A General Look at Perimenopause
Perimenopause is a compulsory phase that every woman will go through. Unfortunately, there’s no avoiding it. We all just have to face the music. Whether you’re 35 or 45, it’ll definitely come.
You can’t exactly diagnose perimenopause. All you will see are the symptoms. Put two and two… and maybe another two together, and voila! Perimenopause.
The discomforts you experience during perimenopause are caused by hormone imbalance between two specific sex hormones – estrogen and progesterone. Let me put it how my 11-year old daughter describes hormone imbalance: “Estrogen sends mixed messages to other hormones, putting some body functions out of whack. The hormones then become confused, sending signals to the body that they’re supposed to do what they’re supposed to even though the timing isn’t right. So, you experience getting sick.”
Something like that.
Bottom line is, it’s not just two hormones that become confused – others follow suit as well. So the irregular menstrual periods, night sweats, the hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, anxiety attacks, mood swings (sometimes depression), libido troubles… these are all results of hormones gone wild. Even gastrointestinal disorders cannot be discounted – these too are sometimes linked to perimenopause. Once most of the symptoms manifest (and preferably even before) you should make a list of what you’ve been feeling – sort of like a detailed journal indicating the date and time, what happened, what you were doing when you felt it. Since perimenopause cannot be diagnosed, your doctor will consider it a great help if you have The List. That, together with your medical history will give him an idea of what tests he should make you take.
Taking tests shouldn’t be scary. Rather, you should see it as a means to find out what you have (or don’t have) so that you can be prescribed medicine or treatment for the symptoms. A lot of women dread taking medical tests, imagining how the results will show cancer, specifically breast cancer. In reality, the cases of tests coming out positive for breast cancer are sometimes very rare – that’s even if you do have a history of it in the family. Plus, your doctor won’t give you unnecessary tests. He’ll base it all on your medical history, age, status, lifestyle and The List.
There are three basic types of perimenopause treatment.
Conventional treatments are usually recommended by doctors. These have had lots of clinical trials, but at almost every testing, certain health risk factors were discovered. And so, a few of them were discontinued at the trial stage. This is especially true of HRT where debates on its usefulness continue up to this very day.
With alternative prescription medications, studies have also been made to look into the efficacy and safety of these drugs. However, these drugs are primarily designed to treat other diseases which are totally unrelated to perimenopause. While there is evidence to support that it works for specific perimenopausal symptoms, there is still not enough research done into the safety and efficacy of these medicines when used primarily for perimenopause symptom relief.
We also have herbs that can be used in treatment. They may be natural, but if you try to mix certain herbs together, it may not work well for your tummy. It’s best to consult a naturopathic doctor if you intend to mix some herbs to address various symptoms.
You can try to stick to one specific treatment, or you can try combining them. Whatever you decide on, make sure to get a doctor’s okay first to avoid getting additional discomforts. But even if you take all the medicine and herbs in the world, if you don’t combine it with a healthy lifestyle, then all your efforts would be useless. Eat a healthy diet, do several exercises. And finally, try to quit smoking to better the chances of treating the symptoms.
If you want to have pain-free perimenopause, try to follow the things discussed on this site. This is your guide to a new you:…A woman who’s going through perimenopause, but doesn’t look it.
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