Perimenopause

fits

go to a specialist if you’re not happy with your gp.

Daisy78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123409534#Comment_123409534

Been there done that. Two separate “specialists”. Equally useless.

Gremlinertia

It's all disappointingly under served, there are good medical staff. It's just a lottery, I've been with my surgery for twenty years and while massively oversubscribed we're working on my recent symptoms but it is difficult and slow

lisasimpson

Anyone find they are more proned to insect bites. Getting an awful doing in this fine weather compared to other years

An Bhanríon

Very helpful to see the various comments on this thread. Thanks to all …

My tuppence worth:

I had reached menopause by 46 (not peri, actual menopause). Various symptoms such as anxiety, rage, difficulty sleeping, weird heat radiating from my stomach but nothing really bad compared to what I have heard from others.

Am now nearly 49 and feeling better than I have been in years. But it has been hard work to get here. Am not on hrt or supplements. (I totally support anyone who is. Whatever works for you, do it, is my philosophy at this stage of life.) To stay sane I find I need to eat REALLY well, sleep well and get exercise every single day. This is not easy when you are working full time and have young kids. My husband has been a great help as he supports my efforts.

Eating - I have found that eating mountains of vegetables (half of the plate at lunch and dinner time) is a great help. Also eating a bit of dairy/meat/fish/beans/nuts with every meal. Also trying really hard to stick to brown soda bread/potatoes/rice/oat crackers (or Riveta) instead of white bread and pasta (or anything else containing white flour). Also trying to eat as few sweet treats as I can (sugar makes me cranky - I used to be able to eat as much sugar as I liked). Drinking lots of water helps too. Basically I experimented with food for a few years and try to stick with what makes me feel okay. I found this very difficult to do as I adore cakes, pastries and biscuits, but it has been worth the effort as I am in much better form! In good news I have discovered I can still drink coffee, that 2 glasses of wine at the weekend is okay and that a few squares of good quality dark chocolate is a lovely treat with no side effects … and I do still eat pastries, but one every few days instead of using them to curb hunger. Oh yes, top tip, to eat like this you have to start carrying snacks with you when you leave the house because this type of food is not available in the average corner shop/food truck. And another top tip, try to eat 3 meals a day, have minimal snacks, and finish eating by 6-7pm if at all possible.

Exercise - I have found I need to exercise a bit every single day. Around 20 minutes of stretching/yoga/strength training in the morning and something to get my heartrate going (20 minute walk if working from home, 20 minute cycle to work, running up and down the stairs 10 times if I can't leave the house - sounds weird, I know, but it works!). Exercising before breakfast makes a big difference to the crankiness, strangely enough. I also try to get short 5-10 minute walks in during the work day (my line of work lets me do this, but even things like taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator makes a big difference).

Sleep - 8 hours sleep every day if I can at all. This means leaving a lot of things undone, having lower standards regarding how tidy the house is, how well I look (less time to think about clothes, polish shoes, doing my hair, etc!), garden not looking so well, social life a bit pared back. But again, worth it so that I am more calm …

This has all been an enormous change. But for the moment the above is working for me. I wish I didn't have to do these things. But anytime I stop doing them, I get tired and cranky and unfocussed at work and everybody around me suffers. Maybe hrt or some supplement would mean I could avoid doing some of the above, but the last supplement I tried just gave me a headache so I am sticking to what is working for me.

Hope this is some help to others on this path. I always find it helpful to know what others are doing to navigate this tricky part of life!

fits

Great advice!

Mimmi45

Rhodiola & Black Cohosh (mentioned previously) are a big help with hormone regulation.

It takes at least 3 months to start working, but you don't need much, 1 ml dropper of tincture once daily.

Daisy78

A clean healthy diet never worked for me. Too exhausted and sore to exercise but even when I managed to do a little bit I never felt the long term benefits, maybe for an hour afterwards but no longer than that. I've often wondered if this actually works for people, would query if the science backs up all the claims that diet/exercise helps to manage peri symptoms.

Daisy78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123556409#Comment_123556409

You say that you are feeling better now that you are post menopause but then you mention diet/exercise. Why didn't this work for you during perimenopause? Do you think it's really down to diet/exercise or just that you hormone levels have now evened out a bit (I'm hoping you will suggest it's the latter).