EAT, PRAY, LOVE ... AND PERI-MENOPAUSE

When I sent out the last newsletter about my roller-coaster of a year, I had over 50 responses from you BEauties with shared experiences. Some were deeply, deeply personal. Women wrote from the ages of 37 to 70 sharing symptoms they were having, the battles they are going through and women who had already transitioned shared excerpts and advice from a very tender period of their lives.  

Some messages made me cry. Some made me laugh. But none of them made me rageful, which was telling. MANY messages asked me to host a meet-up for women to share and exchange ideas, health hormone providers and what I am doing during this phase.  

What is abundantly evident is that MANY of us have been bulldozed! Women stopped me in the store, saying that newsletter helped them figure out what was potentially happening to them! This is a 15-year period where symptoms can come and go anytime! I'm now looking back to 36 years old when I had some random cluster UTI's and wonder if it was actually peri symptoms. (PS. Consistent UTI's are linked to low estrogen!).  

The other thing abundantly clear is that women need to talk about it. Had I not had a hike earlier this year, where I sheepishly asked my friends if they thought they may be having peri-menopause symptoms, I'd have though I was going nuts. Three different ages, all in our 40's, all silently experiencing similar (but different!) things.  When my friend said she started to punch and hit her car and was on HRT, I really knew there needed to be more ways for women to talk about this.  

The other night I had a dear friend over for dinner, a few years older than me and we talked SO openly. She's in the thick of it with very classic symptoms: sweats, hot flashes, rage. She told me a story that made me howl with laughter. She took a new role overseeing a call center where the agents had to answer the phone: "Thank you for calling XXX, where every day is a good day!" And when she learned the agents' performance was measured by this one greeting verbatim, she decided to initiate change. She said to me: "Well, firstly, everyday is NOT a good day so that greeting is dumb & enrages me. Secondly, the agent should be measured by a pleasant greeting, not saying that verbatim."

The sheer joy this story gave me - not the joy of her being grumpy that a call center agent was "falsely" saying "everyday was a good day," but the joy of her opening up to me, of us sharing this tender and personal stage of life, of being able to laugh at the understanding of her feeling both annoyed at a cheerful "everyday is a good day" greeting by a call agent AND at the same time wanting to empower the team and not be measured by one greeting verbatim. There's a comical nature to it.  

There is a very palatable reality to how a Peri-woman is feeling. Sitting with my friend, hearing what some may think is horrible or "overtly negative" coming out of her. I was not judging her, not shaming her, not imposing ideas of her behavior. Instead, I loved her rawness, her desire to not fight the rollercoaster and just accept she's just moving through these emotions. And I was more than willing to do that, because I could identify with it.  

If you want to share, listen or just BE with other women on this wild ride, join us on the 7th December, our Boulder location at 10am. Come as you are. All of it. The raginess, the rawness, the curiosity, the QUEEN.  Any and all the many layers. Maybe there's 3 of us, maybe there are 30 of us but I have no doubt it will be healing.  

I'll share a bit more about my journey, what I'm currently supplementing, what HRT I'm on, who I'm working with, how I advocated for myself when my labs are still very high in estrogen and FSH (both of these are tested with blood, FSH goes very high for women going through menopause) AND cycling regularly…but having subtle symptoms and particularly emotional swings that were super chaotic for me.  

If you're 35 yrs old or more, and having any of these symptoms, it could be Peri-menopause. It doesn't mean you're on the cusp of menopause! I hope to see you on the 7th December - please do join and let's laugh and cry together.  

For those that want to keep reading, I'm going to list again a few of the not-so-obvious Peri symptoms…(Low libido, night sweats, sleep disruption, hot flashes, vaginal dryness…are all obvious signs, I've not had any of these and many women don't until closer to menopause). Here's some not-so-obvious ones that may surprise you:

1. Sadness, rage or other swinging emotional periods (women in their 40's are the No 1 demographic prescribed for SSRIs, when it's likely hormonal fluctuations!)

2. Slow weight gain, especially in abdomen. And no, being in a damn calorie deficit, lifting weights, eating protein - all of which are GREAT, do not shift this. It's HORMONAL and it trumps all the 'well if you just did this' things. Definitely still eat protein, lift heavy etc - please do - but if you find yourself discouraged because you're doing what every fitness influencer is advocating and you're not shifting a pound…hormones will trump it all. Ps. I'm not a doctor, I do not have a medical license and I'm not a fitness influencer, but after copious conversations and navigation, this is what I've come to know.

3. Mild, non-debilitating hip pain (I had CT Scans, MRIs, massage, you name it - it's COMMON WITH PERI - NOT ONE DOC SAID THAT!)

4. Shoulder pain ("frozen shoulder") - many women get taken straight to surgery with what a little estrogen could solve!

5. Vertigo - who knew standing was going to be hard at 40?

6. Eye styes - Fun times.

7. UTI's - Never makes a day dull with one of these.  

8. Irregular periods - too short, too long, heavy, light etc.

9. Brain fog - forgetfulness, lack of comprehension, etc

10. Lack of luster / vibrance in life / lack of motivation

11. Increased anxiety - That tree in your front yard looks like it will attack you. Yup.

12. Joint and muscle pain / you aren't old, you're in peri menopause.  

13. Changes in hair, skin and nails - drier, thinner, scalier etc

14. Changes in taste/smell - suddenly your partner's scent smells revolting. It's real.  

15. Sudden allergies or sensitivities. You mean I can't be near grass?

16. Digestive changes. Bloating, gas, it's a noisy ride for some.

17. Tingling or numbness in toes/fingers. Suddenly can't feel your toes after a long hike? Ya, I feel you. Well, actually I can't feel you...

18. Headaches and Migraines - you can blame your kids, or blame Peri.

19. Changes in Body Odor. Your deodorant of 15 years no longer working? Ya, that happens.

20. Sleep disruption. The half glass of wine wakes you at 3am? JOY.

AND MORE!