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When she heard of a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a CBD-infused aloe gel on menopause symptoms, she jumped at the opportunity to be part of the group.
Linda Hannival from Cape Town was willing to try just about anything to put an end to the hot flushes and sweaty episodes that punctuated her day.
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“I was about 54 when I became menopausal and it took a while before I accepted it,” she says.
Although she eventually came to terms with the fact she was going through the “change of life” she just couldn’t get used to all the distressing symptoms.
“There were hot flushes, mood swings, low libido and sleepless nights, but it’s the sweating that was relentless.”
Linda, who worked as a buyer at a pharmaceutical company at the time, could barely get through a meeting without becoming a hot mess. What would start as a flush soon became a sweaty face until it felt like she was perspiring from every pore.
“You’re hot, then not, then too hot again; whether it’s day or night, winter or summer.”
This was going to be a part of her life for a long time, she realised. Linda made some adjustments to accommodate her new normal, stocking up on waterproof makeup and learning the art of layering her clothes so she could peel them off when things became a little too heated.
She also changed her diet to include leafy vegetables, legumes, soya and food high in omega-3s such as salmon and tuna. Spicy, fatty and fast foods were strictly forbidden because they did little to help ease her symptoms.
“There wasn’t anything more I could do other than excessively fanning myself and consuming more liquids,” she recalls.
When a friend told her about a trial to help menopausal women, she felt it was worth a try. In 2019 Linda was part of a group of 140 women who tested an aloe gel infused with CBD.
“I don’t know if it worked for everybody else,” she says, “but I was very happy when it worked for me.”
The CBD gel was created by Anara, a brand of products developed locally to help relieve various symptoms of menopause in as natural a way as possible.
Barbara Kleinschmidt, creator of Anara, says the products the women tested had an 85% success rate.
“We are now collaborating with researchers at the biochemistry department of Stellenbosch University to investigate the extent of the South African aloe’s phytoestrogenic activity,” she says.
Phytoestrogens are plant-based compounds that mimic oestrogen in the body. The results of this study are set to be announced next year.
Linda wasn’t keen to take hormone-replacement therapy when menopause hit. She’d heard only good things about CBD and didn’t consult a doctor before using the gel.
“In the beginning I was aware of slight headaches, but I can’t say it impacted me greatly,” she says. “This was part of the potential side-effects listed during the trial, but it was so mild I never even took a pain tablet.”
Linda (60) now uses the CBD-infused aloe gel every day. Just a pea-sized squeeze rubbed on the soles of the feet in the morning and at night does the trick for her.
“The phytoestrogens in aloe are absorbed through the soles of the feet (or any soft skin area such as behind the knees or the inside of elbows) into the bloodstream and stop or reduce the intensity and frequency of the hot flushes,” Barbara says.
When Linda first started using the product (which sells for around R330), she needed twice daily applications. But when her flushes became less frequent she found she didn’t need to apply as much during the day.
“I wish I’d known about it while I was still in corporate,” she quips.
Now she enjoys uninterrupted sleep with no night sweats and has gone back to using normal makeup and applying her moisturiser liberally.
When people heard Linda was using a CBD-infused gel , some suggested she should smoke a joint instead, but she says dagga isn’t her cup of tea.
“I don’t ingest it but if it works for you then that’s fine.”
Dagga or cannabis contains two well known compounds – THC and CBD. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is responsible for the high that people get from smoking cannabis.
CBD doesn’t usually cause an intoxicating feeling and is said to have healing properties.
Linda, who now runs her own logistics company, hopes more women will be open to using CBD products to treat their menopause symptoms.
“What also made this product work more effectively for me was I was already eating a healthy diet,” she says. “I didn’t have to change my lifestyle much – it just fitted into my routine.”
Treatments typically include medications to counteract specific symptoms. Hormone-replacement therapy can also be considered to replace the hormones that are no longer being naturally produced by the body.
According to the South African Menopause Society (Sams), more and more women are using cannabis products such as CBD for menopausal symptoms. Sams is a medical association of healthcare professionals dedicated to promoting women’s health during midlife.
Dr Urvashi Mun gal-Singh, a haematologist working for Lancet Laboratories in Cape Town, says CBD influences hormones in the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis structures found in the body.
“The HPG axis controls the reproductive system and related hormones,” she says.
“So, all we know at this stage is there’s interaction between CBD, the HPG axis and hormones produced by the gonads (reproductive organs).”
More research, she says, is needed to determine exactly how cannabis and CBD can be used to manage menopause symptoms. Because there’s no clear evidence based on clinical trials to prove cannabis and CBD regulates hormones to alleviate the symptoms of menopause, Sams doesn’t endorse the use of CBD products to treat menopausal symptoms.
“The evidence is just not available at present,” says Dr Percy Moodley, executive member of Sams. Dr Moodley says there are products for treating menopausal symptoms approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority.
“If the patient or client chooses not to take these for any reason, they assume responsibility for any consequences,” he says. “It’s always wise for women to discuss the use of cannabis or CBD with their doctors”
For more info on the benefits of CBD, get a copy of our new magazine The ABC of CBD in stores now. Also available online at youstore.co.za. Or contact Johan Terblanche at 021-406-4962 or email johan.terblanche@media24.com to order your copy.
