Going through menopause affects women in different ways, and dealing with the symptoms can be incredibly frustrating — even debilitating for some. Although this week marks the start of World Menopause Awareness Month, this stage of life can come as a surprise to many women.
About six months ago, shortly after my 45th birthday, I began experiencing symptoms of perimenopause. However, it can be difficult to know when it begins because the symptoms are far-reaching and not always obvious. Common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, irregular menstrual periods, bloating, weight gain and mood swings, as well as lesser-known symptoms such as headaches, itchy skin, memory loss, muscle pain, stiff joints, depression and decreased libido.
I was suffering from both the well-known symptoms; hot flashes, moodiness, bloating, and weight gain, as well as other symptoms I didn’t immediately think were related to menopause, such as itchy scalp and skin, breast sensitivity, hip and knee aches, fatigue, blemishes on the skin, sore gums, and headaches. It took me a while to understand that I was going through menopause, and for months I thought I’d have to live with the symptoms, which were mostly caused by fluctuations in sex hormones, estrogen during perimenopause and the dramatic drop in estrogen after menopause. The reason.
But after a few weeks, I felt completely different from my usual positive, healthy, focused self and I decided to try to tackle some of my symptoms. I’m a personal trainer and qualified nutrition coach and I have a good understanding of how the female body works, so I decided to do some research and speak to experts. As a result, I made some simple changes to my lifestyle. After three months, these changes had reduced, or in some cases completely cured, some of my symptoms. These changes worked well for me, but as women’s bodies are so unique, they may not work for everyone. Here’s what I did…
Add probiotics and increase prebiotic foods
According to a recent study conducted by science and nutrition company Zoe, a growing body of research links gut health to menopause symptoms. The study analyzed more than 70,000 women during and after menopause and found that a healthy diet and good gut health were associated with a lower chance of menopause symptoms.
This is mainly due to the changes that happen in the gut during menopause and its role in estrogen regulation. “The gut microbiome is made up of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and plays a key role in the metabolism and circulating levels of estrogen,” explains Katie Ward, gut expert and general manager of the company’s Cla Women’s Probiotic product. “It helps regulate hormonal changes.” Instead, the amount of estrogen produced by the ovaries affects the composition of the gut microbiome, which is also connected to the brain. A healthy microbiome can help reduce all kinds of menopause symptoms, including bloating, gas, constipation, fatigue and cramps, hot flashes, weight gain, decreased libido, and mood swings.
For me, the easiest and fastest way to support your gut microbiome is to eliminate processed foods as much as possible and take a daily probiotic for women, which helps increase the number and diversity of beneficial microbes. You need prebiotic foods to maintain the health of these microbes, so I increased my intake of berries, bananas, apples, flax seeds, oats and nuts – all of these foods also help increase estrogen levels. These changes drastically reduced my inflammation and itchy skin, as well as my fatigue and brain fog.
Change your intake of sugar and alcohol
Refined sugar can cause mood swings, weight gain, skin discoloration, gum problems, brain fog, fatigue, hormonal imbalances and have a negative impact on your gut microbiome – all of which are linked to menopause symptoms. Zoe’s research also found that perimenopausal women tend to eat “more sugary foods, mainly in the form of sweets and desserts”, which definitely happened to me. I used to eat sweets sparingly, but now I started craving something sweet after every meal.
Alcohol can cause similar problems, particularly affecting brain function and oestrogen levels, and of course many alcoholic drinks are high in sugar, so reducing both can help reduce the impact of menopause symptoms. Giving up sweets is hard, but it becomes easier to understand why I want sweets. Sweets and alcohol are now weekly or bi-weekly indulgences and should be eaten in moderation or replaced with healthier alternatives such as dark chocolate or fruit dipped in peanut butter. I think this change helped me lose some weight and reduce brain fog and fatigue.
Adopt slow fitness
I love training and I need high-intensity cardio a few times a week. These can put excessive loads on the body, leading to chronic stress, muscle fatigue, and strain on joints, which are already affected by low estrogen levels due to its role in supporting bone density.
“During this sensitive time, switching to slower forms of exercise such as aerobics, yoga or Pilates can have tenfold benefits,” explains MoreYoga trainer Scarlett Woodford. “When we do challenging cardio exercises such as HIIT, our stress hormone cortisol increases over time, leaving us with persistently high stress levels – even long after we’ve left the gym.”
With this in mind, in addition to my weekly HIIT workouts, I do long, slow runs, which are also great for promoting the release of “feel good” hormones and burning fat, which helps stabilize weight. I combine strength training with yoga and Pilates to improve flexibility, bone strength and prevent osteoporosis.
“A common symptom of perimenopause is anxiety and brain fog, and many yoga styles not only help reduce this symptom, but actually change the state of your nervous system as your body adapts to the slower pace of exercise like yoga.
As part of these athletic changes, I became more careful about my fitness nutrition. To save time, I usually don’t snack before or after exercise, but to combat fatigue and promote muscle recovery, I make sure to eat a carb before training, even if it’s just a banana. By changing my exercise program, I definitely noticed that my joints felt stronger and less tired, and I also noticed an improvement in my performance, which was an added bonus.
sleep better at night
Starting yoga and cutting down on alcohol and sugar helped me sleep better at night, and probiotics helped reduce the bloating I often had at night. To deal with the increasing tiredness and exhaustion, which are some of the worst symptoms of perimenopause, I also increased my sleep from six or seven hours a night to eight or nine. I bought blackout curtains and cycling sleep earplugs to deal with the light sleep. However, night sweats can also add to this tiredness, especially before and during my period – a problem I never had before perimenopause.
“Night sweats before and during menopause are primarily caused by a drop in estrogen levels, which affects the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates body temperature,” explains gynecologist and author Dr. Karen Tang. This causes the body to sweat to cool down. While a person is still menstruating, they may also experience premenstrual night sweats as estrogen levels will decrease during this phase of the cycle. Diet and lifestyle at this time can also affect the severity and frequency of night sweats. For example, drinking alcohol, smoking, and eating foods rich in fat, spices, or sugar in the evening can increase night sweats.
Likewise, cutting out sugar and alcohol and taking a sleep supplement, which helps mimic some of the properties of estrogen and promotes sleep, can actually stop night sweats altogether, as well as occasional hot flashes during the day. Getting uninterrupted sleep also promotes muscle and tissue growth and recovery, so it helps alleviate some of my skin issues and aids in recovery after workouts.
Understanding perimenopausal symptoms
Changes in sleep, exercise and nutrition helped many of my symptoms significantly, but recognising that I had entered menopause was key to helping myself. Perimenopause can start in your thirties, but medical information on what to look out for and public discussion on the topic of menopause is still quite limited. Also, perimenopause remains difficult to diagnose, with hormone tests being hard to get through your GP, but there are ways to check your symptoms.
The simplest way is Zoe’s MenoScale, an online utility that asks a few questions and then rates the severity of your symptoms on a scale of 1 to 100. You can then decide if you should see a doctor and discuss your options, which may include hormone replacement therapy.
