Last modified on October 21st, 2023
Remifemin estrogen-free menopause relief supplement is a popular, well-rated menopause support supplement. The supplement was previously known as Enzymatic Therapy Remifemin. Benefits of Remifemin, according to Nature’s Way, the manufacturer, include:
- This menopausal supplement may reduce hot flashes.
- Can help with menopausal symptoms like mood swings, irritability, and sleeplessness.
- Contains black cohosh, which is well-studied for symptoms of menopause.
- Estrogen-free.
- Can be used by women who don’t want to take estrogen.
Below, we’re going to go into more about everything to know before you take this supplement, including the benefits and whether there are any cons or downsides to taking it. We’ll also cover what customer reviews say and how it works to help with symptoms of menopause.
Our Remifemin Thoughts:
We think Remifemin is a high-quality black cohosh product with potential benefits for perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. We believe it’s worth trying, but this isn’t medical advice, and you should speak to a healthcare provider first, although human studies are showing clinical efficacy for its use.
Dealing with the Symptoms of Menopause
Menopause is a time 12 months after your last period. Often in the years that lead to that point, you may experience symptoms like changes in your cycle, hot flashes, changes in mental health, or problems sleeping. These symptoms are referred to as perimenopause or menopausal transition. For most women, the menopausal transition begins between the ages of 45 and 55.
- Perimenopause can last anywhere from seven to 14 years, and your lifestyle affects the duration. For example, smoking can influence how long you experience symptoms.
- As you go through perimenopause, your body produces varying levels of estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen and progesterone are hormones your ovaries make.
- Your fat cells change, your body uses energy differently, and you may gain weight.
- You may see differences in your heart and bone health, the shape and composition of your body or your overall physical function.
- These symptoms and experiences can be very different for every woman.
While we tend to refer to menopausal transition as menopause, actual menopause is a year after your last period.
If you have a hysterectomy to remove your ovaries, you may also experience menopause. If you have surgery to remove your uterus or ovaries and don’t take hormones, menopause symptoms will begin immediately.
Following menopause, you enter a period called postmenopause. During this time, you have to be mindful to take care of your health because you become more vulnerable to conditions like osteoporosis and heart disease, as well as things like high blood pressure.
What Are the Symptoms of Menopause?
The following are some of the most common peri-menopausal symptoms and menopausal complaints:
- Changes in your period: You may have irregularity, or periods might be shorter or longer. You could also bleed more or less than is typical for you.
- Hot flashes: These are the symptom we most frequently associate with perimenopause and menopause. Hot flashes can last for years after menopause, and they’re frequently related to changes in your estrogen levels. When you experience a hot flash, there’s sudden heat either just in the upper part of your body or your entire body. You may experience sweating and then cold shivers. You might have mild hot flashes, or you can wake up because of them, which are night sweats.
- Bladder control: You could have a sudden feeling of needing to urinate or you might have leaks when you’re laughing, sneezing, or exercising.
- Sleep problems: When you’re middle-aged, you may have a hard time falling asleep or you could wake up too early. You may experience occasional sleeplessness or more significant problems that affect your function in the daytime.
- Sexual side effects: It’s relatively normal that after you go through menopause, your vagina is dryer, making intercourse uncomfortable. You might also have different feelings about sex.
- Mood changes: Irritability and moodiness are common symptoms.
- Changes in your body: Body changes can include losing muscle and gaining fat or getting thinner skin. You might feel joint pains and have memory problems. Your bone mineral density can change and you may have breast pain.
Treatment Options for Menopause
Menopause doesn’t in and of itself require treatment. Instead, your health care provider may work to help you manage the symptoms.
Treatments for menopause in a traditional medical setting include:
- Hormone therapy: Estrogen drug therapy is one way to alleviate hot flashes. If you still have your uterus, you also need to take progestin as well as estrogen. Estrogen can help prevent bone loss in addition to helping with hot flashes. Unfortunately, there are risks of long-term hormone therapy. Long-term hormone therapy can raise your risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Your doctor can talk to you about the risks versus benefits.
- Vaginal estrogen: This medicinal product is applied directly to your vagina as a tablet, cream, or ring. The treatment releases a small amount of estrogen that can help with intercourse discomfort and urinary symptoms.
- Anti-depressants: Some types of antidepressants may help if you are experiencing symptoms of a mood disorder or you can’t take estrogen. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs may help with not only mood disorder symptoms but also hot flashes.
Home and Lifestyle Remedies
There are things menopausal women can do on their own if experiencing symptoms of menopause.
For example, if you’re experiencing hot flashes, you can have a cold glass of water. Certain things can trigger hot flashes for some people like caffeine and alcohol, so you might learn those triggers for yourself and avoid them.
A vaginal lubricant available over-the-counter can help with discomfort.
Eating a balanced diet, regularly exercising, and practicing relaxation techniques can help. Doing pelvic floor muscle exercises called Kegels can help with urinary-related symptoms.
There are also alternative treatments, one of which is black cohosh. Black cohosh is the active ingredient in Remifemin.
Who Shouldn’t Take Menopause Hormone Therapy?
The reason some women often turn to herbal and natural menopause remedies is that they can’t take hormone therapy. Hormone therapy can help reduce symptoms like vaginal dryness, mood changes, and hot flashes. It’s not suitable for everyone though.
Some of the people who shouldn’t use hormonal therapy for symptoms of menopause include:
- Women with heart and blood vessel disease
- Someone with a high breast cancer risk, current breast cancer patients, or someone with a history of breast cancer
- Anyone with estrogen-dependent cancer or precancer
- A woman with a known risk of developing blood clots
- People with liver disease
- Someone with sensitivity to hormone therapies
What Is Remifemin?
Remifemin Menopause is a natural formula that’s been used for more than 40 years in Europe. This menopause natural supplement may help with the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause and perimenopause, including psychological symptoms like mood swings, night sweats and hot flashes. The supplement may help postmenopausal women too.
Remifemin contains black cohosh extract, and it’s estrogen-free. Natural supplements may be used in place of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for some women, but you should talk to your health care provider.
The following are some of the most important things to know about this clinically-studied supplement:
- This supplement is a specifically formulated herbal remedy from the black cohosh plant. There are more than 40 years of research and clinical evidence backing up its effectiveness compared to other black cohosh preparations.
- After 12 weeks of consistent use, a recent clinical study found women had a 70% reduction in symptoms on average.
- The unique element of this supplement is that it has a particular extract of black cohosh. The black cohosh extract is developed with certain techniques so that it’s standardized for the most effects.
- Remifemin is estrogen-free and doesn’t influence hormone levels.
- The proprietary, standardized black cohosh extract comes from the rootstock of the black cohosh plant. Compounds in the standardized herbal extract appear to interact with hormone receptors but don’t influence hormone levels.
- Since it’s not a drug and is instead an herbal supplement, it takes time to work. You may notice improvements in a few weeks, but for some women, it can take four to 12 weeks to get the full benefits.
- The benefits increase after extended use twice a day.
- The recommendation is to take the herbal menopause supplement twice a day for up to six continuous months.
- Contains no soy, preservatives, artificial flavors, or artificial colors.
How Does Black Cohosh Help Perimenopause and Menopause?
Remifemin contains a standardized black cohosh extract. Black cohosh is one of the most popular natural remedies for the symptoms of menopause, and it’s clinically studied in many cases.
The specific and only ingredient in the formulation is RemiSure black cohosh extract from the root. The extract is equal to 20 mg of black cohosh.
Black cohosh is known scientifically as Actaea racemose or cimicifuga racemose. As a flowering, perennial plant, it forms a spike-like structure. The plant is a member of the buttercup family, growing in the woodlands of the eastern United States and Canada. Other names include black snakeroot, fairy candle, rattle weed, and rheumatism weed.
Well-studied effects and benefits of black cohosh include:
- Studies show the herbal remedy can bind to opioid receptors, providing pain relief. Most often, it’s used to alleviate pains and aches associated with perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.
- Using black cohosh isn’t new—it’s been used in ancient and traditional healing and medicine. In ancient Chinese medicine, it’s long been used to reduce pain and calm the nervous system. In Traditional Chinese Medicine its uses also include liver support and tonifying the uterus and kidneys. Black cohosh is currently used in complementary medicine and was part of American folk medicine.
- In modern herbal medicine, it’s for arthritis and muscle problems, menstruation, and nervous spasms. Black cohosh may also help with premenstrual syndrome including headaches and body aches.
- One of the phytochemicals in black cohosh acts similar to serotonin, which can help your body be better able to regulate temperature and reduce hot flashes.
- Black cohosh can lift your mood.
Black cohosh is considered to be safe and effective when used correctly. There are potential side effects, however. These side effects and adverse events are rare but can include:
- Breast enlargement or pain
- Headache
- Cramping
- Slight weight gain
- Muscle pain
- Rash
- Vaginal spotting
- Upset stomach
You should avoid black cohosh if you have liver disease or liver function problems. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, you should also avoid black cohosh because of the effects on hormones.
There have been a few reports of liver damage or evidence of liver toxicity related to the use of black cohosh. However, there is no conclusive evidence that the supplement actually caused these events like rises in enzymes for liver function. Choosing a high-quality black cohosh supplement from a reputable brand and taking it as instructed can help you avoid possible negative side effects. This is true of any supplement.
Reviews
We researched customers to find out more about Remifemin reviews.
Some of the highlights of customer Remifemin reviews include:
- Many users say that it helps their symptoms significantly, including hot flashes and night sweats.
- Some users report trying other brands of black cohosh and finding they weren’t nearly as effective as Remifemin.
- Many people who weren’t candidates for HRT say they turned to this menopause supplement, and they felt their symptoms disappear.
- There are a lot of reviews highlighting the benefits of this herbal supplement, not just on physical symptoms but also mood and emotional symptoms.
- While it seems to take some users longer to feel the effects, some say they felt the results almost immediately.
- Some users describe this as a lifesaver and life-changing.
- One person left a review and described this product as providing her excellent relief, especially when combined with magnesium before bed.
- According to Remifemin reviews, quite a few people have been using it for years and find it still effective and works well for them.
Of all the reviews of the product (there are thousands), only 5% were 1-star.
One review said they felt like the black cohosh caused their liver enzymes to go up but there’s rare evidence about these potential adverse reaction events. There were a few people who didn’t feel like the product helped them. As far as those reviews, it’s important to point out that it can take up to 12 weeks to see the full benefits of this herbal supplement.
How Do You Take Remifemin?
To use this herbal product, take one tablet in the morning and one tablet in the evening, with water. You should begin to notice some results within a few weeks. Within a 12-week treatment period, you should notice the full beneficial effects.
Talk to a health care provider before using if you’re taking prescription drugs or have been treated for any hormone-dependent cancer including breast cancer. If you notice adverse effects of liver problems like dark urine or abdominal pain, stop taking Remifemin and get medical attention from a health care practitioner.
The Nature’s Way Brand
Nature’s Way is a leader in the world of dietary supplements and natural health, with a reputation spanning more than 50 years. The ingredients in their diet supplement products are carefully grown and harvested, and often without GMOs.
What we like in particular about Nature’s Way is that they do thorough testing on all of their products and back them up with research showing the statistical difference and a verifiable body of evidence. They also earn TRU-ID certification on many products. TRU-ID certification is a level of verification ensuring ingredient purity.
Nature’s Way was the first recognized Good Manufacturing Practices (FMP) facility by NSF. They represent leadership in groups including the Council of Responsible Nutrition and the Natural Products Association.
Where Can You Buy Remifemin?
You can buy Remifemin at different retailers including:
- Amazon
- eVitamins
- Walgreens
Final Thoughts
Overall, we like Remifemin as a menopause supplement. Black cohosh has a lot of research backing up its effectiveness for night sweats, mood swings and other perimenopause and menopause symptoms.
Note: You should always talk to your doctor before taking a supplement, including Remifemin.
Our Editorial Process
All of our reviews are completely unbiased. We have an in-depth review and ranking methodology for each of our products. We base our reviews on:
- Peer-reviewed scientific studies and research
- Real customer reviews
- Our own experience using products
- Price and availability
Whenever possible, we review and rank products that we actually use to provide a better understanding of what you can expect.
Ashley Sutphin Watkins
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