About The Menopause

Midlife is full of surprises – and not all of them are good… If you are reading this then I’m guessing that you are touched in some way by symptoms of the menopause – or more accurately, the transition to menopause. Perhaps you are even horrified at the person looking back at you in the mirror. Who is this person?

You are not alone. Until recently, when celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Gillian Anderson and Kirsty Walk started speaking out about their experiences, menopause was the silent shame. Yet experts reckon that 80% of women experience the symptoms of menopause. It might be that you are really suffering or perhaps you’ve just started noticing some changes. The experience is different for every woman but often means being hot, cold, moody, tired, sleep-deprived, nervy, irritable, sad, or hairy. It can mean hot flushes, memory loss, and a seemingly immovable band of fat around the middle and thighs. Your fluctuating hormones are the cause of all of this, but you don’t have to accept these symptoms as the way things need to be. Learning to rebalance your hormones naturally will help you take back control of your life. Given life expectancy increases, women can expect to spend at least a third of their life ‘menopausal’, so it’s really worth getting the help you need now. Despite what you might have feared, menopause is not the death of your youth or vitality, but the start of some of the best and most powerful years of your life.

Menopause Symptoms

Night sweats

Erratic menstrual cycle

Stubborn weight gain around the middle Insomnia

Bloating

Cravings

Headaches/ Migraines

Overwhelm

Irritability

Mood swings

Anxiety/ Depression

Brain fog

Poor memory

Loss of sex drive

Vaginal dryness

Aging skin (and hair)

Joint pains

Fatigue

What's Happening Inside?

You may not have given your hormones a second’s thought before but, given the rollercoaster you are on right now, it’s worth having some understanding of what’s going on chemically inside you and the impact it’s having.

Progesterone levels fall rapidly as you stop ovulating as regularly.

Although oestrogen is likely decreasing, too, it’s falling at a slower rate, meaning you can end up being oestrogen dominant (that’s a ratio of too much oestrogen to progesterone).

This is usually what’s behind many of the typical symptoms experienced during the transition to menopause.

The stress hormone cortisol can also increase (particularly if you’re used to spinning too many plates), making sleep more difficult and leading to weight gain.

The thyroid comes under increased pressure, and low levels of thyroid hormones can bring mood changes, weight increases, constipation and a sluggish feeling.

Your hormones work together synergistically. When one or more is out of kilter, there is an effect on the others, too.