Perimenopause: The Decade Where It ALL Changes
You read that right! Perimenopause can last about 10 years. We know women may go through subtle changes about 10 years before their last period. In some females, that means their mid-30s! Let’s talk about some of the symptoms you may experience in this time…
Early Perimenopause: This can start in your mid- to late-thirties into the early forties. Women’s cycles are regular but symptoms start to stand out like longer or worse PMS, anxiety may increase, sleep can change, and fatigue may worsen. It can also be indicated heavier periods. As this progresses, women may also experience mood swings, full-blown anxiety, night sweats and trouble sleeping.
Late Perimenopause: Typically, this starts in the later forties and women see more period irregularity, maybe even skipping periods. Changes in overall health can start showing up—like increased blood pressure, or cholesterol getting worse. Hot flashes, weight gain, night sweats, worsening joint pain, skin breakouts, even itchy ears can become problems. And often, women are told to deal with the symptoms, or that it is natural.
We don’t handle the loss or absence of hormones in this way with anything else in medicine! If our pancreas stops producing insulin, we have medications that we replace to provide the insulin. If our thyroid doesn’t produce thyroid hormones, we replace those. And as patients, we want to have a preventative strategy so things don’t become bigger problems, so clinicians who are trained in women’s midlife health know that intervening early and considering hormone therapy DURING perimenopause, not after, may be the best option.
Let’s talk what happens with a lack of estrogen in your body:
Inflammation increases: estrogen is literally the water on the inflammation fire. And inflammation can be the root of all evil, causing worsening atherosclerosis of our arteries, creating cellular change that can lead to cancers, and dysregulating mood and memory (which can lead to diagnoses of depression, anxiety, and dementia)
Heart Health: Cholesterol comes in many forms but the lack of estrogen can allow bad cholesterol to become a prominent part in causing an increased risk of heart disease…the number ONE killer of women!
Bone Health: Women become more fragile without estrogen. We start losing bone in our thirties but lose bone exponentially after the menopause transition and with total lack of estrogen. When we are looking at medication side effects, it may be wise to compare the osteoporosis meds that are often not prescribed until our 60s/70s to those of estrogen, which can be used preventitively!
Sexual Health: Vaginal dryness and decreased libido are issues that are often not asked about at yearly appointments but affect women’s lives greatly. Vaginal estrogen not only improves the possibly pain caused by menopause but GREATLY reduces the risk of UTIs-which in older age, can be cause for significant issues. And who doesn’t want a healthy sex life? Relationships feed on intimacy but if it doesn’t feel good or our brain is not in the right place, sex is generally the last thing we want to consider.
These are just a few of the hormonal changes that come about specifically due to estrogen. But testosterone and progesterone are affected too and the three in fluctuation can cause the body to go into complete chaos! In the coming weeks, we will talk about these hormones as well and what they help our bodies do, what happens when we don’t have them, and what our options are to replace them!
At Sapphire Wellness, we love to help women through this time of life and if you are ready to get off the roller coaster of perimenopause, or you aren’t sure if you are on it and what you should do, book an appointment and let us help you feel your best!
