My hormones are all over the place- is this perimenopause?
Hormonal changes happen long before actual menopause. Cycles can become irregular or shorter or longer. Hormonal swings can become harder to navigate. Hot flushes or night sweats can begin and you may begin to remember what it felt like to be a teenager trying to deal with hormones and associated emotions that feel out of control!
The peri-menopausal years are times of hormonal flux for many women start to notice changes in their hormones from their late 30s onwards.This often becomes more pronounced as you move through your 40s.
I've certainly noticed changes in my hormonal cycles and have learned that I really need to listen to my body and move with my cyclic energy changes and simply cannot override it like I could when I was younger.
Despite the association of approaching menopause and declining oestrogen levels, the most common hormonal balance in perimenopausal women is actually oestrogen excess or dominance and a lack of progesterone!
This can be due to many different factors and may come about because of anovulatory cycles (where you don't ovulate but still have a period at the end the cycle), a lack of progesterone in ratio to oestrogen or an excess of oestrogen due to over production, exposure through diet and lifestyle, stress or issues with oestrogen clearance.
During a consultation, when we talk about your hormones and the symptoms that you are experiencing, I will be able to get a good indication of likely the hormone imbalance causing your symptoms.
Salivary hormone testing can then provide us with additional information and allows us to see your hormones in ratio with each other so that I know how we need to approach supporting your hormones back in to more balance.
Testing randomly throughout your cycle doesn't give us the most accurate information as there are particular days of the cycle that we need to test on depending on which hormones we are looking at.
I often have people bring in copies of test results of just oestrogen levels tested on a random day of their cycle, and who have been told their hormones are normal because the oestrogen appears to be within the reference range.
For accurate testing we actually need to see not just the oestrogen but all 3 forms of oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone and these are best done on certain days of the cycle. We don't just want to see whether the actual hormones are 'within the normal reference range' but we also need to look at the hormone ratios in relation to each other.
Hormone testing isn't overly expensive ($120 approx) but can be very helpful in understanding what is going on for you-IF we get the full hormonal picture on the RIGHT days of your cycle!
Once we establish which hormones we need to look at, I can then give you a test kit to use to collect your saliva sample on the right day of your cycle. It is then sent in to pathology and we have the results within a week and can then start a tailored approach to balance your hormones so that you can start to feel better!
There is so much that you can do to naturally support your hormone balance to make the perimenopausal and menopausal years much easier to navigate!
The Importance Of Stress Management
When you're moving through the perimenopausal years, you tend to become more sensitive to stress related hormonal changes. It's an important time to look at the level of stress in your life and at how you can increase your resilience to it. Old emotions or issues may also surface for resolution- it's like a clearing out opportunity and doing the work to address stress and emotions now can male the transition through actual menopause easier.
Your adrenals have to work harder through peri/menopause and if your stress levels are high they can struggle to make the hormones needed to help you feel balanced and on top of the ebbs and flows of life.
Breathwork is my go to to support body, mind and spirit through life and it can be especially helpful during times of transition or periods of stress. If you're interested in experiencing the benefits of breathwork, you can find upcoming small group online breathwork classes here: http://www.blossomwellbeing.com.au/breathspace-sessions
Friday morning's session will be a great way to let go of the build of stress, tension and challenges of the week and reset so that you can really enjoy your weekend. I'll be guiding you through a breathwork and meditation session to support you to relax deeply before moving to a focus on increasing vitality and energy to finish.
If you've noticed that things have changed with your cycle, your periods have become harder to navigate and you're wondering if your symptoms are related to perimenopausal changes and would like to have your hormones tested either reply to this email to make a time directly with me or you can book an appointment online here:
Returning clients: https://blossomwellbeing.as.me/?appointmentType=2667879
New clients: https://blossomwellbeing.as.me/initial-consultation
or to book a 1:1 Breathwork Session:
https://blossomwellbeing.as.me/breathworksession
