I am going through the menopause and I am feel very low at the moment. I have just lost my father and I am having severe night flushes which are distrubing my sleep pattern. I feel like bursting into tears every minute of the day. I am taking magnesium tablets, vitamin supplements, and I am also drinking soya milk but this seems to have stopped working. The doctor wants to give me anti-depressants, which I don't want to take because they seem to have so many negative side effects. Can you help me?

I am so sorry to hear about your father.

Stress, both emotional and physical, will often make menopause symptoms worse and it is more than likely that this is the case for you.

Magnesium and vitamins are a good idea but at this time you may need even more magnesium, approx 400-800mg is a good dose for menopause stress/anxiety.

Soy milk is not really the best way to take soya as the soya really needs to be fermented to be of benefit. You may find Menopause Support better as this contains fermented soya although it does take a few weeks to kick in.

If you are not taking any medication at the moment you may also find Hypericum helpful as this is traditionally used for low mood.

Acupuncture can often be really effective for hormonal stress/anxiety so worth looking into as well.

Eileen Durward