Menopause is a natural part of life for women, but its daily gauntlet of symptoms can make it hard to feel like yourself. Fatigue, mood swings, insomnia, hot flashes — they’re just a few of the challenges and unpleasant symptoms women face in midlife. Luckily, smart women everywhere have found plenty of ways to fight back against symptoms and find menopause relief, whether it comes in the form of a frozen grape or a bottle of personal lubricant.
If you could use a brief vacation from your own menopausal nightmare, try some of these creative tips for menopause relief:
1. Exercise Early. Exercise endorphins help balance mood, increase libido, and fight fatigue. Enjoy the rewards of working out all day by starting each morning with thirty minutes of exercise
2. Be a Natural. “Natural fibers breathe better than poly, so if you wear anything at all to bed, make it light and cotton or silk,” says Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist Carol Queen. For a natural solution for vaginal dryness, try ASTROGLIDE Organix Liquid.
3. Create a Chilly Pillow. Wrap a small pillow in a plastic bag and stick it in your freezer for two hours before you go to bed. This trick will help you banish night sweats and sleep soundly!
4. Stay Away from Spice. Avoiding spice is one of the top hot flash hacks. What you eat and drink can have a serious impact on your hot flashes. To reduce the likelihood and severity of hot flashes, avoid spicy food, alcohol (especially red wine, thanks to the triggering tannins and histamines found in the skins of red grapes), and caffeine when possible.
5. Make Room for Mint. Natural peppermint soaps and lotions create a gently cooling sensation that offers quick relief from hot flashes. To take advantage of one of the best hot flash hacks, try using a product with pure peppermint extract, like Dr. Bronner’s castile soap as a body wash.
6. Masturbate Before Bed. There’s no better natural sleep aid or relief from menopause symptoms than an orgasm. So have fun on your own or with toys — and use a toy-safe personal lubricant like Astroglide Glyverin & Paraben Free to help with lubrication.
7. Create a Happiness Jar. When menopause symptoms put you in a bad mood, it’s hard to think of things to cheer yourself up. So, plan ahead of time by creating a “happiness jar.” Fill a Mason jar with strips of paper — each one listing a fun activity or pick-me-up like calling a friend, taking the dog to the park or watching your favorite comedy. When the blues hit, pull a suggestion from your happiness jar and try it out.
8. Make a Date. “For lack of sex drive, I recommend that women make a date for sex,” says Nurse Barb Dehn, author of The Hot Guide to a Cool and Sexy Menopause. “That’s right, put it on the To-Do List. Women are deliciously complicated and we need to anticipate intimacy to get into the mood.”
9. Soak Up the Sun. Vitamin D helps you maintain a healthy, balanced mood (and strong bones) even when you’re experiencing unpleasant symptoms. All your body needs to produce your daily dose is for your skin to be exposed to sunlight for 15 minutes every day. So enjoy some gardening or a nice walk — and on cloudy days, rely on a Vitamin D supplement.
10. Learn to Do Kegels. Speaking of exercise, have you ever tried Kegels? The unique exercise can help strengthen vaginal walls and improve elasticity and even lubrication in midlife (though it doesn’t hurt to keep the personal lubricant handy too, just in case).
11. Use Pulse Points. To cool down quickly, apply ice packs to the places on your body where your blood is closest to the surface — your pulse points. Squeezing an ice pack in the crook of your elbow will make a big difference fast.
12. Say Yes to Personal Lubricant. Vaginal dryness got you down? Cozy up to the magic of lube. Not only will it help you enjoy your new sexual prime, but it can make daily life more comfortable.
13. Avoid Diuretics. Almost all menopause symptoms are less severe when you’re properly hydrated, so drink plenty of water but also avoid soda, caffeine, and other diuretics that can speed up fluid loss.
14. Freeze Healthy Treats. Keep a bowl of berries or grapes in your freezer and reach for one when you need to cool off — they’re a much cheaper and healthier option than ice cream and popsicles!
15. Learn to Love Carbs. Not all carbs are created equal, and if you’re experiencing fatigue, filling your diet with complex carbohydrates like those found in corn, yams and quinoa can help provide a steady stream of fuel and energy for your body and mind.
16. Schedule a Special Day. Whether it’s weekly or monthly, having a special day just for yourself can help you have something to look forward to — and that light at the end of the tunnel can be a real lifesaver on days when your mood’s in the toilet. So try scheduling a hair, nail, or massage appointment at least once a month.
17. Invest in a Bed Fan. Experiencing night sweats? Get a special bed fan that’s designed to deliver a cool breeze right where you need it — under your sheets!
18. Keep Your Bedroom Screen-Free. TVs, tablets, and smartphones can all interrupt your sleep, even when muted. Create a screen-free environment in your bedroom to help fight insomnia and get real, restorative sleep.
19. Relax With Apps. Can’t bear to kick your iPhone out of the bedroom, but still need help getting to sleep? Try downloading a meditation app and using it while you lay in bed. Sleep is key for menopause relief.
20. Fill up on Fiber and Protein. Weight gain is an unpleasant side effect of menopause, but healthy snacking can help. Try combining protein-packed cottage cheese or Greek yogurt with flax or chia seeds for a snack that will fill you up and keep you sated without stacking on empty calories.
Each of these ideas can help ease your symptoms in a different way, so try a few or test them all to find which work best for you. And if you need some extra tips, it never hurts to ask your mother, aunt, or grandmother — those ladies sometimes have some surprising tips of their own (you may even find yourself in a surprisingly candid convo on the topic of personal lubricant — so be ready!).