Perimenopause is a phase of transition to menopause and is associated with hormonal changes in women and it begins in late 30s. Nutrition and exercise have crucial roles in alleviating the symptoms of perimenopause.
How to understand perimenopausal problems?
Perimenopause is a phase of declining female hormone oestrogen in women in their middle or late 30s .it brings about a trail of worries in women’s life such as hot flushes, sleeplessness, mood swings and problems with memory and cognition.
Perimenopause is associated with anxiety, depression, mood disorders, joint and muscle pains. Vaginal dryness is common in late perimenopausal women. Obesity worsens in perimenopause with increasing follicular stimulating hormone FSH.
The most important hormonal decline in peri menopause is that of oestrogen. Progesterone hormones show fluctuations.
Periods become heavy or lighter with advancing age in perimenopausal phase. Menstrual bleeding may last longer in some women while it becomes more frequent in others.
Stages of perimenopause
Early phase: periods are regular in the beginning. But women experience sleeplessness hot flushes, anxiety and depression from least triggers.
Late phase: amenorrhoea or absence of menstruation happens in late phase of perimenopause. The missing of period begins at the age of 47-49 in most of the women. However, it varies from women to women. Vaginal dryness, painful sexual intercourse are usually found in post-menopausal women although it may begin later part of perimenopause.
A few interesting facts about perimenopause
- Although peri menopause begins with mood swings anxiety &depression become more prominent in late phase of perimenopause.
- PMS or premenstrual syndrome [ symptoms and signs that usually happen as disturbances in mental and physical planes in the first five days of menstruation] becomes worse in perimenopausal women.
- Perimenopausal symptoms are worse in women having high body mass index or BMI.
- Perimenopausal symptoms vary with ethnicity. It has been found that symptoms are intense in American women compared to Asian and European women.
- Perimenopausal distresses have been found to be worse in women who are addicted to smoking, alcohol and substance abuse.
- Obesity, stressful life events, poor social support , poor educational background and financial burden make peri menopause more difficult or eventful.
- It has been found that some women who had depressive disorder in the past are more prone to fall into major depression and suffer from fatigue, feeling of worthlessness and in some serious cases of depression a few women have committed suicides.
- Perimenopause and menopause are associated with declining oestrogen hormone and as a consequence these women are predisposed to heart attack, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis of bones.
How to address perimenopausal symptoms?
- Physical exercise
– The benefits of physical exercise in perimenopausal women
Exercise helps to reduce the distresses of perimenopause considerably. Physical exercise helps to boost happy hormones or neurotransmitters of brain such as serotonin and dopamine. Therefore, these neurotransmitters can help to mitigate anxiety and depressive symptoms significantly.
Exercise may also play pivotal role in reducing joint and muscle pains, risks to cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis associated with oestrogen decline.
- Nutrition in perimenopause
-The key benefits
A balanced diet with all essential nutrients are recommended for perimenopausal women which may include some specific, well-chosen food ingredients also. The diet for perimenopausal women should include:
- Curd – curd is enriched with calcium, probiotics which can impart health to bones and gut respectively.
- Raisins– raisins are rich in iron which helps to prevent anaemia related to blood loss from heavy periods. The raisins are good sources of fibers which help to prevent constipation and improve gut health. They also contain potassium and vitamin E.
Resveratrol antioxidants in raisins help to reduce estrogen and testosterone.
- Chickpeas – they are rich sources of proteins.
- Tofu -it contains phytoestrogens. The isoflavones helps to reduce hot flushes in peri menopausal women consuming tofu. Therefore they can help bone strength. However, women suffering from fibroids in uterus are not advised to take tofu as hyper oestrogen levels may worsen fibroid symptoms.
Homeopathy for perimenopausal distresses
Homeopathy can help to reduce hot flushes, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and several other problems of perimenopause. The medicines are chosen in an individualized manner.
The commonly prescribed homeopathic medications include Lachesis, sepia, aconite, Sulphur, glonoine etc.
These medicines are selected based on the symptoms presented by each woman of perimenopausal age. It varies from woman to woman and hence medicines also are given tailoring to the needs of each woman. It is recommended that medicines should be used only under the guidance of a qualified, registered homeopathic physician. Over the counter medications may do more harm as dose and right choice of remedy along with disease diagnosis are crucial.