There’s a term you might be hearing more frequently: perimenopause. Simply stated, perimenopause describes the years occurring before and after menopause. Menopause is defined as the time when there have been no menstrual periods for 12 consecutive months and no other biological or physiological cause can be identified.
Confused? Maybe this will help: Are you feeling fat, foggy, frumpy, hot flashing, periods a bit off, skin changes (from acne to drying, thinning skin), the size pants you wore last month seem like someone else’s pants this month? Well, you might be perimenopausal. The question is, “Why is this perceived as a bad thing?”
I have noticed that any phrase that starts or ends with menopause seems to strike fear in the heart of women. Why? Because we are told it is the end of our fertility or that we are getting old and the implication is it’s all downhill from here. Nonsense! It is time to redefine perimenopause!
Let’s look at it for what it truly is: The second coming of age. It is a time when we again become closely connected to our basic emotions. In our 20’s and 30’s we have conformed to what others wanted or what was expected of us to get to where we imagined we should be. We have compromised and put things off. This often required us to disconnect from what we wanted and were feeling.
Well, perimenopause says, “What about me?” The longing to connect to “me” becomes very strong. The shift in hormonal balance allows for our long forgotten wants and needs to make their way to the surface.
The first experience with this is during our first hormonal shift: the teen years. The primary difference is that now we not only have easy access to our emotions we also have the experience to help use and interpret them wisely. This becomes our golden opportunity to connect with our authentic self. In essence, youth isn’t wasted on the young. It’s expressed fully in perimenopause.
What often happens, however, is the need for authentic expression clashes with the life we have actually created. We then tend to experience this time of our life as a struggle. Struggles induce our fight or flight response (anxiety, palpitations, irritability) or our “I am just too tired to fight” response (fatigue and depression), which creates more mental, emotional, and physical strain.
Remember the 20’s and 30’s when you were climbing the corporate ladder or building a family and a career? The time when sleep was for babies or old folks, a balanced meal was whatever was quickly available and energy came in a soda can or coffee pot? Well, welcome to repercussions. To accomplish all this, your body had to spend a significant amount of time being ready for action at a moment’s notice.
This adversely affected hormones, thyroid function, adrenal glands, nutrition, and brain function. The human body has a good deal of compensatory mechanism, so we were able to maintain this state as long as things stayed the same. However, along comes the perimenopausal shift and there goes the apple cart.
There are no resources left to compensate. We experienced this as feeling frumpy, frazzled, fat, and having flashes. A complete hormonal rejuvenation program can go a long way to help you to feel vibrant, energetic and clear enough to make the most of your second coming of age. A good therapist can help work wonders too.
The sports car and Botox, well that’s another article.
About the Author
Dr. Eudene Harry MD is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Holistic Medicine. Dr. Harry worked as an Emergency Medicine attending physician in Level II Trauma centers for well over a decade. During that time she became frustrated with seeing patients frequently returning to the emergency department with complications from the same chronic conditions. Though her responsibility as an Emergency Department attending was to treat the patient’s acute needs, her compassion wanted to see improvement and relief from the underlying chronic conditions causing the crisis. This led to a shift in focus in her medical practice. Dr. Harry opened her own practice to assist patients in addressing non-emergent health care needs. She is currently Medical Director for Oasis for Optimal Health, a wellness center that focuses on integrative holistic care. For more information visit www.livinghealthylookingyounger.com
About Manifest Excellence, LLC
Manifest Excellence, LLC supports people in improving personal wellness by addressing the five key areas that impact health. They combine over 20 years experience in traditional health promotion with a holistic and comprehensive wellness philosophy. This innovative combination provides effective tools and strategies for creating optimal health and wellness.
A wellness thought leader, she champions a comprehensive approach to health by addressing mental, emotional, social, spiritual & physical well-being with a simple and potent message. Her book Wellness Your Way offers a practical strategy to assist readers in creating a happier, healthier life. For more information or to book Dr. Hamilton for speaking engagements visit www.ManifestExcellence.com or www.DonnaHamiltonMD.com
- 10 Quick, Easy Holiday Self-Care Tips - December 15, 2017
- Health Benefits of Kindness and Compassion - June 3, 2017
- Why Self-Care is Good for Your Health - May 10, 2017
