Perimenopause – A Rollercoaster Ride
A woman’s journey begins when we are born, and nature prepares us to be reproductive in this world. The ups, downs, easy, fast all come at us, some we are prepared for, others take us by surprise. As puberty enters ever so gracefully into our lives, it can throw us onto the first real coaster ride or mellow along on the kid ride. Whatever your personal experience was, the next trip to the big loop to loop ride may have been pregnancy. Whether or not you took that pregnancy ride, we are all going to face the next ride of our lives, perimenopause up, down, loop, fast or a slow ride. All these amusement rides are 100% driven by a shift in hormones that affect our body, mind and soul. This shift can test us, give us joy, make us a little crazy at times, but we are all in this one and understanding the ride can make us prepared to take out the fear and embrace the journey.
Let’s define perimenopause first, on the clinical level, then get real about how we feel, body changes and brain impact.
Perimenopause is the beginning of the end of ovarian function. It is initiated by the fluctuation in hormone levels, primarily estrogen and progesterone. The other hormones that are at play are our adrenal glands and thyroid glands. Typically, the start is noticed by irregular periods, shorter, longer, heavier or missed. The start of perimenopause is varied and may begin in the late forties. The duration can be up to 4 years, but a range of 2-10 years is what the data shows. Once you do not have a period for a 12-month period, then menopause is the next phase of life.
The Five phases of perimenopause: 6-10 years on average 35-55 years can be the range
PHASE A-B: Quiet! Under functioning thyroid and adrenal glands make us tired, have low moods, give us insomnia, restlessness, headaches and shorter menstrual cycles. Periods may start to change from a 28 day cycle to 21 day cycle
ü Consider this phase can be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome - This is a really misunderstood time for women.
ü Fibromyalgia – aches and pains start to appear out of nowhere.
PHASE C: This is when we can start skipping periods. This is the start of the big swings of estrogen and progesterone. Can be the start of the ‘brain fog’ symptoms sneaking in due to the down and up regulation of estrogen receptors in our brain. Our bodies are trying to figure it all out, stability is no longer there.
PHASE D: Increasing hot flashes with longer intervals between bleeds, night sweats, depression, weight gain, bone loss, heavy menstrual flow, insomnia (still!)
PHASE E: Ok finally...things get lots quieter in this last phase. Hot flashes and night sweats improve, sleep gets easier and more restful, and we can go months without a bleed at all.
In the last phase of perimenopause, you can have a real ramping up of hormones right before you have a period, even if it has been a while since you had a bleed. This switching on of hormones can cause you to have a rush of hot flashes, night sweats and mood issues. This can be your period’s last real ride!!