Western medicine recognizes many symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes, night sweats, irregular periods, lower libido, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and fatigue are the most common. Doctors of Chinese medicine also recognize these as menopause symptoms. Other symptoms of menopause recognized by Western medicine, such as hair loss, some sleep disorders, loss of memory or concentration, dizziness, weight gain, bloating, allergies, assorted aches and pains, irregular heart beat, and even osteoporosis are not signs or symptoms of menopause, to practitioners of Chinese medicine, but rather indications of other disharmonies existing together with or interacting with normal menopause symptoms.

To understand menopause symptoms as a practitioner of Chinese medicine would, forget about hormones and see your body in terms of yin and yang. Activity, movement and metabolism are called yang. Yang metabolic activity generates friction and heat. Bodies require circulating fluids, known as the yin, to cool and insulate us from this heat. The yin has been described as a mist that cools the heart, liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines. If this yin is deficient, you'll feel the heat or the effects of the heat.

The syndrome of feeling hot because your cooling system is weak has many names: yin deficiency fire, vacuity fire, deficiency heat, weak heat, false fire and other similar terms. In truth, menopause is never simply yin deficient heat. After approximately fifty years of life, a person arrives at menopause with a complex set of deficiencies and discomforts. Some of these are caused by diminished yang, qi and blood, as well as by deficient yin.

Most true menopause symptoms come from a combination of both yin and yang deficiencies, in which yin deficiency predominates. This results in dryness sometimes accompanied by minor inflammatory symptoms.

Early Menopause
The term Early Menopause is used when symptoms of menopause arrive before age 50. Sometimes women, who test with low hormonal production in their 30s, are diagnosed with early menopause. From the point of view of TCM, early menopause is not a distinct condition or disease, but a sign of deficiency. To us, yin yang energy and balance determines hormone production and balance. Many women with early or pre menopause are easily treated with Chinese herbs after their pattern has been correctly diagnosed by a practitioner of Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture for Menopause Symptoms
Acupuncture is useful for menopause, because it can clear heat. Each person's menopause symptoms are unique, so will each person's menopause treatment be different. Acupuncture provides many ways to clear heat. Needles placed in the fleshy part of the hand, between the thumb and forefinger (hegu), cool and relieve pain in the upper body. For more information go to: acupuncture for menopause.

Herbal Treatments for Symptoms of Menopause
Chinese herbs contain no hormones yet relieve menopausal problems. Seen from the perspective of practitioners of Chinese medicine, these herbs provide relief by correcting imbalances of the yin, yang, qi and blood. Such imbalances are the cause of hormonal imbalances and are the root of most menopausal complaints.

Two Immortals is an herbal supplement made in the USA with Chinese herbs and is used for menopause symptoms. It builds and harmonizes yin and yang and clears deficiency heat. It is absolutely safe, and well worth trying before resorting to hormone therapy. It is considered safe to take together with hormones.

SOURCE:
Shuguan Hospital, Shanghai College of Traditional Medicine, Mid-Twentieth Century origin. The name Two Immortals (Er Xian) comes from 2 of the chief herbs in the formula, Xian Mao (Curculigo) and Xian Ling Pi (Epemidi).

SERVING:
Take as a daily supplement for periods of 1 week to 6 months. Take two to four pills at a time, two or three times a day, or as prescribed.

SUGGESTIONS:
Benefits are usually seen after 1 - 5 weeks. If symptoms persist, consult a licensed health care provider.

As with most Chinese herbal tonics, Dr. Shen's Two Immortals Pills should not be taken while ill with cold or flu. Herbal strengtheners such as this are thought to prolong such illnesses. Wait until the cold or flu has passed before resuming course of treatment.

PRACTITIONER NOTES:
The formula contains no estrogen or other hormones, and possibly achieves its effect by using yin and yang builders to help normalize hormone production.

Made with whole, premium grade herbs. Each tablet is coated with natural food glaze for ease of swallowing. Dr. Shen's Two Immortals contain no drugs, dyes, endangered species, or unlisted ingredients.

COURSE OF USE:
The course of treatment is a minimum of three weeks.

Morinda Root, also known as Bai Ji Tan or Radix Morinda Officianalis
Tonifies the Kidneys, Fortifies the Yang, Strengthens the Sinews and Bones
Major Known ingredients: morindin, vitamin C.

Licentious Goat Wort, also known as Yin Yang Huo or Herba Epimedi
Stimulates Hormone Production, Tonifies the Yin, Fortifies the Yang, Expels Dampness
Major known ingredients: icariin, sterols, tanin, palmitic acid, benzene, linolenic acid, oleic acid, vitamin E.

Golden Eye Grass, also known as Xian Mao or Rhizoma Curculinginis Orchioidis
Tonifies the Kidneys, Expels Dampness
Major known ingredients: 5,7-dimethoxymyricetin, xylopyranosyl, glucopyranoside, tannin.

Amur Cork Bark, also known as Huang Bai or Cortex Phellodendri
Drains Damp Heat, Quells Kidney Fire, Detoxifies Fire Poisons
Major known ingredients: Berberine, Jatorrhizine, Magnoflorine, Phellodendrine, Candicine, Palmatine, Menisperine, Obacunone, Dictamnolide.

Anemarrhena, also known as Zhi Mu or Radix Anemarrhenae Asphodeloidis
Quells Fire, Nurtures Yin, Moistens Dryness, Clears Deficiency Heat
Major known ingredients: timosaponin, sarsosapogenin, timobeose, markogenin, neogitogenin, asphonin, magniferin.

Oyster Shell, also known as Mu Li or Concha Ostreae
Calms the Spirit, Benefits the Yin, Restrains Rising Yang, Restrains Sweating
Major known ingredients: Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Magnesium, Ferric Oxide.

Dang Gui, also known as Tang Kwei or Radix Radix Angelica Sinensis
Tonifies the Blood, Invigorates and Harmonizes the Blood
Major known ingredients: Butylidene Phthalide, N-Valerophenone-o-carboxylic acid, Vitamin B12, Carotene, Beta-Sitosterol.

Black cohosh (sheng ma) is a Chinese herb found in many Western herbal products used for menopause symptoms. Though it often reduces hot flashes effectively, it is badly misused for this purpose. Black cohosh (sheng ma) should be used only for short periods of time to reduce excess heat from fevers. Long-term use of this herb is not recommended.

The heat experienced from hot flashes is long term and caused by a weak cooling system. It is different from the heat of fevers requiring black cohosh (sheng ma). There are many better herbs than black cohosh (sheng ma) for deficiency heat. The most notable being anemarrhena asphodeloides (zhi mu), which reduces hot flashes and builds the yin of the body at the same time. For menopause, anemarrhena (zhi mu) is more therapeutic and safer than black cohosh (sheng ma).

There are times when men, particularly aging men, have hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms associated with menopause. These men suffer the same underlying constitutional deficiencies. Treatment is usually the same for men and women presenting with the same symptoms.