Do you remember going through puberty?
Starting your period and going through all the hormone changes as you became a woman?
If you are like most women, puberty was a time of ups and downs, hormonal adjustments, changes in your body, your mood and emotions. It may have even felt like a bit of a rollercoaster that lasted a few years at least. And then everything got more regular and stable. Your menstrual cycle and your period became something you were accustomed to. Your hormones ebbed and flowed in a rhythmic manner each month through your 20’s and 30’s.
And then in your 40’s you felt something start to shift. Without realizing it, you climbed back onto the hormone rollercoaster. Only this time, it’s the perimenopause ride!
Just as transition through puberty into your reproductive years took time, so will the transition out of your reproductive years into menopause takes time. On average the perimenopause transition lasts 7 years. And yet most women (myself included) have never been taught what’s happening within their body and that it’s normal and ok.
So what’s happening in perimenopause?
The follicles on your ovaries have been declining with time. This means your ability to estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and some DHEA are also declining.
Progesterone declines faster than the other hormones. Women in perimenopause stop ovulating consistently. Without ovulation, we are unable to produce progesterone. Without progesterone to balance our estrogen, symptoms begin to show up – Insomnia, heavy periods, and hormonal migraines.
While progesterone levels are declining, estrogen levels fluctuate wildly between high and low. It’s like riding a hormone roller coaster. Some days, weeks and months are good, others are completely terrible. High estrogen symptoms show up as breast pain, heavy periods, fluid retention and irritable mood. Low estrogen causes depression, weight gain, hot flashes and night sweats.
Check out this research from Harvard for as a visual. 6 months of regular menstrual cycles compared to 6 months of fluctuating hormones in perimenopause…..it’s literally chaos!
Some women can have an easy transition into menopause and that’s GREAT! But if you are struggling to hold on through this roller coaster ride, stay tuned…..I have more information coming!
