Tag: #perimenopausal

Bouncing back, naturally

Image by silviarita from Pixabay

I walked into my office and noticed one of the small diamonds from my engagement ring was missing.  I burst into tears.  This has happened before due to the design of the ring and they have been replaced, but the last time the jeweller said he may not be able to do it again as the clasps had weakened.  Then I took a call from a colleague telling me that there would potentially be a delay to part of the project I’m working on, which should have been sorted before I went on holiday.  I cried again (after the call). 

I don’t know whether I was feeling overly stressful due to project demands ahead of going on holiday, lack of sleep over the last two nights, or hormonal fluctuations because I’m a woman of a certain age.  Either way, my mood plummeted and everything that day seemed to be a disaster.

It could all have been down to a hormonal imbalance giving me a rollercoaster ride of emotions experienced by women either during their usual monthly cycle, or because they are experiencing perimenopause, or menopause.  It could have all been stress related.

In Top Sante magazine Dr Martin Kinsella offers six ways to support naturally rebalancing hormone levels:

  1. Look at diet – reduce consumption of processed and sugary foods.  Aim for five fruit and veg portions a day, batch cook healthier meals to reduce chances of reaching for junk food, reduce or cut out yeast.
  2. Get more sleep – sleep affects leptin and ghrelin which control hunger pangs.  Without enough sleep your brain produces ghrelin stimulating appetite.  Lack of sleep also affect stress levels so you wake up more irritated.  Reduce screen time before bed, make sure the room is dark to help circadian rhythm sleep cycles.  Avoid sugar and caffeine before bed.
  3. Avoid overexercising – if you exercise too much it can cause low levels of progesterone, the soothing hormone.  When you raise your heart rate a stress response is triggered.  The best type of exercise for maintaining healthy hormone levels is HIIT and resistance training.   How much exercise is too much depends on the individual but signs you’re doing too much are feeling overly tired, unable to perform at the same level as before, trouble sleeping.
  4. Reduce stress levels – stress causes release of cortisol, too much can result in imbalance.  Take up hobbies such as yoga, meditation, walking or artistic pastimes.
  5. Cut back on the alcohol – alcohol interferes with natural hormone balance by affecting blood sugar levels.  Most people experience a mood dip the day after drinking too much.  Recommended adult drink units should add up to no more than 14 units per week, that’s about six medium glasses of wine or six pints of beer.  Swap for non-alcoholic versions.
  6. Make sure you’re eating enough – concentrations of thyroid and sex hormones suffer if you don’t eat enough nourishing food.  An ideal daily calorie intake varies according to age, activity levels and gender but recommended no more than 2,000 calories for women.

As far as diet goes, I don’t actually eat that much processed food, we cook from fresh.  Sugary foods are a bit of a vice and I do have a lot of leftover chocolate treats to consume.  I batch cook my breakfasts and lunches every week, and I don’t eat that much bread, only about 2 slices a week, the only obvious thing with yeast in, apart from beer, and I don’t drink too much of that either.

I usually sleep for Britain.  The last couple of nights though I’ve either had difficulty getting to sleep or kept waking up, possible stressing about my work project. Light levels in our bedroom are quite dark since the changed the streetlights outside and I don’t usually play on my phone or tablet before bed.

Over exercising is not a problem for me, quite the opposite.  I lead a mostly sedentary life.  Apart from going for a lunchtime walk most days, I do little exercise.

I guess I’ve been quite stressed over the last couple of weeks.  I’m having two weeks off work and my project is coming to a crucial point.  I needed to make sure things were in place for whilst I was away and major expense items under control.  It was quite tight around timelines.

I have had a bit more to drink than usual over the last couple of days as we celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary but not gone bonkers.  Maybe that contributed to the lack of sleep and it was all connected.

I generally eat well.  We cook from fresh using Slimming World recipes.  I’ve got sweet treats to finish up after Valentines and birthday gifts, but other than that we don’t eat too much bad stuff. When I’ve tracked my calorie intake, I averaged about 1,700 calories per day during February.  Not that I’ve lost any weight at all, in fact I’ve actually put on.

I am hoping my two weeks holiday will help me refresh and recharge ready to return and finish my project with rejuvenated enthusiasm.  Maybe it was just a bad day.

A woman of a certain age

I’m not great at being ill.  I haven’t got the time or patience. I certainly am not one for taking tablets if I can avoid it.  If I have a cold, I don’t bother to take remedies (unless its really bad), preferring the symptoms to ride out their nature course; for me it seems to get it over with quicker.  It’s like I can almost tell myself not to be ill.  When I feel symptoms of something coming on, I mentally tell myself I haven’t got the time to be ill right now so go away, it is kinda works to some degree.

Now that I’m a woman of a certain age, I’m conscious things might have a propensity to start getting worn out.  Whether its my joints or skin, or hair, or nails, or immune systems, whatever.  I have always been a bit cautious around the taking vitamin supplements.  I’m not convinced they really work, and they could possibly contraindicate other medication you might be on, and we shouldn’t be self-subscribing chemicals.  However, I am aware that taking additional supplements can have beneficial effects for some. 

For example, C takes a daily dose of cod liver and glucosamine.  Now, I don’t really know if they work, but he seems to think they do. I call it into question when he more regularly wears wrist supports for #bellringing nowadays though. 

I’m reading more and more articles in health and wellbeing magazines about the benefits of taking supplements in older age to help with muscle, joint and other ailments.  At the moment I don’t appear to have any.  So, should I consider starting to take them now, before I get symptoms?  Are they as effective after the damage has already been done, so to speak?

So, I’m going to try an experiment.  I have bought a bottle of multi vitamins intended for women of a certain age.  There are 30 tablets in the bottle and the recommended dose is one per day.  I realise that it can take some time for these things to have an effect, but by the time I’ve finished the bottle I ought to be able to tell if there’s been any change in my overall health, vitality, mood etc. 

Netdoctor suggests that “When it comes to feeling the benefits, there’s no single answer, thanks to a variety of factors that impact vitamin absorption – from the type of supplement you’re taking to the ways certain nutrients interact with each other in the body.” Biologically vitamins are absorbed in a matter of hours and are supposed to have immediate metabolic effects, but there are a number of reasons why their efficacy may prevent you getting the full benefit:

  • Deficiency levels – if you are already deficient it may take longer, or you may need a higher dose of that particular vitamin or mineral;
  • Type of supplement – those taken in liquid form are known to work quicker than those in tablet or capsule form as your body doesn’t have to breakdown the casing first;
  • Water vs fat-soluble – vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble meaning they need fat to be absorbed and should be taken with food.  Water solubles dissolve in water and can have a faster effect;
  • Nutrient pairing – many vitamins and minerals are interrelated in how they work, for example vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium so if you have low levels of vitamin D, you’ll likely have low levels of calcium too.  But there are those that compete against each other too, like zinc and copper so if taken together you might have a higher intake of zinc because the recommended dose is higher than that of copper;
  • Lifestyle and habits – drinking alcohol and smoking can interrupt absorption levels.  Caffeine can block vitamin B6, calcium, iron, and magnesium so it is advised not to have caffeine for 45 minutes before or after taking any supplements;
  • Health issues – underlying health issues may prevent you being able to absorb properly, such as coeliac, or because you lack the right hormones that are intrinsic to B12 absorption.

Having read that, I need to adjust the time of day I take my supplement as I started taking it in the morning with my coffee.  I best hold off for a while!

So how will I be able to tell if any of this is working? Of course, there’s no straight answer. Its dependent on each and every person and which vitamin combination they are taking. It is also dependent on age, gender, digestive health, pre-existing levels, diet, pre-existing medical conditions and more.

It’s more helpful to look for signs of deficiencies, which vary depending on which supplement you’re deficient in. It is unlikely that you will feel or see anything if you’re nutritionally replete – however, you will notice signs of fatigue, poor skin, or nails if chronically lacking nutrients and these are all signs to look out for.

The only symptom I have on a regular basis is tiredness.  I can sleep for Britain.  I fall asleep very soon after our evening meal, wake up in time to go to bed, then more often than not sleep through until the alarm.  I can fall asleep pretty easily at any time of the day, even when I haven’t been up long.  I don’t know if I have any other deficiencies.  I can’t think of any outward signs. 

In 30 days’ time, I’ll see if taking a multi-vitamin for a woman of a certain age has made any difference whatsoever. I’ll try to keep open-minded about it.