The Wisdom of Your Perimenopause.

This article is for women in the age of perimenopause (and men who want to know more about women's hormonal life cycle), marking today's World Perimenopause Day 2021. 

You will have heard me say this (proudly) a lot in the past few years, ‘my cycle in my 40s is so much better than it's ever been in my 20s and 30s. I like my cycle, I only have very mild pain and no PMS, my periods are normal, I have no hormonal imbalances, no emotional outbursts like I used to, no mood swings, hot flashes, my weight is balanced and I have no belly weight even though I’m 46.’

This wasn’t always the case: in my 20s and mid to late 30s, I suffered a lot physically and psychologically from my cycle. Like most women do. I had no idea that it could and should be different at the time, I thought that it was normal to have the heavy physical and emotional struggle that came with the periods.

I don’t think I realised those few years back when I decided to heal my body holistically how much I would come to appreciate it when it came to my hormones and entering my 40s. But looking back, understanding my body and my mind-body connection is what made it possible. 

There is a difference in what it means to be a woman with all the natural ebbs and flows that the female body and energy is endowed with that comes with the monthly change no doubt - and the pain and struggle that so many women suffer during our cycle. Our natural cycle come with waning and ascending of physical, mental and emotional states, just like the moon wanes and ascends each month. We go through the cycle with each phase being different, affecting how we feel and what we can and want to do, and how much rest we need or how active we are. This is very natural and we women can even tap into this powerful gift when we understand it.

Our cycle shouldn't be so bad that we can’t get out of bed, are in so much pain that we need several painkillers to get through it, and that we can only go through it with extreme PMT and mood swings with emotions completely out of control.

And yet, that's the reality for the majority of women. It's not our fault, the modern lifestyle is not conducive to our delicate hormonal system and feminine energy not built to handle so much chronic stress. We have to learn and take action to not just survive, but to thrive through the changes that naturally occur in our bodies, and to live in the overwhelming modern world without our hormones and health taking the toll.

Despite being in the age of perimenopause, I've managed to avoid and prevent (so far) the majority of the symptoms that I know make many women's lives so difficult and I want to share my three key things about perimenopause and what to understand at the physical, mental and emotional, and spiritual levels. How your diet and lifestyle can help your body achieve balance and optimum health so that you can minimise the symptoms when entering this delicate, but what can be a naturally empowering and transformative stage in your life.

Perimenopause starts at the age of 40 and last for 6-12 years before reaching menopause.

Typical Symptoms of Perimenopause:

Many women sail through 'the change' without any symptoms of perimenopause at all. Others experience a wide range of symptoms, all of which have physical, emotional, and psychological aspects.

During the years before menopause levels of progesterone typically decline, while oestrogen levels remain stable or even increase. This is the most significant issue for the majority of women; many of the early symptoms that women feel are due to progesterone levels that are too low, in relation to their levels of oestrogen.

Low progesterone is a result of chronic stress on the body - this is one of the root causes that isn't considered by conventional medicine. When your adrenal glands are stretched and exhausted due to chronic stress, the body starts to 'borrow' energy from the reproductive system, eating into progesterone as the hormone to give the body the energy which it hasn't got naturally.

Replacing progesterone with synthetic hormones doesn't deal with the underlying issue of chronic stress in the body. Working on your nervous system and reversing the effects of chronic stress on the body - namely the adrenal glands and the HPA Axis - the endocrine system can rebalance, giving your body back the lost energy. There are powerful dietary, nutritional, and lifestyle tools to help with this.

Symptoms of Low Progesterone

This state of a low progesterone-to-oestrogen ratio is also referred to as 'oestrogen dominance' and it's not to be confused with high oestrogen (as it often is even by medical doctors who treat low progesterone with treatments for high oestrogen that only make things worse eg. lead to further decline in progesterone). Some of the symptoms that women suffer when progesterone declines include:

Breast swelling and tenderness. Mood swings. Foggy thinking. Irritability. Trouble sleeping. Water retention. PMS. Weight gain.

Symptoms of Low Testosterone

Testosterone levels may also start to decline well before the last menstrual cycle. While the symptoms of low testosterone are often more subtle that those of low progesterone, for some women they can be significant. Symptoms of low testosterone include:

Loss of sex drive. Decreased sexual response. Decreased sensitivity in your erogenous zones. Decreased sense of well-being, energy, and ambition. Depression. Loss of or thinning pubic hair.

Symptoms of Low Oestrogen

Oestrogen is often the last hormone to decline, but is the hormone that is traditionally associated with menopausal symptoms. As you approach menopause your ovaries slow their production of oestrogen. While your ovaries continue to make some oestrogen for the rest of your life and your body is still producing it from other sources, the overall effect is a dramatic drop in the level of oestrogen circulating in your body—about 30–60 percent for most women. Symptoms of oestrogen decline include:

Hot flashes. Night sweats. Vaginal dryness. Decreased energy and ambition. Depression or mood swings. Dizziness. Headaches. Mental confusion. Urinary incontinence. Recurrent urinary tract infections. Increased susceptibility to vaginal infections.

2. Metabolic changes that are felt by belly weight gain that start to occur around the age of 40+ are often said to be related to the hormonal changes. While these changes are real, they're not necessarily the result of perimenopause. Instead, these changes are the natural progression of a process that begins much earlier: Glycaemic Stress, from blood sugar that is too high. 

Glycaemic stress and insulin resistance are also associated with insomnia, fatigue, and excess daytime sleepiness. A diet high in refined carbohydrates makes ALL menopausal problems worse because it adversely affects the body’s hormone balance.

Break this cycle by following some simple steps:

Cut refined carbs. Most peri- and menopausal symptoms will respond to a diet that keeps blood sugar and insulin at stable levels.

Get enough sleep. Night sweats and hot flashes are a big culprit here. These symptoms can improve, and the chances for a good night’s sleep likewise improve.

3. During perimenopause and beyond, our goals and behaviour become more motivated by the demands of our souls, not just those of society. We quite naturally seek answers from deep within instead of looking for approval from the outside.

During the perimenopausal stage we start a profound developmental stage in which unfinished business from the past comes up once again for resolution and healing, so that we can free ourselves from the outmoded beliefs and behaviours of our past. All the issues that weren’t resolved during early adulthood - such as body image, relationships, vocation, fear of aging, and self-esteem issues - now arise once more to be healed and completed.

It's time to listen to your calling and your heart, heal deeper wounds and set yourself free for new life purpose.

I hope you find these points about perimenopause and what happens in the body during this change helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. I help driven, ambitious and restless women 35+ transform their health using holistic health coaching and mind-body connection so that they can thrive and not just survive in the next stage of their life.

In my 12-week programme, we focus on removing the damaging effects of chronic stress on their body, healing digestion, balancing hormones, losing belly fat, and developing emotional resilience to change lifestyle and habits that are fit for your purpose in your next stage.

Katarina Hunter is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.