Tag: Hormones

Rant: Menopause is when your period stops, right?

Yes and no! For most of my life, I understood that I would have a period. Then, one day, I would get hot flashes and be a bit crabby, my period would stop and that, my friends, would be menopause! At the infamous physical where I discovered my hormone issue, I was speaking to my doctor and mentioned that I was basically having non-stop periods. This is, in part, what started the discussion about my symptoms and her suspicion of perimenopause. I had never heard of perimenopause and did not understand how any of that would explain my non-stop periods. That is the moment I learned this fun fact: Your period does not just stop one day. Menopause is not a light switch that gets turned off. There is a bit more to it. News to me! What happens is that your periods get heavier and closer together (during the perimenopause stage) and eventually get lighter and further apart until they stop. Periods do not stop until your hormones have dropped and the ovaries stop releasing eggs. You are not considered to be in menopause until you have had no period for 12 months. You are considered to be in perimenopause (which can be any number of years…1 or 10 or more) until this time. Did you know that? I certainly did not. So that’s the end? NOPE. There is a stage called post menopause. The previous symptoms ease, but can still exist. As a result of the diminishing hormones women are at greater risk of conditions such as osteoporosis and heart disease.

I found it to be unbelievable that I never knew how any of this worked. Even more unbelievable to me was that it never occurred to be to look into any of this. In part, it was because I really had no idea the impact that it would have on my life or my body. Women should be told exactly how hormones impact their bodies at various stages from a young age.

Something else I did not know, which would have been great information during my child bearing years, is that estrogen is responsible for creating an environment in the uterus for the fertilized egg to embed. However, progesterone is what actually retains the embedded egg to the uterine wall. I almost miscarried my first born child. When I went to the doctor, they immediately began progesterone injections. Guess what they did not do? Explain any of this to me. I went on to have a couple other miscarriages (and also a beautiful daughter). When I had my hormone panel, my progesterone was so extremely low that it was conceivable that I may have had lower than common progesterone for sometime given my pregnancy history. No one thought to check into that after a pattern of miscarriages seemed to be emerging or immediately following the scare with my son? Maybe a quick blood draw “just to be safe” would have spared me the heartbreak that comes with miscarriage. Perhaps, at my first OB/GYN at 18, they could have just done a hormone panel to set a baseline so that we could preemptively address any issues BEFORE I got to the point where I was on the verge of losing a pregnancy.

No matter how you slice it, women need more information early in life. As a tribe, we need to get active in informing ourselves and those around us and demanding change. I know, I know, with everything happening in the world this may seem insignificant. Let me tell you, until I experienced that madness that had become my perimenopausal life, I would have thought the same. Not anymore! It’s time to educate and change!

Rant: Do you know about your hormones?

A couple of years ago, I became a shell of who I had previously been. I went from being driven and active, balanced and controlled with the memory of an elephant. Over time, I found myself lethargic, unmotivated, wildly insane and I couldn’t retain a thought long enough to write it down. I gained weight because I was having severe cravings and eating nonstop. I became depressed and the harder I tried to return to “normal” the worse my situation became. By sheer coincidence, I mentioned some of this to my doctor and she referred me to a hormone specialist. I was barely 40 but they wanted to exclude perimenopause?!?! Guess what? It wasn’t excluded. I was experiencing early onset menopause. When my bloodwork came back, I was producing virtually none of the hormones that women need to function properly. I am not a doctor but I have done a TON of research to learn about female hormones and I was shocked at how little I knew. It took over a year to get the right formula to balance my hormones and I was back to feeling like my self. As I began to share my story with friends and peers I learned a few things. 1. Most women do not truly understand their hormones and the impact they have on their mind and body. 2. Women are not really educated on menopause and what happens within the body in the time leading up to this stage. 3. Doctors discount the symptoms women have and actually refuse to test hormones even when requested. So here is my rant: Why? Why are we not taught about hormones and menopause during the “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret” class in fourth grade or in our high school health class? Why are we told that menopause is just the stage when your period ends? Why wouldn’t a doctor test hormones or outright refuse to test them when asked? Every year, at my physical my cholesterol is checked. I have never even been close to having a high cholesterol result. Same with blood sugar, etc. Why aren’t our hormones baselined and at a minimum tested ever few years? How many women are suffering because their hormones are out of balance and the symptoms are written off as PMS or female crazy or exhaustion, etc. We are not taken seriously when we go to a doctor and ask for testing because something is WRONG and we cannot explain it. I had been working out like a maniac and couldn’t lose a pound, which I mentioned to several doctors. The response I received was “….metabolism slows down when you get older, keep at it…”. No! That was not the issue. The issue was that my body had prematurely stopped generating hormones but no one bothered to check because of my age. As soon as my hormones were balanced, I began to lose weight. There is a great deal more to that part of the story, but I’ll save that for another post. My point here is that we, as women, need to take control of learning and educating ourselves and our sisters on this topic. We need to make it part of our health routines. We need doctors to baseline our hormones and track changes. The hormones I take (and I take 4 and counting) are all natural. There is no downside to testing hormones. It’s one vial of blood which can be drawn at your physical. I encourage you to research what I am saying and speak to your doctor and speak to your friends. There has not been a single time that I shared this experience and the person I was speaking with did not respond with a resounding: “Wow, that’s how I feel…”. It’s time to make our minds and bodies a priority and change the mindset that we are “just crazy women PMSing!” Please feel free to contact me with questions. This topic has become a passion for me and helping to educate others is quickly becoming my mission!