Four (Doctor Approved)Ways to Make Perimenopause Suck Less
Perimenopause Sucks
We all know that perimenopause is a natural part of a women’s life, but we also know, perimenopause sucks. Let’s not sugar coat things. It’s no fun to have crime-scene periods, gain 20 pounds in one year, and continuously forget where your car keys are, not to mention, what a restful night of sleep feels like. In addition to those annoying symptoms of perimenopause, there are also the potentially very dangerous changes we face like osteoporosis and cardiovascular issues.
Who are the The Menopositive Doctors?
Dr. Paraiso and Dr. Nelson are The Menopositive Doctors
While there is no magic pill to make all of our perimenopause symptoms disappear, and you will never hear me say on this platform that perimenopause can be blissful if you just manage to get your mindset right, there are ways to minimize some of the symptoms of perimenopause and optimize your menopause journey overall.
I sat down with Dr. Michelle Paraiso and Dr. Michaela Nelson also known as the Menopositive Doctors, to hear their advice on the best way to do this. With their unique backgrounds in both traditional and alternative medicine, The Menopositive Doctors help their clients manage their menopause challenges through mostly lifestyle changes.
Dr. Paraiso is an MD with over 20 years of experience as an anesthesiologist. Later in her career, she decided to pursue certification in lifestyle medicine because she wanted to work with the whole person instead of only seeing patients in the operating room.
Dr. Nelson is a naturopathic doctor, which means that she considers the entire lifestyle of her patients and suggests treatments such as botanicals, acupuncture, homeopathy, and lifestyle changes before suggesting traditional medicine or surgery.
Dr. Paraiso and Dr. Nelson had some really great insights and actionable tips on optimizing the menopause journey and making perimenopause suck less. Here’s what they had to say:
Let’s Start with Menopause 101
What is really going on with our hormones during menopause?
The truth is, many women aren’t fully aware of what is really going on in their bodies during the perimenopause process. There is so much more happening than just a loss of libido and fertility.
In addition to sex hormones, there are hormones all throughout our bodies sending chemical messages to our organs. Our sex hormones have a lot of protective effects, so once their levels decline, we start to experience what it is like without those protective effects to keep us even-keeled. This can cause other hormone imbalances to come to the surface and let us know that something needs our attention.
What protective effects do sex hormones have?
Two of the most significant protective effects that our sex hormones have are protecting our hearts and our bones.
The fact is that one in every ten postmenopausal women worldwide suffers from osteoporosis, a disorder associated with weak bones. This is because declining levels of estrogen can lower bone mass, increase the risk of bone fractures, and make it harder to heal bone injuries.
Also, after age 50, nearly half of all deaths in women are due to cardiovascular disease. Heart attacks are often associated with men, but postmenopausal women are at high risk too.
This loss of the protective effects of sex hormones like estrogen are why it is critical to find a way to counterbalance or counteract the decrease in sex hormones. Luckily, the good news is that women can do a lot to minimize the negative effects of menopause and optimize their health and wellbeing. And it doesn’t require medical procedures or hormone replacement therapy. Instead, it involves some powerful lifestyle changes.
4 Ways to Make Perimenopause Suck Less
Dr. Michelle and Dr. Michaela have identified four key areas to focus on to optimize the menopause journey: movement, nutrition, sleep, and the mind-body connection.
Movement
Incorporating regular, consistent movement into your lifestyle is so important — but this doesn’t mean that you have to take up a new competitive sport or hit the gym hard. Dr. Michelle and Dr. Michaela purposefully use the word “movement” here, not “exercise” because movement can be a brisk walk or household activities like lifting groceries or raking leaves. The key is to find movements that you can easily incorporate into your life that will be sustainable, long-lasting, and something that you enjoy.
Nutrition
Get creative with adding soy products in your diet to help improve perimenopause symptoms.
Again, Dr. Michelle and Dr. Michaela purposefully use the word “nutrition” not “diet” because this guidance is not about restricting. Instead, think about adding foods to your routine. Figure out what things you need more of as a perimenopausal woman and add them into your diet. Think calcium-rich foods, vitamin D-rich foods, and omega-3s.
Another important ingredient the doctors recommend adding to your diet is whole, unprocessed soy, which can be in the form of tofu, tempeh, edamame, or soy milk. Miso is also a good option. If possible, choosing organic soy products is the best way to go.
For perimenopausal or postmenopausal women, soy products can help cut diabetes risk in half, encourage weight loss, and drop cholesterol levels by up to 14%. These effects are because soy contains phytoestrogens, which can help modulate estrogen levels in the body. However, it is important to note that consuming phytoestrogens is not the same as consuming estrogen itself so don’t go overboard eating all the soy, thinking you’re going to trick your body into reversing its perimenopause symptoms. If only!
Some people associate eating soy with breast cancer, but that’s not true. This is medical misinformation that was once widespread but has since been disproved. If soy products caused breast cancer, Asian women would have far higher rates of breast cancer than white American women and that’s simply not the case. In fact, research suggests that it is the soy in their diets that cause Asian women to experience far less severe perimenopausal symptoms overall. In short, organic soy can be a great thing to add to your diet to help regulate sex hormones and decrease the severity of menopausal side effects.
Sleep
Good quality sleep is paramount to anyone’s menopausal journey. It is recommended that you do everything you can to make sure you regularly get good quality sleep and maintain good sleep hygiene by doing things like minimizing technology, noise, and other distractions in your room at bedtime.
The Mind-Body Connection
It’s true, prayer and meditation have both been shown to lessen both physical and emotional perimenopause symptoms.
Studies have shown that women with a strong spiritual or religious practice can experience less severe perimenopause symptoms. But if you don’t currently have a strong practice, how can you get that spiritual mind-body boost?
This can be achieved in many ways. An easy way to start is with a gratitude practice. Another great way is to start a meditation practice, either alone or with a teacher. Finding and participating in a spiritual community can also help provide this pathway to wellness.
Perimenopause is a Journey Not a Sprint
Focusing on making positive changes in these four key areas — movement, nutrition, sleep, and the mind-body connection — can make all the difference in your perimenopause experience. The goal of it all is to be happy and thriving through this period (no pun intended) that can last anywhere from four to seven years!
Take your time and experiment with different lifestyle changes that feel good for you and to you. Remember the doctors say to make the types of changes that you know you can maintain for a long time. Don’t think deprivation, think about adding new elements and routines for this new phase of life, and hopefully you can find your own way to make perimenopause suck less.
If you’ve found a way to make perimenopause suck less, please share how you did it in the comments below!