Perimenopause is the gradual approach towards the menopause, where estrogen and progesterone levels will fluctuate and decrease (respectively) for a long period of time. Due to this imbalance in hormones, women can experience a variety of symptoms that significantly alter the quality of their lives.
With around 13 million women in the U.K. perimenopausal or postmenopausal comes a significant proportion of the country suffering from symptoms such as brain fog, hot flashes, and urinary tract infections. Perimenopause and its symptoms can vary from woman to woman, but due to the estrogen rises and falls over this period, hormones will be consistently changing and unable to find balance.
This imbalance can lead to a variety of symptoms, but commonly women experience irregularity in their menstrual cycle, acne, and changes in mood. That’s because the estrogen levels fluctuate, when the level is low this may manifest in the form of missed periods, large spaces of time between periods, and spotting, and when high this will trigger a period. These periods will bring heightened PMS symptoms such as breast tenderness, mood swings, and headaches.
To reduce these symptoms and improve life quality, it is best to balance your hormones in perimenopause, by increasing estrogen levels to ensure the highs and lows are not too extreme. This will help to reduce and perhaps prevent the following consequences of hormonal imbalance.
- Weight gain or weight loss
- Acne
- Brain fog
- Irritability
- Breast tenderness
- Spotting
- Muscle aches
- Hot flashes
- Fatigue
- Troubles sleeping
- Vaginal dryness leading to urinary issues
Ways to balance my hormones in perimenopause
Diet
You can balance your hormones naturally through your diet by eating foods rich in estrogen. This estrogen comes from plants and can mimic the naturally produced estrogen from our bodies. Regularly eating estrogen-rich foods such as soybeans, edamame beans, flax seeds, sesame seeds, berries, and dried fruit can keep hour estrogen levels up and therefore prevent large fluctuations.
These foods can be easily incorporated through mealtimes and snacking, and most of them are healthy and low in calories.
Natural Supplements
Similarly to balancing your hormones through diet, you can consume forms of plant estrogen through supplements. These will come in the form of an extract of estrogen in a capsule or tablet.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
If combatting your hormonal imbalance naturally doesn’t work for you, then HRT is sure to improve your quality of life and rid you of the downfalls of perimenopausal symptoms. Our tailored HRT treatment programmes are ideal for the perimenopausal woman, as we keep track of your hormonal fluctuations and modify the hormones you take as and when needed.
Visit your GP
Going to your general practitioner when you experience symptoms of hormonal imbalance can be a very positive experience. They are able to offer you advice on contraceptive measures during the perimenopause, as well as suggest options for therapy when the symptoms of imbalanced hormones are impacting your mental health. If you ever have urgent concerns about your health through the perimenopause, you should always contact your GP for professional guidance.
Why should I go private?
GPs are constrained to simple, standardised responses to symptoms of menopause, and sometimes it can feel like we are jumping through hoops just to get a prescription. With Bodyline, we help women start HRT as soon as they want it. One study saw 60% of women visit their GP more than two times before being given sufficient support for their menopause symptoms.
If you want fast, effective, and quality driven solutions to balance your hormones in perimenopause, speak to us at Bodyline. Our Specialist Menopause Nurses are trained to help each individual patient with their own personalised plans. Bodyline works, and Bodyline cares.Call us today on 0800 995 6036 or fill in our online contact form for a call back.
