Reclaiming My Life from Perimenopause

The progress I can report has to do with taking steps to reclaim my life from years of perimenopause symptoms. Let me explain just a bit.




A woman is not considered to have achieved menopause until she has gone 1 full year without having the typical monthly cycle. The period of time that gets her to that stage is called perimenopause and can last from 5 - 15 years. I recognized the onset of perimenopause about 6 years ago and have run the entire scope of possible symptoms, usually to the max and often with several of them happening at once. The hardest for me has been the change in the way I feel and react. I am typically a very even keel person with a lot of patience and a basic curiosity and enjoyment of most things in life. However, with the onset of perimenopause, this even keel has been slammed from side to side, turned over entirely and swings from top to bottom. I hate it.



My way of dealing with this has been to close it off inside and not demonstrate outwardly what I'm feeling. Tom says that although I tell him occasionally I'm having such extreme reactions, he doesn't see it in my day-to-day activity. Similarly, I don't think my work colleagues have noticed any radical changes in me either. But internally, it has been a wrestling match. Every reaction I have, I have to mentally assess it and alter the outward reaction to fit what I think it would be if perimenopause wasn't trying to kick my butt. This means that when my reaction is to rant and rave about something, I hold it back and react calmly to it. When I feel like I'm depressed enough to climb back into bed and pull the covers over my head for about a week or more, I get up and do whatever needs doing regardless of how I feel. This has really been taking a major toll on me, which, per typical, I pushed back and mostly ignored, until recently. All that repression hasn’t been good for my well being!



After doing some research and making some adjustments to allow for insurance coverage, I went to a center for integrative medicine where their approach is to treat you holistically and with as much natural remedy as possible. They use modern medical treatment, too, but in conjunction with alternative treatment. It’s an expensive, out-of-pocket cost that my insurance company will eventually partially cover as an out-of-network expense, but I decided that it was a personal investment I really needed to make.



In my first visit which was an hour-long session with my M.D., a treatment plan was developed. She took tests to establish a baseline and then using what I reported to her, started me on some supplements to help boost my body to be able to produce and process all the nutrients it needs.



For instance, my blood test shows that I am significantly vitamin D deficient, only having about half the minimum amount required, and this after taking a vitamin D 1000IU supplement for the past year! I am now taking 5000IU’s of vitamin D daily. By the way, most adults are deficient in Vitamin D, and while the FDA has set the daily minimum requirement to 800IU’s (a recent increase from 400IU’s), this doesn’t even come close to what is actually needed by our bodies. A friend who only takes whatever Vitamin D is present in his multi-vitamin and in the food he eats, has only .04 of the required level.



So take this example of vitamin D and apply it to other important nutrients the body needs to function properly such as omega-3 fatty acids and magnesium, and you can guess that bringing these things into balance is a good start to feeling better. Without the appropriate levels of vitamins, minerals and proteins, the body can’t perform normal functions adequately which results in aches and pains and low energy and other symptoms that people just deal with every day.



In addition to this, my treatment plan will start me on a plant-based, natural progesterone for 10 days a month. It’s no secret that perimenopause symptoms are caused by the irregular production of estrogen and progesterone, but previously the only treatment offered me was the typical hormone replacement treatment which is strongly linked to breast cancer. Since I’ve already had two forms of cancer (retinoblastoma and lyomyosarcoma) I’m not interested in tempting a third. I’m also not interested in taking a hormone that is developed from the urine of pregnant mares or that has other ingredients which have significant side effects. I am comfortable that my new doctor understands this and is prescribing a treatment that will be beneficial without the risks associated with typical hormone replacement therapy.



So here’s what I’m currently taking:



• A multi-vitamin for women 50 years or older

• Slow FE (a time-released iron supplement)

• Vitamin D3 5000IU’s

• Probiotic 3 times a day with meals

• Omega-3 capsules 3 times a day with meals

• Cortisol Manager once a night

• Natural progesterone 10 days each month



I’ll explore in more depth the probiotic and cortisol manager in future messages, but in the mean time feel free to Google them to see what you can learn. Most of the supplements I’m taking would be appropriate to any adult, male or female, though I’d recommend that you find out the baseline for these things in your own body before choosing what to take. Also, make sure that any supplement you purchase comes from a reputable source. There is no regulation for dietary supplements, so suppliers aren’t required to test the actual content of the capsules they distribute. Though the bottle may say that you are getting 5000IU’s of vitamin D, each individual capsule may contain anywhere from 5 to 50,000 IU’s because no regulatory testing is required.



As I progress through this treatment plan, I’ll report on how it is working. I am cautiously optimistic! I can say for sure that I like the approach this center takes toward treatment and I like all of the people involved. I truly believe that this is the best step I can take at present to get some relief so that I can focus on things like regular exercise and getting fit.