Are you 40+ and experiencing physical and mental symptoms towards menopause? The phase before menopause, you may experience symptoms like fatigue, mood swings, poor sleep, irregular cycle, increased stress sensitivity, feeling restless/ agitated, decreased libido, inability to lose weight, sore breasts, migraines or night sweats. Chances are your hormone balance is changing and perimenopause (the phase before the actual cessation of menstruation) has begun.
Perimenopause is a natural process: your body changes and fertility decreases, your body enters another phase where eight out of 10 women experience nuisance symptoms. But what if we tell you that there is no need to experience symptoms? In this blog, we explain how you can ensure that perimenopause goes off without a hitch and you can go through life happily and energetically even after you turn 40.
The perimenopause
Perimenopause is the phase before menopause, which usually starts around the age of 40. It is a succession of hormonal processes and changes similar to puberty. Perimenopause is often associated with a long list of discomforts and complaints. However, it largely depends on your lifestyle, diet and living environment to what extent you get menopause symptoms or not. Blood tests to confirm that you are menopausal are not always obvious, the symptoms are! Your body can show signs 5 to 10 years before your last period. It just shouldn't be too severe, too much of a nuisance.
The perimenopause as an indicator of your health
Perimenopause is a good indicator of your overall health, as it can reveal and exacerbate underlying health problems such as insulin resistance. The use of contraception also affects this. We see that the cycle and therefore your cycle hormones do not follow a natural course during the years of contraceptive use, even if you use contraception without hormones like the copper IUD.
If your hormonal balance during your cycle in the period leading up to perimenopause went without any problems, you are less likely to have major problems during perimenopause. Because many women use contraception for a long time, the natural hormonal balance is not clear. The only way to gain insight into this is if you observe your natural cycle without contraception such as the pill or IUD (also copper) by measuring the BBT (basal body temperature). Cycle hormones determine the BBT value that you measure in the morning. Cyclus Tracker Daysy gives you an accurate insight determined by the unique sensor of the Daysy.
A trouble-free menstrual cycle shows that everything worked well and your body can adapt well to the normally changing hormone levels in your cycle.
If your cycles were accompanied by problems/complaints then perimenopause can also be more difficult, as the problems affecting your menstrual cycle also affect perimenopause.
Hormonal and physical changes after age 40
After age 40, your body starts making less progesterone. A declining progesterone level while you still have plenty of oestrogen explains many of the symptoms of perimenopause: sore breasts, palpitations, anxious feelings, irritability, night sweats, migraines, heavy/irregular periods.
Fluctuations in oestrogen levels cause hot flushes during perimenopause, among other things. Some women are more sensitive than others to hormonal fluctuations, the more sensitive you are the more symptoms you will experience.
Hot flushes are worsened by everything the body perceives as stress: processed food, sugar, cow's milk, gluten, coffee, alcohol, smoking, stress. So it is important to avoid stress as much as possible by eating healthy, exercising enough and relaxing enough.
Loss of progesterone
As mentioned, the production of progesterone decreases after the age of 40. Therefore, getting pregnant will become increasingly difficult as the progesterone phase in the cycle (also called luteal phase) becomes weaker and shorter. This reduces the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Progesterone affects a lot of aspects of your health such as the immune system and the brain. Because progesterone affects the brain, a loss of progesterone can cause various mental symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety, depression, memory loss and sleep disorders. But night sweats, palpitations, migraines, heavy periods and menstrual pain are also related to reduced progesterone levels.
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Fluctuating oestrogen level
Besides a declining progesterone level, a changing oestrogen level also causes symptoms. The sharp rise and subsequent fluctuation of your oestrogen level is characteristic of the early phase of perimenopause and causes symptoms such as: heavy periods, painful breasts, irritability, night sweats, depressive feelings.
Your diet has a major impact on your oestrogen levels and therefore on your oestrogen-progesterone balance. For instance, if you experience binge eating in the second half of your cycle, it is due to fluctuating blood sugar levels combined with insulin resistance. So it's important to keep your blood sugar balance as much as possible by avoiding sugars and fast carbohydrates.
A stable blood sugar level helps maintain the right balance between oestrogen and progesterone and is very important for your health. With proper nutrition, exercise and stress reduction, you can ensure that your blood sugar remains stable.
Besides diet, stress reduction is also hugely important for proper hormonal balance because stress can worsen menopause symptoms.
Calm your nervous system
Many women experience more stress in perimenopause than in the time before. Feeling agitated, irritable, more quick-tempered, less resilient in stressful situations. Recognisable? This is because progesterone levels drop during perimenopause. Progesterone has a calming effect on our brain so once your progesterone level drops, you are more susceptible to stress. Case in point: make sure you can handle stress smarter and bring your stress levels down.
Tips to bring down your stress levels:
Get plenty of relaxation, self-care and self-love
Listen to your body, indicate your limits
Do relaxation exercises, yoga, breathing exercises
Go into nature
Be socially active
Create a positive mindset (through affirmations)
Take a warm bath before bed
Take magnesium (supplement and/or foot bath)
Take adaptogenic herbs to support mental balance
Exercise
Exercise is very important during perimenopause. Its main purpose is to reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, keep bones strong and maintain and build muscle mass. Building and maintaining muscle mass is very important in perimenopause, as the decrease in oestrogen causes muscle mass to drop faster.
The best way to maintain or build muscle mass is through strength training. Studies show that strength training has a positive effect on hot flushes and the brain. Follow a full-body workout at the gym 2-3 times a week or do exercises at home such as lunges, squats or where you use your own body weight and/or resistance bands, a kettlebell or dumbbells.
Finally, exercising (together) creates a positive mindset; exercising literally makes you happy. This is because, among other things, endorphins are produced during exercise, the fastest-acting anti-stress hormone.
Support with supplements
Another way to support your body and mind with changing hormones is through supplements:
Magnesium bisglycinate
Magnesium is the perfect supporting mineral during perimenopause. It normalises the effect of various hormones (mainly progesterone) on the central nervous system. But in addition, it has several other benefits:
promoting sleep
preventing migraines
calming the nervous system
support thyroid hormone
promote healthy oestrogen metabolism
reduce inflammation and slow down the ageing process
reduce risk of heart disease and insulin resistance
Herbal formula
Several adaptogenic herbs can support hormonal, physical and mental balance during this phase. The cycle and hormone experts at Daysy work with a complete formula that offer support during perimenopause. This formula contains:
Vitex agnus castus - an important female herb that provides support during perimenopause, contributes to hormonal balance and resists stress.
Actaea racemosa - one of the most widely used herbal remedies used for women's complaints such as hot flushes, night sweats, palpitations, anxiety and mood swings.
Rhodiola rosea - supports the effect of silvercress. A combination of silvercress and pinkroot reduces symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness and mood swings. Rhodiola rosea boosts energy and reduces stress and fatigue.
Leonurus cardiaca - this herb offers support during life changes, such as perimenopause. It is used to reduce stress and agitation.
Melissa officinalis - calms, is sedative and sedative.
Passionflower incarnata - has calming and sleep-promoting properties and can provide pain relief for headaches and menstrual cramps.
Another option is our successful Progesterone cream
Using a 100% natural bio-identical progesterone cream can have a positive effect on perimenopausal symptoms such as night sweats, palpitations, mood swings and sleep problems. There are no known side effects of this version of progesterone cream. Handle the dosage as indicated, 1 cream hub right after ovulation until your first menstrual day or ask our experts.
How to proceed with your Daysy or LadyComp
You can use a cycle tracker as long as you are menstruating. Since there can already be some irregularities in the cycle during perimenopause, you may have some more red/yellow days. The course of declining fertility is different for every woman, but will be characterised by skipping ovulations. The cycle tracker remains accurate and waits to give you green infertile days once ovulation has occurred.
Despite fewer ovulations, you may still have periods. Your periods may come earlier or later than you were used to before. Nice to use Daysy to see what is happening in your body and have insight into the course of your cycle even at this stage of your life.
First aid for menopause complaints
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