I am going through the Peri-menopause, and I'm feeling dreadful. Could you make some recommendations that may help? I have had so many symptoms but the worst ones are as follows; fatigue, feelings of weakness in my legs, low moods, breast tendernes, and headaches. I feel a bit confused about what to try.

Unfortunately, some women do have a raft of symptoms and this can be very confusing to treat as you could end up taking so many things!

Firstly, I would suggest Menopause Support as this is known to gently raise and balance oestrogen - the lack of which is often responsible for most of the symptoms.

The menopause itself puts tremendous pressure on the body's nervous system and if you then have other stressors, such as day to day stress, then this can compound the effect of the hormonal dip.

Because of this I would also recommend a good female multi-vitamin with extra magnesium. Magnesium is also vital for mood relaxation and sleep (and may help the headaches as well) so try at least 200mg per day to start with.

Diet is really important too, so try to avoid foods that can trigger the nervous system such as coffee, high salt and sugar foods, and processed foods. Dehydration can make symptoms worse so make sure that you are drinking plenty of plain water every day as well.

Acupuncture can be really effective for balancing the hormones so it really is worth looking into.

However, low iron, low thyroid and low vitamin D can appear at this time and can cause very similar symptoms so it is important to get this checked by your doctor just to rule them out.

Eileen Durward