What is Perimenopause and WTH is Happening?
I get it. One day you’re in your 30’s cruising through life, fitting in your clothes, sleeping well, handling your moods, and doing pretty good. The next minute, you’re in your 40’s, irritated, moody, feeling puffy and fluffy, not sleeping, and not sure how any of this happened.
Let me guess…on top of everything you didn’t CHANGE anything?
Not your diet, not your exercise routine, not your schedule, not nothing and yet everything changed? 🥴
Pop the confetti, you’re in perimenopause! 🎉
You and I weren’t really taught this in school. And, there’s a pretty good chance our mom or grandma didn’t talk about it either. You’re not alone. Every woman goes through perimenopause on her way to menopause. It’s the transitional period.
I have often referred to it as a ‘reverse puberty’ stage. Remember going into puberty? Now back yourself out!
Perimenopause tends to start somewhere between your late 30’s into your 40’s depending on a number of factors such as your health and genetics.
During this time period, your brain to ovarian communication isn’t as sharp as it used to be AND the follicles you had on your ovaries are not as young and plentiful as they used to be. As a result, hormones start to shift.
Common symptoms of perimenopause that can occur sometimes, often, or in combination include:
Irregular cycles - closer together or farther apart
Skipped periods - freaks you out the first time as you think you might be pregant
Period changes - heavier with more clots
Sleep troubles - can’t fall asleep/can’t stay asleep
More mood changes - irritable, anxious, depressed, overwhelmed
Hot flashes and/or night sweats
Dryness - dry eyes, dry skin, dry hair, dry vagina, dry joints (joint pain)
Weight gain in the belly area - more visceral fat accumulation
Blood sugar changes
Loss of libido and/or ability to orgasm like before
Your ability to drink alcohol is different - that glass of wine now makes you feel terrible
There is no test to diagnose perimenopause. We take your age and your symptoms and put them together. Please do keep in mind that these symptoms can be due to other causes so it’s important to see a practitioner who understands hormones and will do a thorough work-up.
The first hormone that tends to decline is progesterone. This hormone is made after ovulation (when you release the egg). Unfortunately, ovulation is not guaranteed in perimenopause. Neither is the health of the cells that should pump out progesterone. Therefore, women notice less progesterone in the form of feeling more anxious, not sleeping as well, feeling more overwhelmed, and perhaps having heavier periods.
As you get later into perimenopause (closer to menopause) and you start skipping periods all together, your estrogen levels start to decline. This can be a huge adjustment for women when they start SKIPPING periods after being regular for so long.
The overall decline of estrogen (estradiol) plays out in almost all areas of the body! Estradiol is important for the health of your heart, brain, immune system, metabolism, gut microbiome, vaginal microbiome, skin, joints, and more.
Once you go 12 months without a period, you’re considered fully menopausal on the 13th month! I often hear ‘post-menopause’ as the time when you’re done with BOTH your periods AND all symptoms of menopause. I totally understand that you might go years with no periods but still have symptoms like hot flashes, brain fog, or more.
What can you do?
So much! Our society and healthcare system is not geared towards women going through perimenopause into menopause which is stupid and sucks. Let’s change that!
There IS a lot of help out there for you!
Just like you might research a lot for your child or dog if they were going through a health shift, you’re going to have to do the same for you.
I’m going to spend time on several articles going over key pieces of this transition. I want you to start looking for a hormone specific practitioner - you can search in a few places by zip code or telehealth, prescription rights, etc.
Resources:
I’ve been working a lot with www.nutritiondynamic.com as they work exclusively with Vidal Medical, Megan Del Corral and her team.
I also suggest https://dutchtest.com/find-a-dutch-provider/ - I was their Medical Director for nearly a decade and know many of their providers are very hormone focused if they are doing DUTCH hormone tests.
You can also search the Institute for Functional Medicine at https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
This might seem a little overwhelming however remember, you’re going to spend decades in menopause! Find someone who hears you and supports you!
Lastly, remember you’re still the fun, awesome, badass person you’ve always been…just moving into a new state of being.
It might take you some time to wrap your head around this concept especially if you’re not entirely recognizing the person you’re becoming in perimenopause (and menopause). If you can get the support, coaching and hormones you need, I’ve had SO MANY women tell me it’s pretty cool on the other side. They love who they are and how they are living their lives.
Pop confetti for that! 🎉