If you’re in your 40s and feel like your body is misbehaving, you may be going through perimenopause. I remembered that well — when my body started “acting up” in my mid-40s, it scared the hell out of me. Every day, some new weird thing happened… fluctuating body temperature, insomnia, anxiety… I thought I had some deadly disease!

Turned out, I was entering Perimenopuase — a stage that precedes menopause. It typically happens to women between 40 to 50 when sex hormones, particularly estrogen, fluctuate.

You may notice changes in your menstrual cycle (e.g., duration, flow,) as well as symptoms such as sleep disturbances, hot flash, mood changes, brain fog, etc. These symptoms vary from person to person and for me, it wasn’t a stroll in the park.

I went to the doctors. I talked to therapists. I was put on anti-depressants. I was angry. I blamed my doctor and that made me even more miserable because I felt so powerless. I became almost suicidal. I talked to people and was told: “it can’t be that bad.” I thought I was mentally ill. But I wasn’t ready to give up so I took matters into my own hands.

How To Take Control of Your Perimenopause Transition

What I am sharing with you is spent over a year relentlessly learning everything I could about this critical life stage, tracking how triggers and lifestyle changes affect my physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Here’s how I took control of my transition (and how you can too!):

1. Monitor your symptoms

Keep tabs on your issues by monitoring the frequency and severity of the symptoms you experience on a daily basis. This will increase your sense of control of what is happening plus provide you with helpful information as to possible triggers or if you need to get things checked out with your health practitioner. Download here the free Menopause Tracking Spreadsheet that can help you keep track of your issues daily, weekly and monthly.

2. Get things checked out by your healthcare practitioner

While menopause is a normal biological change and not a sickness, many of the symptoms (e.g., hot flashes, fatigue) may also be caused by changes in thyroid hormones, pituitary hormone, and cortisol levels.
The numerous systems in the human body are interconnected. Many physiological and pathological conditions can manifest as similar health issues. Therefore, it’s best to get your conditions checked out and confirm what’s really going on by a professional.
Explaining what you’re going through could be difficult and complicated. You may even be embarrassed to discuss personal issues such as a changed desire for sex, irritability, and depressive feelings. This I why I have created a free Health Practitioner Guide to help you Download here.

3. Understand How Your Body is Changing

Learning about your biology, especially how the hormones fluctuate, is crucial to navigating perimenopause and menopause.
Your hormones affect various functions in your body including mood, memory, sleep, etc. Their ultimate role is to maintain balance and control the body’s essential functions. Getting your hormones tested — especially the sex hormones, adrenals, and thyroid — can give you a complete picture of your physical health.
The good news is that you can now test your hormones at home. Everywell is one of the most recommended home-blood tests for checking your hormones. The perimenopause test can be ordered online and delivered to your home. The package contains all the necessary materials and instructions on how to collect the sample.

This information will give you a holistic understanding of what’s going on inside of you as well as you can discuss the results with your health practitioner.

4. Dive into the Specifics and Get to the Root Causes

Did you know that over 60% of our health challenges are linked to lifestyle choices? Menopause wellbeing is greatly linked to our diets and habits, yet their impacts are often overlooked.
To get back onto the driver’s seat, you need to understand how your lifestyle is affecting your hormones — and therefore how you think and feel. Many lifestyle factors that raise stress and increase toxicity in the body are often the nemesis of Perimenopuase. If not dealt with, they can have serious long-term health implications.

Here are some key areas to focus on:

  • Eat clean, nutritious foods that support your hormones. Download the Eat for hormone health Guide here.
  • Use herbs, supplements, and holistic modalities to alleviate symptoms.
  • Relieve stress with lifestyle changes and meditation practice. Download the Stress Relief Guide here
  • Use vaginal lubricant to ease discomfort and enhance pleasure.
  • Incorporate physical activities to ease symptoms, strengthen the body, and manage weight.

5. Get Support

The Ride into Menopause Doesn’t Have to Be difficult.
Schedule a Free Consultation to see how my coaching can help or jump over to the online programs here and start performing better at work and in life.

 

 

 

 

References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/perimenopause/

Please Note: The information presented here is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to be used as medical advice. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any products or lifestyle changes have not been evaluated by medical professionals or the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. You should consult your health practitioner before changing your diet, taking supplements, or starting any exercise or health program.