I know most women assume that after getting their first period and then pregnancy that the next hormonal milestone is menopause. But we skip a step – the third “P” in our lifetime hormonal cycle is perimenopause, the shift that happens once we hit 35.
Perimenopause can have an impact on how you look and feel in ways that you don’t expect to deal with until much later, and the effects are all the more startling the less you have supported your hormones and your health up to this point. Perimenopause can be when some women realize they just can’t put off taking care of their bodies better anymore. If you’re not healthy, your body will let you know now!
The first sign that you’re entering perimenopause will likely be newly and unexpectedly irregular periods.
Your hormone production is slowly waning. You won’t ovulate as regularly, every cycle, and your periods will reflect this. We expect our cycles to stay the same until they suddenly stop with the menopausal shift, but actually this is a long process that starts in our 30s. The good news is that if you take control at this first sign of entering this life phase, then you can prevent many of the symptoms that come along with the change. Not to mention allowing yourself the option of achieving pregnancy when you want to, in your third decade.
How much you feel the impact of the perimenopausal hormonal shift in your day-to-day life will depend a whole lot on your diet and lifestyle. The less healthy and hormonally-supportive those aspects are, the more likely it is that perimenopause will hit you hard.
Here’s how you should not be feeling when you reach 35:
- Completely disinterested in sex
- Like you’ve got your teenage skin back, acne and all
- Out of control when it comes to your weight – you’re gaining and nothing you do helps
- Exhausted from lack of good, deep, healthy sleep
- Anxious, low and overwhelmed by everything going on in your life
- Worried about where your periods have gone now that you want children
These are not natural, normal signs of perimenopause – far from it. These are actually symptoms premature hormonal aging!
Change your diet and lifestyle today and you won’t and don’t have to feel like this. You can keep your youthful, vital, luscious energy, sex drive, skin, figure, and happiness for years to come. These issues are entirely unnecessary symptoms you don’t have to go through if you choose to change how you approach your health and live in your Flo.
Here are 4 changes you can make today that will slow down perimenopause and stop the symptoms:
1 – Eat according to your cycle. This is a key change that is necessary to balance out your estrogen and progesterone. Get started with cycle syncing your diet with a very simple, quick, and easy to follow introductory protocol – focusing first on your greens and your grains. Layer in the rest of the foods as detailed in my book “WomanCode” to complete the process.
2 – Eat enough protein and fat. These are very important as they help you to make enough hormones to feel young and good. Your body is slowing down hormone production so it’s critical you give it all it needs to produce as much as it can at this stage. Learn more about my favorite proteins here and fats here.
3 – Take D3 and Evening Primrose Oil. These are essential for keeping your hormones balanced. These are specifically helpful for the perimenopausal transition. Evening primrose oil is a source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid that influences prostaglandin synthesis and calms perimenopausal symptoms. Read more on why D3 is so important for your hormonal health here.
4 – Increase your Zinc intake. Zinc is bountiful in beans and seeds, however you can also supplement with 50mg a day. Zinc is super important for testosterone production, a vital hormone is soothing the perimenopause process. You can read more about balancing your testosterone levels here.
Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!
to your FLO,
Alisa
Good things come in threes:
I want to hear from you!
First, do you feel like you’re entering perimenopause?
Second, what symptoms have you experienced?
Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma and share this article on social 😉
Feeling Frazzled, Bloated, and Unsexy?
If you’ve noticed more distance between cycles…or some periods are light and some are super heavy…your sex drive is flat…and you’re more moody in general (anxious, depressed, or both)…and especially if you’re in your mid 30’s and up…
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I’ve tried to tell the doctor it’s perimenopause but he says no.
Don’t we all just JATE IT when our dr’s think they know our bodies so much better than we do!?! I ESPECIALLY find this Frustrating when I see a female dr’s but she clings to the male-dominant archetype of allopathic medicine‼
I have a question about supplementing with zinc. First, I think my first sign of hormone imbalance was the chin hairs. Those prickly, dark, coarse ones that you HAVE to pluck. The last few years I’ve seen more of them, and if it’s one thing that depresses me about the hormone issues, it’s the chin hairs. There are certain times when they seem to sprout more and faster and times when it seems like they sprout slower. But excess plucking has caused the dark spots which makes me even more self conscious. I read that the chin hairs mean you have too much testosterone so if zinc causes testosterone production, wouldn’t that cause more chin hairs? Also, I just wanted to tell you that I did the 4 day hormone detox and I didn’t even follow it to the letter but I saw results within 24 hours, so it works!!! My stomach was pretty much flat, I had more energy, no food cravings, better sleep and I just felt happier and the period that I had right after that really snuck up on me because I had NO PMS!!! It also convinced me I had gluten issues. Ironically, the one thing that’s kinda strange is that my sex drive has NEVER, AND I DO MEAN NEVER been low…actually it’s through the roof and has been since I turned 30. Which is when I had my last baby and when all this hormone junk started. By the way, I’m 41 now. I am planning to have another child, and although I am very grateful for a supercharged sex drive, is there any explanation (hormonally) for that?
Thanks for everything!
I would also lije to know more about the chin hair issue. Did you get an answer?
I´m 38 and only 6 months ago did I try having 19 days between my periods. (My gynecholygist said I still have a lot of eggs! ) I have a grey hair here and there; Which I feel is not time yet! The worst is when I see a gray pubic hair. How to color? So I will by hairprint for my hair soon. Really great advice here that I can use. Just what I was looking for.
I’m 45 and I’m definitely in it to win it, HA! Missed a period last month, heavy and longer period this month – breast ‘sensitivity’ (understatement) and an increase in anxiety. The worst: 7 years ago I was introduced to something called intersticial cystitis. I was one of the lucky ones in that once I started taking SSRI’s the pain went away. Well, it’s BAAACK, and come to find not only are there neurotransmitter receptors on the bladder, but also estrogen receptors. Many women discover the joy of IC when entering Peri or Meno. So I’m wondering: any different protocol for someone with chronic bladder pain? Same as listed in article? I have one doctor recommending low dose continuous birth control pills and one suggesting bio identical progesterone. Oh, and there is a history of breast cancer… my mother died of it at age 46. I feel like I’m just starting to reach my stride as a productive and creative whole person, and I don’t want to be derailed by crazy hormones!
Hi Karin,
Start drinking unsweetened cranberry juice, this can help. I would also pick up Christiane Northrup’s book Women’s bodies Wonen’s Wisdom – writes about cystitis and is very helpful! Good luck, XO
Alisa
D-mannose really helps me when I have a flare up of my cystitis.
I am almost 36. I get cold sweats when I sleep, my hair color is becoming dull, I’m emotionally unstable just wake up irritable without cause sometimes, I can’t gain enough weight, I have an IUD and don’t get periods, my skin is not breaking out but maybe dry, but under eyes look like they don’t have enough fat- baggy, my diet & sleep definitely need attention, I’m mostly vegetarian, don’t drink, smoke regularly, and drink lots of coffee. I get lightheaded sometimes and my muscles ache, low energy, my hair has changed in the last year from straight to curly. Do you think it’s premenopausal? Thank you for your guidance I’ll pick up your book.
Hi Jamie,
The symptoms you have are typical of hormone imbalance and this becomes more of an issue as you near perimenopause. I would explore your relationship to caffeine first – this is a problem for women, especially as we get older: it imbalances blood sugar, stresses the adrenals and spurs on hormonal aging.
Alisa
Are the issues caused (or complicated) by caffeine worsened by volume? And do they apply to all forms of caffeine equally (ie: dark chocolate or pure cacao nibs), or is one source worse than another?
Have you published an article on caffeine specifically? If so could you please reference it here?
– Thanks! –
Hi Alisa…i am getting hot flushes during the day & fluttering on my chest…not simultaneously…I don’t know if its low progesterone or anxiety…I went through alot of anxiety last month when I missed my period from trying DIM /KELP Supplement to try reduce oestorgen but it left with next to no progesterone & low oestrogen but still oestrogen dominant. I Hope you can help…I am feeling very anxious …its one thing after another.
Check our borage seed oil as an alternative to evening primrose oil. It is much higher in GLA’s and is non-constipating.
Hey,
I have all the symptoms above except for the weight issue and wanting kids, I am 42 and have 2 kids. I’ve had symptoms for a while(sometime after 35) can’t pinpoint when but my skin issues started at 39 which seemed to help me realize other symptoms I’ve had for a while. I have been to a couple naturopaths and medical doctors and gave gotten little to no relief. I’m on DIM, Ovasitol, vit. D, omega-3, spironolactone, zinc, vit. C with some relief but the spiro us causing hair loss for me when at a higher d ok se to keep my skin ok. I’m gluten, dairy free and drink little caffeine which would only come from green tea. Not sure what else to do. I want to enjoy my family and life again without feeling so terrible!
I am 38 and just had a D&C (2 days ago). I got pregnant for the first time on my fourth cycle trying. Three cycles ago, I tried maca and DHEA, and my normal cycles were thrown off. The first cycle was shortened to 25 days, and I had 8 days of HIGH reading before a PEAK on the digital ovulation stick. I normally would test 2 HIGH days followed by a peak. I stopped taking the maca and DHEA. My next cycle was 48 days and again had the same ovulation test pattern although I didn’t have egg white cervical mucous followed by rise in BBT until 14 days later in that cycle. The next cycle (from which I became pregnant) was only 23 days. My hormones levels tested good, but then I had a missed miscarriage at 7 weeks. Do you think the maca (and/or DHEA) affected my cycles? I’m I in the ground if post-35 year olds to whom you would recommend maca?
I’m 45 and in perimenopause. My main issue was heavy flooding periods. I tried all the natural remedies. My doctor put me on microgestin 1 20 Fe and I love it. Very light spotting withdrawal bleeding. It also helped with night sweats. I will stay on this until 51 or menopause.
Hi there, I’m confused as well as my gyno is. Went in because I have bleeding after sex, bleed abit before my period which ended and now going on two more weeks of wearing a pad because I wake up in the mornings to a small cush of blood along with I guess blood clots (is that what those goey things of blood are with your period?) Look like a paint ball casing lol.. I have troubles falling asleep at night but exhausted during the day, wake up in a bad mood some days, sore body etc.. is this what’s going on.. oh by the way I just turned 38. Thinking the bleeding with sex may be dryness not sure.
Hi Alisa,
I’m wondering if cycle syncing can be done in any way during menopause? Or am I just too late to the party and out of luck? Thank you!
I have heard women do cycle sync though they no longer cycle. By all means try it and see how it feels!
Alisa
I’d like to try this too. What would we consider week one if not bleeding?
I am 36, have had a regular cycle for the past 6 months. Then last month I was late, 3 days. Then I had light spotting. And now I’m extremely emotional and crying all the time. My normal cycle would tell me the 15th is when it’s due, and since Friday of last week, I’ve been crying every day.. I can’t control my mood swings at all. Any idea?
Hi Alisa. I’m 37 with an 18 month old . Regular periods and ovulation, had no problem getting pregnant over 35.
Periods back after 4 months post partum and regular again. Now spotting for 3-4 days before heavy period for a few days making my period feel like 7 days long with the worst ever pms and insomnia.
I don’t have any caffeine , I’ve gotten my iron back up after iron deficiency .
What can I do for the worst ever pms? I can’t even work without crying and it’s only during the pms stage . I hate everyone for 2 weeks a month and isolate myself . I’m loving the lockdown so I don’t have to see people for 2 weeks a month . I have very clear skin.
Can I take epo every day or only leutal phase? I am a dairy drinker though but don’t know if quitting dairy is a cure all? Probably be too late by the time u have a chance to reply . I don’t think I could take maca due to sensitivity to stimulatory supplements hence taking no caffeine .
Thanks
I’m 33 years old. I have been experiencing vaginal dryness.. Light flow during my periods and low sex drive… Is this primenopause?
Hi Dalia,
Not necessarily. But it sounds like low hormones, perhaps due to stress, high physical activity, intermittent fasting or micro nutrient deficiencies. Explore this, since extended periods of this kind of stress and diminishing hormones can cause perimenopause to start earlier than it should.
Alisa
Hi,
I just turned 51 but my periods have been irregular for the last year or so. The night sweats started about a year and a half ago. I tried Black Cohosh and wild yam and that took care of night sweats. However one thing that’s really bugging me (aside from the ridiculous anxiety and depression) is that my hair has changed drastically. I’m black/hispanic and have worn my hair in it’s natural state (without chemical straightener) since about 42. For all of this time my hair was shiny and had small spiraling curls. Around 49 it started to be wiry and my curls have tightened and my hair is a frizzy mess! My cycles have varied from 2,3 to six month gaps.
Is there any way I can alleviate all of these other symptoms without bringing the periods back? To be honest (and I know it sounds vain) I just want my old hair back and not to have these chin hairs. Oh and luckily, my sex drive has not been affected even with taking SSRIs and an antipsychotic. I considered taking maca but I don’t really want to bring my period back. My baby is 21.
Hi, Alisa!
I’m 39 and have always had great skin until this last summer. I now have under-the-skin bumps that seems to be an over-production of sebum. I eat very clean, drink a ton of water, exercise regularly, sleep well, have normal periods, etc. I’ve tried changing my beauty products to as clean as can be and nothing has helped. My Chiro says it’s metaphysical as I’ve stepped out as an entrepreneur. That may be partly it, but I definitely think hormones are playing a role as my hair gets greasier faster now, too. Suggestions??