You are not losing your mind! Your hormones are just leaving the party!
What the heck is going on? What is happening to my body?
Have you asked yourself these questions recently? And are you a woman in your 40’s?
Chances are you’re in perimenopause. You’re not losing your mind, you’re losing your hormones. Estrogen and progresterone are leaving the party. Perimenopause is the time in which your body transitions toward menopause and the end of a woman’s reproductive years. Menopause is actually just a single moment in time when a woman has been 1 full year without a period. Perimenopause however can begin up to 10 years before menopause. It can begin with the gradual onset of symptoms or it might feel sudden.
Look at all these potential symptoms from Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s book “The New Menopause.”
Unfortunately there are many women in my community that have been dismissed by their providers, many sent away with antidepressants and told to get more rest. While getting more rest is essential during this time of your life and antidepressants may be necessary; this may not be the only solution to what you are feeling. And even more importantly, you MUST find a provider that is well versed in science based treatments for perimenopausal and it’s symptoms.
Even though EVERY woman will go through this transition, it is shocking how few providers are up to date on the science and are willing to prescribe the appropriate treatments. These treatments may include hormones treatment often called Menopause Hormone Therapy (MRT) or Hormones Replacement Therapy (HRT). Or they may include lifestyle changes like in exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress reduction. While this all may sound very overwhelming, I can tell you from personal experience that having a provider that will listen is the key to success during this time. This is a time to stand up for yourself and keep searching until you find someone that will listen.
There are REAL consequences for not treating these symptoms; depression, anxiety, increased risk of cardio vascular disease, osteoporosis & dementia. MRT or HRT have been shown to decrease the risk of these in multiple studies.
This is real. My job as a coach to help women transition through perimenopause more gracefully and conviction.
So, if you are a woman of a certain age or know one of these women, please listen up. I am here to support you whether you live near me or not, I can help you find a provider that will listen and I can help with lifestyle adjustments to ease this transition.
Tread lightly:
Social media is loaded with folks selling products that promise results for the above symptoms. Buyer beware! I look at science and scientific studies. Do your own research into these products. Who is selling them? Are they trained by an accredited organization to be prescribing/selling these products? What results are they promising? Does the science support it?
Please know…
YOU ARE WORTH IT AND YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
Trusted Menopause Resources:
“The Menopause Brain” by Dr. Lisa Mosconi
