Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (30 page)

Make your bedroom completely dark, covering or turning off any of the blinking or glowing lights from your alarm clock, cell phone, computer, DVD timer, and other devices. (Or, if you can’t do that, wear an eye mask.) Even these tiny bits of light can affect your melatonin levels, which are important for restful and restorative sleep.

Allow mealtime to follow your body’s natural rhythms. Your metabolism peaks around noon, so have a bigger breakfast and lunch and a smaller dinner. Start the day with a breakfast containing plenty of protein and healthy fats instead of a sugary, carb-heavy meal.

Use light therapy. Determine what the first day of your last period was, as nearly as possible. (You may need to guess.) From days fourteen to seventeen of your cycle, sleep with a hundred-watt lightbulb in a common bedside-table lamp (one that has a shade that disperses light onto the ceiling and wall but is minimally disturbing to sleep) on the floor next to your bed. Do this for six months. In one study of two thousand women, more than 50 percent regulated their previously irregular periods to a regular cycle of twenty-nine days by doing this.
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An alternative method is to take a walk outdoors daily for twenty to thirty minutes without sunglasses. Or use full-spectrum lightbulbs in your home where you can see the ambient full-spectrum light (2,500 to 10,000 lux) out of the corner of your eye for at least thirty to sixty minutes (up to two hours) each evening or each morning.
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(A lux, by the way, is a measure of light intensity; a cloudy day in northern Europe provides 10,000 lux, while a sunny day near the equator provides 80,000 lux.) A light box is another good choice. These types of light therapy are especially helpful during the fall and winter months, when the sun is less intense. (See Resources, as well as
www.lightforhealth.com
.)

Energy Medicine

Try traditional Chinese medicine, which includes both herbs and acupuncture. This modality has been shown to eliminate or greatly decrease many gynecological problems. The usual course of acupuncture is ten treatments, but many women feel relief after as few as three treatments.
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(Something like shrinking a very large fibroid, however, could, according to some studies, require a major commitment to having daily treatments for a while.) Just as many emotional settings and energy dysfunctions are responsible for setting the scene for a woman’s menstrual disorders, many appropriate and specific oriental herbal and acupuncture treatments may be prescribed.

You may receive one of numerous diagnoses, including (but not limited to) deficient blood of the heart, spleen, or liver; deficient
chi;
stagnant blood; and stagnant
chi.
Depending upon your history or physical symptoms, as well as your physical examination, specific acupuncture points and/or herbs will be selected that are appropriate for your condition. Each woman who is drawn to this approach must find an appropriately trained practitioner of TCM with whom she feels safe.

One of the most common TCM diagnoses for women with gynecological problems is something called “liver stagnation.” The Chinese herbal formula bupleurum (xiao yao wan, also known as hsiao yao wan) may help, and many of my patients have done very well with it.
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Take four or five of the tiny tablets four times per day two weeks before the period is due and continue through the first day of bleeding. It may take two or three months to experience optimal results. (See Resources for sources.)

Follow the TCM principle of staying warm during your period. Enjoying warm baths, saunas, heating pads, and warm foods helps keep the menstrual flow normal and healthy. Avoid iced beverages, cold foods, and overexposure to cold and drafts. (See the box “Traditional Chinese Medicine and Menstruation” earlier in this chapter.)

Stress Reduction

Meditate. Women who practice meditation or other methods of deep relaxation are able to alleviate many of their symptoms. Relaxation of all kinds decreases cortisol and epinephrine levels in the blood and helps to balance your biochemistry, including the reduction of inflammatory chemicals. There are numerous types of meditation that work. Each woman should choose the type of meditation that she feels most drawn to and incorporate this discipline into her daily routine.

For example, the relaxation response suggested by Herbert Benson, M.D., is practiced fifteen to twenty minutes twice per day. This med itation involves: (1) sitting quietly in a comfortable position with eyes closed; (2) deeply relaxing all muscles, beginning with the face and progressing down to the feet; (3) breathing through the nose and becoming aware of the breath; and (4) saying the word
one
silently on exhaling. One study showed significant relief of PMS within three months of regular practice.
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Do some inner work. Ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly:

What are my emotional needs?

What would I like to see happen in my job or my life that would nourish me fully?

Am I getting enough rest?