The beginning of this year I was hit hard with symptoms of perimenopause. You can read about these struggles in my blog post, Perimenopause Hit Me Like a Brick Wall. I was hesitant to post that blog post, but after encouragement from friends to share my story I was shocked with how many women reached out to me with their own struggles with hormones. Now that we are into fall I have been having people checking in on me, I thought I would write an update of what I have been doing and how I have been feeling.
Acupuncture: I go one to two times a month to acupuncture and have found this helpful with anxiety, sleep and just overall feeling better.
Educating Myself: I have been reading books, listening to podcasts, reading medical journals and talking to friends and colleagues in the medical field and friends on hormone replacement therapy about perimenopause and hormone replacement therapy.
Exercise: I walk 1-2 miles on my lunch break at work. After work I walk another 2-3 miles. With the advice of a friend I started running a couple times a week as well. I am not running far, about two miles a time, but have found it helpful. I am trying to strength train three times a week, with free weights and YouTube videos. I am also trying to incorporate yoga at the end of the day, also by watching YouTube videos. On the weekends I try to get in a hike.
Food Changes: I have found that food and beverages with caffeine, sugar, salt or that are processed increases my anxiety and impacts sleep and energy. I have reduced or cut out most of those items along with alcohol. I am only having 1-2 caffeinated drinks a week, which is usually a unsweetened green tea. I have increased my protein and vegetable intake. I have reduced my dairy intake as I have read it can impact hormones. I am working on increasing my fiber intake. I rarely snack, which has been a huge change for me. I no longer crave sugar and am able to walk by sweets without being tempted. I still enjoy a bagel and cream cheese, along with an occasional slice of pizza.
Medications: I am on a low dose anti-anxiety that has helped with night sweats and some of the anxiety. I am questioning if it is impacting my motivation and energy. I tried coming off my blood pressure medications because my blood pressure stable, but I had an increase in anxiety after stopping them. So I went back on them, but at a lower dose. I also have as need anxiety medication, but I have only used them twice since I got the prescription this spring. It is nice having them just in case. I tried some supplements, but found they made my anxiety worse.
Self Care: I have been working on incorporating positive self talk when I’m feeling anxious, along with humming. Keeping myself busy and organized with tasks to accomplish has been helpful. Finding time to do activities I enjoy like hiking and day trips.
Support System: Being around others has helped me a great deal. I find I am better about being alone than I was, but I prefer to be around others. My family, friends and co workers have been amazingly supportive. Many of my friends are going through the same symptoms so we support each other. We text or chat on a regular basis to check in on each other. I am so thankful I have an amazing support system.
What has changed:
My blood pressure has become stable. I have been able to cut my blood pressure medications down by 3/4.
I am rarely having night sweats.
Sleep has been fairly good.
I am down 60lbs.
My lab work has improved.
I am not as needy of my husband and ok being alone, even though I prefer to be with others.
The week before my period my anxiety increases, but not as bad as it was.
I have to watch what I eat as I find it impacts my mood.
Anxiety is still there, but no as bad as it was. I would describe it as low anxiety that is just enough to be annoying and sometimes disrupt my day.
My hair is thinning. I’m not sure if this is due to the hormones or weight loss. I am exploring ways to strengthen my hair and prevent loss.
Motivation and energy has improved some. My husband has been great about pushing me to get back into the things I enjoy. I also try to push myself as well, which ends up being a positive in the end.
Essential Oils have been helpful with advice from my acupuncturist.
I have created an Amazon Page with some of the items that have been helpful to me.
I am not back to where I want to be yet. I have a more weight I want to lose. I still have consistent mild anxiety that needs to be better managed and my motivation and energy are still low. Then there is the hair loss. I have appointments with my PCP and OBGYN in the next month and I am going to discuss hormone replacement therapy.
In the reality of going through perimenopause it looks different for everyone. I could have ten women in a room and we would all have different symptoms and things that help us. I feel this needs to be something women talk and educate themselves about. I will continue to share my story in hopes of helping other women struggling with their hormones.
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