
