Perimenopause 101: How to Recognize the Signs Before Menopause

Hello everyone, and welcome. Today we are going to talk about perimenopause. What is perimenopause? Well, it's the leadup to menopause. And your body goes through several changes. And it's literally the drawing down of your hormones, your estrogen, progesterone, and then testosterone as well. Yes, women have testosterone. And it's drawing down those. But the thing is it really wreaks havoc on your body. Some women only have mild symptoms if at all and then other women it's severe.

There isn't a lot of help out there. A lot of women will go to their regular GP general practice physician, and they'll give them anti-depressants and call it a day. That so grossly minimizes what's going on with women and there are some untruths and myths going on the internet that I've seen that are not true based on my own experience. I'm not an expert in any way, but based on my own experience, this is grossly not true. One of those untruths is perimenopause starts at age 46 (on average). That is untrue. Perimenopause can start as early as 32 years old.

I will tell you my story of what I went through, the symptoms that I exhibited, and then I'll go over what other things that could happen. So, for me, I started perimenopause around 37 years old. I had no idea. I was completely uninformed of that this could be perimenopause at such a young age. no idea whatsoever. And at that time, the internet gave no information on that, but I wouldn't have looked for it because I had no idea that that's what this was. I just thought it was aging. The first symptom that hit me was dietary changes. I was either constipated where I would go number two every four or five days or I was having IBS symptoms with diarrhea. There was not in between. That was the first symptom.

The second one was I became extremely anxious. I was never an anxious person ever. And I was the kind of person that at work I loved stress. Work stress loved it. Ate it for breakfast. Loved it. It motivated me. It got me going. It fueled me to be my best self and I loved it. Well, for some reason, anxiety hit and it started affecting my sleep. So, by the time I turned 40 years old, this was in 2008, I pretty much had a nervous breakdown. I wasn't getting any sleep, and I was just a complete stress ball. My anxiety had spiraled and it was just insane. I finally broke down and went to the doctor because I was seeing spots in my vision. I went to the doctor, and my blood pressure was so high they thought I was going to have a stroke and so they put me on Lexapro which is an anti-depressant and that's what doctors do. They put you on anti-depressant when in actuality they should have told me that this might be part of menopause, but they didn't. No one said a word to me about that at all. And I wasn't educated enough to even know.

Then I started exhibiting depression and social anxiety. I was never like that before. I was always down for public things, doing things, going out and about you know fun things like that. All of a sudden, I was not. Going to the mall drained me socially. I just became someone that just wants to stay home, and I was never like that before.

Another untruth that they will tell you that menopause as a whole is temporary. It's 8 to 10 years. I'm going to tell you right now; I'm at 20 years. I am on HRT. I take Estradiol. Perimenopause, it starts out mild, like I said, but as you age, it's going to increase.

Another symptom is your period will change. For years and years, I was on birth control. Back when I was 17, I was having really painful periods. And it was my grandma that said, "You need to get on the pill because it will regulate your periods and it will control that pain." And she was correct. Always listen to grandma. Grandma always knows everything. Always. They've been there. They've done it. They know. So, I got on the pill and yes, it worked. Absolutely. I went from seven-day heavy periods with a lot of pain to three days very light practically an afterthought. Love you grandma. Thank you very much.

But perimenopause can start as early as 32 years old. And it is not as temporary. If you start that young, you're going to continue to be that way. I started at 37 with symptoms and I'm 20 years later, 57 years old, I still have symptoms. So, that's not true if it says it's 8 to 10 years because I believe that and I suffered needlessly. Do not suffer needlessly.

So, what can you do if you start exhibiting these kinds of symptoms? Go to your doctor and request them to do blood work to test your hormones. And those hormones you need to look for:

1. Estrogen

2. Progesterone

3. FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone)

4. LH (Luteinizing Hormone)

5. Thyroid (TSH, T3, and T4)

Based on those results, then you'll get a better idea of how to proceed. If the numbers are low, and if your doctor can't help you, find a doctor that is knowledgeable about menopause.

So, some other symptoms are:

1. Heart Palpitations

2. Breast Tenderness

3. Bleeding Gums

4. Dry Skin

5. Panic Attacks

6. Dizziness

7. Belly Fat

8. Joint Pain

9. Hair Shedding

10. Dietary Issues

That is just a few of the many symptoms I started having during perimenopause. Believe it or not there over 100 different symptoms for perimenopause and menopause. Here is the checklist of what you should start doing if you are experiencing symptoms.

1. Get bloodwork done to check hormone levels

2. If you doctor can't help you, find one that can

3. Eliminate processed foods as much as possible

4. Remove excess sugar if you can

5. Incorporate some form of exercise each day even if it's 10 minutes it's better than nothing

For me perimenopause was just the start of a long journey of severe menopause symptoms that completely changed everything about me. It's been quite the journey of self-discovery and realizing how strong I really am.

That's all I have for now. Thank you so much for reading my blog. Watch my video below where I go into more detail of symptoms and what you should do. Take care and be well.