Transitioning from perimenopause into menopause can be an emotionally and physically challenging journey. Most women know that menstruation becomes irregular during this time, mood swings and hot flashes are often common, and sleep may be disrupted. However, many are less aware of the effects low estrogen can have on mental health, self-confidence, and the nervous system.
Read on to learn why perimenopause symptoms occur, how they can be eased, and what the research says about self-care, family support, and friendships throughout the menopause journey.
What Happens to the Body During Perimenopause?
As women approach their mid-40s (it can be earlier or later for some) the production of estrogen and progesterone begins to decline. This hormone decline signals the beginning of the menopause transition, known as perimenopause. Lasting anywhere from 7-12 years, perimenopause moves the female body from a state of fertility into infertility.
Menopause is reached when menstruation has not occurred for 12 months. Afterward, women are medically referred to as 'postmenopausal' for the rest of their lives.
Although estrogen and progesterone are primarily responsible for supporting the reproductive system, they are also known to support other body parts. For instance, estrogen supports the brain, gut, heart, skin, metabolism, and vaginal health as well as the bones and muscles, while progesterone boosts sleep, libido, and energy levels.
Given that lowering estrogen and progesterone levels during perimenopause means less support for these body parts; brain function, mental health, metabolism, bone strength, muscle mass, heart health, skin hydration, sex drive, weight gain, and vaginal wellness are often impacted.
Even though testosterone levels start to decline well before perimenopause, extremely low or high testosterone levels (compared to declining estrogen levels) during the menopause transition can impact facial hair growth, hair loss, libido, and sleep.
Although not all women experience all perimenopause symptoms, dealing with just a few can be uncomfortable, and for some, the impact can be life-altering.
Common Perimenopause Symptoms
As estrogen and progesterone levels diminish during perimenopause ovulation occurs less routinely and menstruation becomes irregular. Other common symptoms are typically linked to the lack of hormone support for the brain, heart, gut, skin, bones, muscles, vagina, and other body parts supported by estrogen or progesterone, and testosterone to a lesser extent.
The most common perimenopause symptoms include:
· Brain fog
· Trouble focusing
· Memory loss
· Mood swings
· Anxiety
· Mild depression
· Breast tenderness
· Heart palpitations
· Increased cholesterol
· Low libido
· Pain during sex (dyspareunia)
· Poor sleep
· Fatigue
· Slowed metabolism
· Loss of bone strength
· More frequent bone fractures
· Loss of muscle mass
· Weight gain
· Dry skin
· Vaginal dryness (vaginal atrophy)
· More frequent vaginal infections
· Hair loss on the scalp
· Hair growth on the face
Why Do Perimenopause Symptoms Come and Go?
Hormone levels gradually decline during perimenopause, but it does not happen quickly or uniformly. Essentially, as estrogen and progesterone levels diminish over 7-12 years, they also fluctuate, meaning women may experience higher hormone levels one month and lower levels the next.
This erratic rise and fall in hormone production can cause perimenopause symptoms to come and go without warning. This means symptoms may be severe one month, milder for the next few months, and intense again the following month. This haphazard occurrence of perimenopause symptoms can often leave women feeling anxious, self-conscious, and discombobulated.
In addition to hormone fluctuations, stress, alcohol, ultra-processed food, and smoking are known to increase the intensity of perimenopause symptoms, whereas healthy life choices can ease them.
The Importance of Self Care During Perimenopause
The menopause transition may be mild for some and more intense for others, however, every woman experiences some form of physical, physiological, or emotional change during this stage of life.
Weight gain and slower metabolism can change the body physically and result in lowered self-confidence. Physiological alterations may cause brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, heart palpitations, high cholesterol, vaginal dryness, or discomfort during sex.
Slower metabolism and a loss of muscle mass may result in weight gain.
And the emotional reactions to these changes can often result in self-judgment, unease, sadness, or a sense of depression.
That said, although these feelings are common during perimenopause, research suggests that alleviating them can ease other symptoms.
In fact, extensive studies show that the mind’s perspective on menopause inevitably dictates how a woman experiences it. Those navigating perimenopause with a neutral or positive attitude tend to experience fewer symptoms, for example.
According to the Journal of Health Psychology, self-care and emotional regulation during perimenopause can improve resilience, reduce stress, enhance mental clarity, and foster a sense of well-being. Establishing a positive attitude toward perimenopause through self-care is therefore highly recommended.
Self-care during perimenopause might include morning meditation, healthier food choices, regular physical activity, vital nutrient supplementation, time for relaxation, spending time with friends, a little pampering now and then, and creating the best environment for comfortable sleep.
Explaining Menopause to Your Partner and Children: Why It's Helpful?
While self-care helps to improve resilience and mental clarity during perimenopause, every woman also deserves emotional support while navigating through this transition.
For instance, family members may understand on a surface level that you are ‘going through menopause’ but they might not comprehend the full picture. Most people not experiencing menopause simplify it as the stage of life where periods stop and women can no longer have babies. Based on the plethora of symptoms impacted by declining hormone levels, however, menopause is far more than that.
Explaining perimenopause symptoms to family members, why these symptoms occur, and how they are largely out of a woman’s control, can help loved ones to recognize when you need emotional support, rest, a helping hand, or a hug.
Experiencing this type of support and validation from family provides a safe space for perimenopausal women to feel validated that what they are going through isn’t easy. Experiencing this type of understanding also helps to keep the anxiety, isolation, and sadness that are common during perimenopause from developing into depression.
Considering that perimenopause symptoms often come and go, those with less understanding can also question their authenticity or wonder why symptoms arise some days more than others. This type of doubt, or questioning, can be enraging for women whose mental clarity and physical wellness are already impacted by hormone fluctuations.
Perimenopause is also different for every woman, each experiencing it with a unique set of symptoms and severity. Therefore, what your husband may remember about his mother’s journey to menopause could be very different from yours.
Lastly, communicating honestly with family members about perimenopause symptoms removes the stigma of talking about menopause. More honesty now will help the next generation navigate through it more easily when it occurs in their lives.
Why Socialising with Friends During Menopause is Good for You
Given the physical, emotional, and physiological changes that occur during perimenopause, it can be a challenging journey to make alone. In that respect, research has shown that sharing perimenopause experiences with friends, or other women going through perimenopause, has powerful benefits.
Friends or women going through similar symptoms provide a non-judgmental environment where topics like uncontrollable mood swings, vaginal dryness, hair loss, and weight gain can be openly shared and understood.
If you don’t have friends of a similar age, try joining menopause yoga classes or support groups to meet women in the same phase of life. Feeling part of a community with similar experiences is a powerful reminder that you are not alone. Sharing a laugh about perimenopause symptoms is a great way to lighten the journey and be reminded that perimenopause symptoms are temporary and will not last forever.
Conclusion
Physical, physiological, and emotional changes commonly occur during perimenopause due to fluctuating hormone levels. While perfectly normal, symptoms like brain fog, mood swings, hot flashes, unexplained weight gain, low libido, and dry skin can be upsetting, uncomfortable, and difficult to accept.
In addition to hormone therapy and/or lifestyle changes to ease perimenopause symptoms, research suggests that self-care, open communication with family, and socializing with friends can help boost mental health, resilience, self-confidence, and acceptance during the menopause transition.
Looking for help to navigate your menopause journey and understand what can ease your symptoms?
Contact me for more details on my Menopause Coaching Package. As a certified Menopause Coach, Lifestyle Coach, and Yoga Teacher who has transitioned through perimenopause and arrived well and happy on the other side, I provide individually catered packages to guide other women through their menopause journey.
We can meet face-to-face if you’re in Cape Verde or online for those living elsewhere. We chat, we listen, we learn, we laugh, and we find solutions for you to feel yourself again.
Karen
References
Healthline – Premenopause, Perimenopause, and Menopause - https://www.healthline.com/health/menopause/difference-perimenopause
National Library of Medicine - The Importance of Emotional Regulation in Mental Health - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8848120/
Journal of Research & Health - The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Training on Psychological Wellbeing and Emotion Regulation of Menopausal Women: A Quasi-experimental Study - https://jrh.gmu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=1745&slc_lang=en&sid=1&ftxt=1&html=1
BMC Women’s Health - Women's experiences in the transition to menopause: a qualitative research - https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-022-01633-0
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - Mood Changes During Perimenopause Are Real. Here’s What to Know - https://www.acog.org/womens-health/experts-and-stories/the-latest/mood-changes-during-perimenopause-are-real-heres-what-to-know
Comments