Navigating Perimenopause and Midlife Mayhem
When signs of perimenopause first appear, it’s common to wake up in the morning feeling like life as you knew it is a dim and distant memory. Your hormones are in the driving seat, and you are left clinging on by your fingernails. Gone are the days when you rolled over in the mornings hoping your partner was in the mood for some fun. Instead of snuggling up for comfort and love, you are only too pleased to be on your own side of the bed, throwing off the covers as the heat overpowers you. When you cool down, you start to worry that
having sex will be a nightmare, leaving you feeling sore instead of satisfied.
You drag yourself out of bed to get on with your day, but you struggle because you have no energy. Your clothes feel too tight, while lack of exercise has made you despondent and depressed. Frequent, unannounced “power surges” make your face as red as a beet, and you feel like you are melting. You wonder where all this may be going. Some of the things that are happening to you may even be too embarrassing to discuss with close friends, so you sit in not-so-splendid isolation, wondering what comes next.
What’s Happening in Your Body?
Three key changes are happening in our body at the time of the menopause.
The level of the hormone estrogen, which gives us our feminine characteristics, is falling as the ovaries begin winding down.
Levels of important nutrients necessary for normal brain chemistry and hormone function are at an all-time low, sending us into economy mode, making it hard for our brain or hormones to function.
Plus, our metabolic rate slows down, that’s the rate that our body normally ticks over, making it difficult for us to consume our usual diet without gaining weight!
Nutritional Deficiencies
few women reach their mid-40s in a nutritionally good place. Published studies conducted by my own team of nurses and nutritionists have discovered that, by the end of their childbearing years, up to 80 per cent of women have inadequate levels of magnesium. Many are also low in iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D and essential fatty acids.
Learning how to spot nutritional deficiencies so that you can get your nutrients into an optimum range will help to get the brain chemistry working normally again. Plus, consuming foods and science-based supplements that are rich in naturally occurring estrogen have been shown in a number of clinical trials to reduce the depth of our wrinkles, increase collagen quantity and improve skin roughness in menopausal women.
Feel Like the Best Version of Yourself
When women learn to have what I call a ‘Midlife Refuel’, rather than it being the beginning of the end, it can represent a whole new beginning. All the tools and information you need to reclaim your wellbeing are in my new Midlife Refuel Community. I look forward to welcoming you there.
Maryon Stewart is the author of Manage Your Menopause Naturally and 27 other books. A world-renowned healthcare expert, she has helped tens of thousands of women around the world overcome menopause symptoms without using drugs or hormones. She is the host of the new PBS TV series Maryon Stewart’s Menopause Makeover. Watch the show and join her community at https://naturalmenopause.tv. Details of her program can be found at https://femmar.com
