They say every single woman on this planet is an unique creation herself!Yes, it is so true . Physically and emotionally too ,everyone is unique. No copy paste by creator.
We cannot generalize every woman in her menopausal age as the same and treat alike. Every woman may not have the same symptoms, pathology and so the diagnosis as well as treatment will be different for every one of them.
Menstruation or period is considered to be a very important phenomenon in female in Ayurveda. The menstrual health of a woman can decide her overall health and vice versa too.
Menstrual bleeding is under the dominance of Pitta dosha. Vata dosha initiates the whole process.The peri menopausal age is naturally the phase of dominance of Vata dosha though it sometimes involve Pitta and Kafa dosha .
Whenever a patient comes with complaints related to her periods we have to asses her body as whole and not only symptoms are treated. Her body type itself is a profile of her health. Every dosha in more or less form can affect the original prakriti or body type .
According to the dosha dominance, women show different complaints at their peri menopause or at the time of menopause. Let’s see some of them.
If the Vata dosha is affecting the overall menstrual pattern then usually the following symptoms are seen in patients
- Scanty menses( very less, dark colored bleeding )
- Irregular menses , delayed intervals
- General dryness of skin
- Frequent sudden constipation
- Joint pain(mostly lower back )
- Palpitations(sudden raise in heart beats)
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Fear and insecurity
If the overall body type or impaired dosha is Pitta dominant then symptoms are as follows.
- Heavy bleeding during menses
- Decreased intervals of menses(early menses pattern)
- Frequent urinary tract infections, burning while urination
- Skin lesions(itchy, burning red patches)
- Acne (pimples)
- Irritability
- Hot flashes
- Excessive sweating in night during sleep
Involvement of Kafa dosha causing menace show symptoms like
- Scanty menses
- Swelling over body
- Abnormal gain in weight
- Excessive sleep
- Laziness
- Heaviness and general lethargy
- Depression
- Indigestion
- Loss of appetite
Once the patient is categorized in one of the above groups,the dominant dosha can be treated with the opposite properties medicine, food , lifestyle,exercise and also panchkarma .
To give an example in short , if the Kafa dominant prakriti patient is showing Kafa related symptoms during her menopause despite of the Vata dominance in her age group , the treatment plan will be based on to reduce the Kafa dosha .
In next blog we will see what therapies are practiced in Ayurveda to manage the menopausal condition.
Do write the feedback , ask the queries and take care you all.
(Above write up belongs to Dr. Rupali Panse. Sharing the blog with due credit to the author is welcome!)
What about a combination of symptoms–for example some vāta and some pitta–happening at the same time or intermittently from one month to another?
Hello Edie
Yes, usually single dosha symptoms are rarely found.There are combinations of one or more dosha together. In this cases we need to look for the original body type of patient Vata, Pitta or Kafa and then the interfering dosha with the patients prakriti dosha . The season,age,existing other diseases also need to be considered in these cases.
The treatment is tricky as one need to be careful while reducing one dosha the other dosha should not increase.
This point will be more explained in the next part of the blog.
Keep reading .
Regards,
Dr.Rupali
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