Understanding Perimenopause and How to Get Help

Peri-menopause literally means “around menopause,” meang that when a woman enters into perimenopause she is nearing menopause, when the ovaries stop releasing eggs and her period stops. 

There are many symptoms of perimenopause. Some of the more common symptoms include:

• Mood changes

• Irritability

• Anxiety.

• Changes in sexual desire.

• Trouble thinking/concentrating.

• Headaches.

• Night sweats.

• Hot flashes

• Breast Tenderness.

• Vaginal dryness.

• Trouble with sleep.

• Joint and muscle aches.

• Heavy sweating.

• Urinary urgency.

• PMS-like symptoms

• Irregular periods.

• Heavier periods.

• Weight gain

• Feeling bloated.

Despite the many symptoms of perimenopause, it is usually defined by a woman’s cycle. During early perimenopause, a woman’s period begins to vary in length by up to approximately 7 days, and by late peri-menopause, women may begin to skip two or more consecutive periods.
 

Tracking your cycle and symptoms during this time can be  helpful in determining where you are.

Perimenopause occurs when a woman’s regular reproductive hormones begin to change. Hormones are powerful chemical messengers, and it only takes a tiny amount to cause big changes in cells or even the whole body. Too much or too little of a certain hormone can have huge consequences.
 

During perimenopause, a woman's estrogen and progesterone levels begin to decline, though not consistently. As a result, women may experience irregular periods, changes in menstrual flow, and various menopausal symptoms.
 

A woman will typically lose 35% of her estrogen and 75% of her progesterone between the ages of 35 and 50.  
 

The amount of estrogen compared to progesterone can vary from cycle to cycle, but generally, peri-menopause is characterized by much more estrogen compared to progesterone, which causes symptoms of estrogen dominance.  Many of the symptoms associated with peri-menopause are caused by the imbalance of estrogen compared to progesterone.  
 

FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels will increase as a woman's ovaries become less responsive, because as follicle count reduces, the brain has to send a higher signal for eggs to be released.  
 

Since progesterone is only released after ovulation,  progesterone levels will begin to plummet.

When this happens, 85% of women will experience symptoms that will have a direct impact on the quality of their lives.
 

In fact, it is during perimenopause that most women experience the most debilitating symptoms.  
 

Yet more than 30% of women are not receiving perimenopause help and approximately 70% are not being treated adequately.
 

Often they receive no care at all, as their symptoms are outright dismissed or ignored.  
 

Many medical providers will treat the symptoms rather than see them as a part of a hormonal decline. For example, they will prescribe sleeping pills for insomnia, antidepressants for mood disturbances, and pain medication for musco-skeletal issues.
 

A better way to experience symptom relief is by starting  bio-identical hormone therapy, as this addresses the root cause. This is not old school synthetic non bio-identicall HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and the scary risks that are associated with synthetic hormones, but bio-identical hormones that your body recognized as ”bio-identical“ to its own.

Some women begin to gain weight (especially around the belly), and no matter how hard they try, they just can't seem to get it off.  
 

This is because the imbalance of sex hormones may also create sugar imbalances, insulin resistance, and thyroid and adrenal dysfunction.
 

Lifestyle measures, such as reducing overall inflammation through food by reducing sugar, swapping out processed food for whole foods, and other inflammatory foods such a dairy and gluten. Other lifestyle hacks like intermittent fasting and creating a consistent practice of inner stillness techniques, can often help bring balance back to these hormones.  
 

Implementing a holistic, multi-pronged plan that includes hormone therapy, as well as various lifestyle measures can help alleviate symptoms, balance hormones, and have you feeling like yourself again.   

Book your FREE Discovery Session today to get started on your wellness journey. 

Have you taken the Menopause Type Quiz yet? This is a great way to get stated to see how other hormone systems are influencing your symptoms.