I am 43 and have been having hormonal issues for about a year now. Missed periods, hair loss, mood swings, hot flashes, heart palps. My doc finally tested my hormones and my estrogen was 22 and my progestin was something like a 2. They didn't test my testosterone but said they can infer it's probably low. I've been referred to a specialist who does bioidentical hormone replacement.
In the meantime, I've been very ill for over a year now with horrible stomach pain and intestinal issues. The cause so far is undiagnosed. My doc says that perimenopause can exacerbate other conditions, so she thinks that is what is going on here, but she doesn't think perimenopause is causing my condition.
Anyway, my question is to the women here who have gone through this- what did you do to help? What dietary changes should I make? What exercises will help me most? How do I manage my stress better? How do I manage the mood swings better? The hot flashes are under control right now because my doc gave me a cream called "progestin" to use nightly and the hot flashes utterly went away. They actually didn't bother me that much (they weren't severe like some people's are) and since I have thyroid disease and am often quite cold, I actually saw an upside to the hot flashes as "hey, I'll actually be warm for once" haha.
Any advice on what to expect, and how best to manage this change in my life would be really appreciated.
Hi-I realize you posted this a while back but hopefully you will see this. I too, am 43 years old and have symptoms of perimenopause. I usually get the night sweats during the week prior to my period and once I get it, bam, they disappear! I am a stressful person already but I find now that I have a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep which doesn't help the foggy brain that I have too. The one thing that my mother actually suggested was taking Evening Primrose Oil capsules. I take them usually the 2 weeks or so before I am expecting my period, and they help with the night sweats. I may still get them but not nearly as bad or for as long. I find they help with any pms symptoms as well ie. cramps, sick stomach etc. I usually only get a bit of a headache now.
One other thing that you posted was your stomach issues. I have pain right in the middle of my stomach-up high under my sternum almost. I have had it on and off over the last 4-5 years and have yet to be diagnosed. I have had ultrasounds, xrays, colonoscopies, etc etc. During this time, I also noticed brittle short nails which I have never suffered from and the sleep issues were at their worst. Again, my mom gave me some magnesium to try and it really helps with my sleeping and my nails too. Not sure if that is part of perimenopause or just my worrisome nature or something more but you may want to try it. Both supplements are inexpensive although I do try to buy a good name brand to be sure of it's contents etc. Hopefully some of these things may help you!!
Eagle - It is unfortunate you didn't get a lot of responses. Personally, I sailed through the whole thing. I gained weight between 45 and 55, and I would like to blame it on hormones - but I have a sneaky suspicion it was all that wine, cheese, and eating out a few times a week that sunk my little boat. The kids grew up and moved out and I was left to my own devices...now it is time to pay my proverbial piper and never do that again.
Since there is s thyroid/ gut connection, if I were you, I'd probably start there. Not uncommon for people with thyroid problems to be walking around with chronic inflammation/ leaky gut syndrome as well. There's an article on hypothyroidmom that talks about it and gives an outline of what to do, but I'd don't have enough posts yet to post a link. You can find it if you google "hypothyroidmom thyroid gut connection". Some simple things you can do while sorting out if there are any food allergies that the article discusses, in the meantime, is get yourself a good quality fish oil (to help with inflammation), and probiotic supplement, and start eating fermented foods for the probiotics as well. Good luck.
Last edited by catwoman22; 01-08-2017 at 09:10 AM.
Advice for dealing with Perimenopause?
