Hormones, Perimenopause and You
It is not perimenopause per se that we should be wary of, but of the main change this phase brings – and that would be a hormone imbalance. Women, unfortunately, are more susceptible to the change that age brings.
A woman’s hormones gone wild is usually the reason why perimenopause appears. This hormone imbalance stems from the decreasing or increasing production of estrogen and the declining production of progesterone – two female sex hormones responsible for most of the effects of the symptoms of perimenopause.
Estrogen is best known as a woman’s hormone, so it comes as no surprise when it’s the first one to go haywire in perimenopause. Symptoms may (or may not always) include the following: an irregular menstrual cycle, decreased libido, weight gain specifically on the abdominal area, depression, fatigue, breast tenderness, hair loss, headaches, mood swings and irritability, insomnia, possible temporary memory loss and bloating, with a possibility for osteoporosis, uterine cancers or fibroids, cervical dysplasia, hypoglycemia and breast cancer.
Progesterone is usually an overlooked hormone, but hand in hand with estrogen, they make a pretty good team with a complementing relationship. One cannot be balance without the other.
While estrogen builds up the uterine lining, progesterone helps to maintain it. When estrogen allows you to retain salt and water in the body, progesterone acts as a diuretic to flush out excess water and eliminates the bloating feeling. Though estrogen increases body fat, progesterone uses it to make it into energy necessary for daily activities.
If estrogen decreases sex drive, progesterone restores it.
While estrogen increases the possibility of having depression and mild to severe headaches, progesterone counters it by acting as an anti-depressant. Estrogen also tries to interfere with the thyroid hormones; progesterone is well aware of that and tries to “tame” estrogen by helping facilitate the thyroid hormones’ functions, making them do their jobs properly.
Estrogen also stimulates breast tissue (hence, the breast tenderness times that is usually felt just before you have a period) but progesterone can’t do anything about that. Instead, it helps protect your breasts against fibrocysts (small polyps or benign growths that sometimes hurts when they grow in numbers).
There are some conventional ways to treat the symptoms of a hormone imbalance – replacement hormone therapies, low-dose birth control pills, ibuprofen, etc. But my absolute favorite would be the alternative treatments. You see, most herbs can mimic estrogen, and although it isn’t really estrogen, it is the closest one to the real deal.
Some of these herbs are alfalfa, black cohosh, clary sage oil, dong quai, fennel, fo-ti, licorice, panax ginseng, red clover, sage, the Bulgarian tribulus terrestris (unusual name maybe, but it is used to relieve both hormone imbalance and pre-menstrual symptoms), vitex and wild yam. Teas like chamomile and jasmine are also used to calm the senses and allow you to sleep well when insomnia threatens to come your way. (It is best to consult a homeopath rather than a doctor if you are considering herbs as an alternative.)
Perimenopause is a phase that women would definitely go through. By arming yourself with knowledge on how to relieve and alleviate the symptoms, you can help, not only yourself, but also others who share the same fate.
What You NEED To Know If You're Showing Early Signs of Being Menopausal
You're going to learn in my FREE Email mini-course:
- What is perimenopause?
- What are the signs and symptoms of being perimenopausal?
- What does it mean when you are becoming menopausal prematurely?
- What can you do about it, are there any treatments?
- And so much more...
All of your Perimenopause questions will be answered...
Yes! I need to know about how to spot Perimenopause and what I can do about it if I have it RIGHT NOW!
Send me my free Email course today!
|
