Perimenopause – What No One Tells You (And How to Handle It)

Feeling overwhelmed by perimenopause or menopause? You’re not alone! 💪

In this episode of Sweet Insights, we're diving into the unspoken truths about perimenopause and menopause that no one tells you. From mood swings and joint pain to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and natural solutions, we’re covering it all!

🎙️ What You'll Learn:

• The real impact of hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause
• Unexpected symptoms like hair thinning, joint pain, and body odor
• Natural and medical support options to manage symptoms
• Our personal stories and how we’ve navigated the chaos of fluctuating hormones

Whether you’re already in the thick of it or just starting to notice changes, this episode offers practical tips and real-life advice to help you regain balance and feel more like yourself again.

🔗 Listen now and take control of your hormonal health!

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Um, welcome to Sweet Insights episode nine, perimenopause and menopause, what no one tells you. Amy, I have to tell you this because the fact that we're recording this episode today is so hilarious because as you know, I'm on HRT for any new listeners. I use the estrogen patch, the estradiol patch and progesterone capsules. And there's reasons why like I made that decision originally. But what I find is that if I go in my hot tub, the patches depending on the one don't love to stay on, but they're like supposed to be waterproof, whatever. I don't know why, but when I put the patch on, it falls off, not even in water. My husband puts the patch on for me. It's fine. So, you know, I don't know. I don't know. But so the other day, so I try to like coordinate that if it's patch changing day, like maybe I'll go have a hot tub and then do a hair wash or whatever. And so the other day I was like, Oh, maybe I'll go have a hot tub. And so I didn't put my new patch on. And then because I didn't put in my new patch on, I forgot to put my new patch on. So today I realized after I had a raging outer body experience with my husband and blamed him for just being male and existing that, Hey, I might not hate him entirely. I might just need to put a patch on. That was quite the revelation. Yes. And then the revelation, which I also blamed him for was the patch box was empty. And because he puts the patches on for me, that's his fault, not mine that we didn't order anymore. And the pharmacy doesn't stock them. So you have to wait like 48 hours to get them. So here I am talking about what no one tells you. No one tells you this shit. Do you know what my husband's in the background saying, put a rush on it. You know what he told me? So when I left in a rage to go to an appointment and a meeting, he, I don't know if he called me or whatever. Um, maybe I called him probably two hours later where I was done raging, had a hot flash in the boot of it all, which was also his fault. I'll have, you know, and, um, I called him and he said to me, I said, I'm sorry. It's hormonal. I'm a raging lunatic. I didn't put my patch on. I know it's your fault that I didn't do that because I'm not owning any of this. And, um, he said to me, it's okay. It reminds me of when you were pregnant. Oh my goodness. I mean, it sounds about right. So, you know, the, the joys of the hormones, I value. Yeah. The things that no one tells you and here we are and you're not gatekeeping it. You're sharing it with everyone. And you know what? And I love my husband and like, God bless him for putting up with me because it is always been hormone raging things that like happen. And I actually, what I really sunk in today is, so I was at one meeting and then I had to drive to an appointment. And so I called him in between and he joked about me being like when I was pregnant. And so I've had multiple miscarriages and we do have our blessed with two lovely kids now, and we don't want anymore. Um, but at one point my husband said to me, like, if this pregnancy doesn't stick, like, I can't do another pregnancy with you because I just can't handle it. Um, little did he know that he, he still had to go through perimenopause, um, and that it can last up to 15 years. So, uh, way worse than pregnancy. Um, so I think that he might have it on his agenda that he might make sure that I don't ever not have a patch on after today, because it was pretty exceptional. Yeah. Like start stockpiling those, like poor guy. Right. But I think going into the summer, like I know that there's health risks with the pill version, but I might switch just because I like, I don't want to have to deal with, you know, the one time it doesn't stick and whatever. And I mean, we don't have benefits right now. So that's another factor, like a couple of times when it didn't stick, I was like, oh, I'll just use next week's. Um, but now that, you know, we don't have benefits, it's sort of a thing that I'm like, maybe for a couple of months, I'll switch to the pill and, um, go that route. So I don't have to deal with the water issues as we're coming into Ontario water season. Yeah, that's smart. I'm calling summer now. And for listeners who don't have benefits, like wherever they're listening from, like it's important to know that there are options. Um, so if the pill is a cheaper route or maybe not accessible for the patches, you could get a pill form. I've heard that the, the gel form is messy. I had a girlfriend that did the gel form and she kind of just said that like, she switched because she felt like it was messy. Yeah. Um, so it's been an interesting 48 hours. Yes. To say the least. Yes. And we don't know what the next 24 is going to bring. No. I mean, honestly, do we ever though? Really? Well, I feel like this is, uh, so yeah. So this was my revelation. I was going to tell you, thank you for bringing me back here. Welcome. So I, as I was driving after I hung up the phone with Greg and we kind of like made peace with each other and he was very kind. I realized that I was having these like palpitations in my chest and I could feel this like overly heaviness of what an old version of me would be like, Oh my gosh, you're having like an anxiety attack or like, you're super anxious or you're super whatever. And like, I wasn't driving anywhere that I needed to be anxious. I wasn't doing anything I was anxious about. And I could very easily see how people mix that up and how like I, my hormones are doing all this crazy stuff. And inside, I felt like all this stuff is also happening. And so when we talk about how, like, there's that connection of perimenopause and anxiety and, um, mental health and emotions and heart palpitations and all the things I was like, yes, I am a hundred percent feeling the fluctuations of all of those things today. Absolutely. Sorry. And it's a little noisy at my house all of a sudden, my dogs are barking in the background. So I apologize. Um, can you hear them? Yeah. So we're recording at a different time than we normally record and things are happening in my house, but I can't avoid, but, um, anyway, so heart palpitations, I've experienced that from anxiety as well. It's not nice. And like panic attacks, like you get that feeling and it's not nice, but different scenarios and stressors obviously bring that on. And I'm glad that you're feeling better again. Because I just think it's interesting that like, it was just hormones causing that, right? Like, so that's where, like, I think that like, we, like, it feels like there's so much going on and it's all related to that same thing. Yeah. But it's not nice for anyone to experience that, whether you're going through perimenopause or not, like knowing that feeling is there, but, and that with you, with hormones, it's not, it's not really avoidable. Like if you put your patch on, it is, but I mean, not everyone has that accessibility. So, and I think for me, it was a really, it really enforced that it is making a difference in my life. Yeah. Which is good, which is great. Um, so we have, so we have things to talk about. I know we kind of haven't even like stayed on track really, but other than no, but so like, I think we dive right into like the other symptoms that people don't talk about. Right. Because like, we know everyone talks about the hot flashes, the night sweats, right. And like, but what about like the joint pain and stiffness? Oh, so I get that so bad. And again, this is one of the things I was leading to thinking, or the doctors were thinking I must have perimenopause for me. It was my cortisol though. So the cortisol mimics a lot of this as well. So for people who are having it as signs of like part of your perimenopause, I, again, whether I'm in it or not, we don't know, but I get that when my cortisol is really high. And so I get the stiffness, I actually get like the numbness in my hands, like when I'm sleeping at night and then they feel terrible in the morning, like all my joints. Um, I also get the aching in my hips. I have a lot of friends who are going through menopause and perimenopause and they, all they talk about is their hips. And it feels like you almost pulled a hip flexor and you get this terrible achiness. Like sometimes I get up off the couch and I go to move and I feel like I'm 80 years old because I can't walk. I have to like restructure all of my body. Um, the same reason I can't stay in a squat for a long time. Like when you're a kid, you used to be able to squat down and like take a knee or something and listen, can't do that. Hmm. I, the hand thing is interesting to me because I noticed that like, I go through phases where like, I can't open a jar. Right. It's um, like your hands are just not doing the things that you want them to do. They're weak. And a lot of, um, like, I know my mom has gone through this and she has to do like hand strengthening exercises because as we get older, our hands, we can, the muscles weaken. And with that, those hormones, they make you feel like you can't do anything with your hands. Like, again, so the joint stiffness for me, I feel that all the time. In case I rage on my husband too, because I'm mad that he can, I'm like open this jar for me. I can't open it. Right. Yeah. So, um, my next life I'm coming back as a man, just so you know, not that you actually might get a say or not, but that's, you know, either that, or I'm coming back as one of my dogs, like with people like me who like, let them sleep on the bed, on their pillow and like all that stuff. Not with like mean owners. Oh my goodness. Um, something, allergies for sure. Yeah. So for, um, food sensitivities, itchy skin, headaches, all those things for sure. Um, hair thinning. And I still think that like, uh, hair thinning is such a thing. Like one of the natural boss I worked for, she treats a lot of people with hair thinning and it's so sad. Like, it's so sad, like what an emotional journey to go on. And I think, uh, you know, um, you know, that awful bid thing that we dealt with a few years ago. I think that there's still a component of that in there too. Um, but if you look at hormone changes, right? Like how many women when they're pregnant have wonderful, glorious hair. And then after they give birth, like they're like, Oh my gosh, my hair is coming out in chunks or whatever. Right. That's that a hormone fluctuation. Um, so again, like I keep looking back and I'm like, Oh, like I had those hot sweats when I was pregnant. Now I have them again. So I'm like literally looking at like that, that Evan flow of the hormones that right. I have a friend who, this isn't a plug, but like, I have a friend who's high up in Monet, um, like modern nature. And, um, she has done videos on hair thinning and whatnot, because she's my age going through probably perimenopause is what she assumes. And she, they have products to combat this, um, that helps so that it's a defense against your thinning hair because we, this is something women deal with. I mean, men deal with it too. I'm sure maybe not in the same way, but, um, it's definitely something that you get and, and they get the hormone replacement, like therapy, like they do the sprays that help with the hair in around your scalp, like all your, or in your hairline. Nice. Yeah. Nice. Just thought I'd throw that out there. So it's a very common thing. Yeah. Um, and then, uh, bladder issues and UTIs. So, um, post kids, I did not have any bladder issues. Like I was completely fine and entering perimenopause not so fine anymore. So, um, I don't know if you know this, but I actually have a kegel chair. Oh, what he, I knew you didn't know this. This is so fun. I love to see this, this, this reaction. So, um, I forget what the stats are. I think it's 10,000 kegels a minute. So you sit on this chair, you can actually, there's, there's like clinics that offer these chairs. And so you go and you go to one of these clinics and they assess you. And, and then you sit on the chair for 20 minutes and it's the equivalent of 12,000 kegels and use it six times a week apart. And then, then you just need Mason maintenance doses, like once every four months. Huh? And it costs a fortune. And so I decided that rather than going to a clinic and, you know, paying to sit on one of these chairs, I would just get my own chair. And so I have my own chair. So if you have leaky bladder or any issues, um, overactive bladder, there's lots of issues, things you can use these chairs for. Um, you know, as a podcast listener, I will give you an extreme discounted price to come and use the chair. Um, and it's a game changer. So I feel like this is a whole other episode we need to talk about another day because I, now I want to know how this works and I electric magnetic, like the chair sounds like that goes. So someone asked me the other vibrator. No, no. So someone asked me, they like picture this thing that you like sit on and like, no, it's a flop. I'm envisioning whoever said this to you. This is the exact picture that you painted and that I'm envisioning also. So now not only have we talked about mole mapping over all of this, and I know what mole mapping is, but now the kegel chair, which sounded a little different when you first said it. And I thought you said something else, but then you said Kegel chair. And I still envisioned a chair with a big vibrator. No, I don't know. I've never seen one. I've never heard of that chair. Like it looks like a regular chair and it gives electric magnetic pulses. Cool. Okay. That, that makes more sense. Um, yeah. So the chair is amazing. Everyone who has a problem should use the chair. Perfect. Um, can we talk about body odor changes? Because that's something as well that not everyone knows, I think. Right? Why is there so many things? Like when we get to this one, I'm like, why is there so many? So there's this new product out for this reason. Um, maybe not new, but like Lume, have you heard of Lume? I have Lume. Oh, I think we talked about Lume before. So you can get it for people that have like, that need it to help with body odor. I mean, obviously people wear deodorant and you can put deodorant in lots of different places. Um, but yeah, they have it specific for different places. Yeah. And Lume is like specifically designed for this. So we all, we all, as we get older, not only do we get itchy and lose our hair and get really bitchy and cranky, but we also stink. We're in our bladder leaks. So it's body odor and urine that we smell like. Perfect. That makes a lot of sense. Actually, when looking into different aspects of life, that makes sense. Yeah. So anyway, now that I feel extremely depressed about the next 10 years, um, you want to talk about some support for it? Like maybe some ways we can manage some of this. Yeah. So I, um, added some cool, fun facts, like myths and facts. Um, I mean, we, so the, I feel like we tell people all the same things all the time. We tell them to eat cruciferous vegetables, to take omega threes, you know, to manage your sleep, you know. Um, but if we, if we kind of look at some of our medical supports, you know, there's, um, there's some fun myths around, um, medical supports or like information about supplements. Like, do we want to dive into some of that? Yeah, I think we should. Yep. Okay. So, um, hormone replacement therapy, um, is designed for women who have moderate to severe symptoms, um, mood swings, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, night sweats, all that stuff. Um, those, it is highly recommended for those with a risk of osteoporosis. Um, and so some women, if they've had a hysterectomy, they might only do the estrogen therapy versus, um, the estrogen and progesterone. There are different options. You can do patch, you can do cream, you can do pills like we talked about earlier in this episode. Um, and there are studies that have supported the use of it early on, but later, not so much. And so one of the big differences, and I think we talked about this in an early on episode, is that like a lot of the hormone replacement myths that we've heard of that it's, you know, it's really dangerous or it causes breast cancer and those kinds of things is, it is, you know, it depends, right. It depends on what kind of hormone therapy you're using. There are the kinds that they use now are different than the kinds they used before. Um, what your specific individual risk is, um, you know, there's, there's many different factors. So I would encourage people to speak to someone who knows more about it before you make the decision, like that you don't want it or you do want it because, um, like read some of the studies, um, you know, we were made to be very fearful of it. Um, and, you know, maybe it's not really as scary as we think for some people. And again, it's, it's weighing that out. Um, and one of the myths that I hear all the time is once you start HRT, you're on it forever. Um, and that's not true. A lot of women will go on it and then taper off. Um, my understanding is they don't recommend it for anyone 60 or above. So if you're already 60, that becomes more of a problem. Um, one of the things that I noticed that you had, um, mentioned was about testing hormone levels. So when is a good time to do that? Um, I can say when I experienced all of these symptoms and was thinking what the heck, well, one, I was like worried I was pregnant. I didn't know what was going on, but unexpected weight gain, brain fog, um, insomnia, fatigue, like just not feeling like yourself. Um, if you don't need to take a pregnancy test, because you know, you're not pregnant. Like I was quite certain it wasn't, but if you have to grab pregnancy tests, maybe that's the problem. But if that's not the problem, like maybe go get checked, go get tested because even though there's so many other things that could be like, for me, it was just really high cortisol and it was mimicking a lot of these symptoms, but like that is a great time to get checked. Or if periods are irregular, suddenly changing or non-existent, um, and then it's important that you get your laps done too, because sometimes thyroid issues, like anytime people run hormones, they're going to run your thyroid at the same time. And if you can get them to do not just your TSH, but get them to do your T3, your T4 and your reverse T3, that's really important because sometimes these symptoms are mimicking thyroid issues. Right. And so, um, you know, you've got to get your thyroid in control. Like it's, there's all the things, like I have a girlfriend who, um, very much talks about perimenopause and eating for perimenopause and, and she's in the nutrition world like I am. And she recently discovered that she has a couple of cysts on her thyroid and you know, they're, they've tested them and they're non-cancerous. And so that's all good, but she's got to get that under control because that was affecting so many of her other symptoms. So although she's in perimenopause, her thyroid is also throwing everything off. So she's managing multiple things, um, you know, and they're all contributing to each other. And so, you know, it's good to make sure that those things are good, that your, your blood sugar levels are good. All those things are good so that you aren't just addressing one problem. And, you know, if you're not, if you are doing all the right things and you're not seeing solutions, um, again, you know, are there other factors at play here? So what about some supplements? Like we go back and talk about, like, for those who don't want to do HRT or who those want to do other things to support their bodies with HRT. Um, there are some supplements that can be super, super helpful. Um, so one of those would be magnesium. Um, and I point out to people that there are, I don't know, seven different types of magnesium. So not all magnesium is treated the same. So magnesium can be used to support sleep, to reduce stress, um, to relax your muscles. Um, they can help with cramping, anxiety, headaches, like there's so many things. Um, and so you want to kind of make sure you're taking the right kind of magnesium. So typically like a magnesium, uh, bisglycinate would be more for sleep and relaxation, whereas a magnesium citrate is going to be more for digestive health, bowel movements, that kind of thing. Um, so with the citrate, if you're taking too much for your unique body, you're going to have runny bowels. Um, and so, you know, those kinds of things come into play. Um, adaptogens, have you ever taken any adaptogens? Um, so I haven't taken like ashwagandha or anything, but I have lots of people that I know that have taken and they find it works wonders. You can get copies with ashwagandha, you can get supplements with them. Um, I haven't personally, but I do know people who have high stress and they do take that. I've always stayed closer to L-theanine and things like that for my cortisol reduction, um, and magnesium, and I haven't really delved into any of the mushrooms or anything. Um, what about you? I think a lot of times some of the supplements that are stress reducing supplements, a lot of them do have ashwagandha, at least some portion of it in it. Um, so there are some supplements that, you know, kind of are a blankety supplement that have a bunch of different things in them. Um, so when you're looking at supplements or looking at combo supplements, you know, those are kind of some ingredients to look for the ashwagandha, the rhodiola, the maca, um, those kinds of things, uh, you know, the L-theanine, the GABA, those kinds of things to bring down that stress level. Um, again, great for women who are struggling with mood swings, fatigue, burnout, you know, as I think of my day today, I probably should whip up some, some happy pink drink and, uh, you know, get me through the rest of the day with some happy pink drink. Um, it's funny how I don't need that when I'm talking to you only when I'm talking to other people. Only when you talk to Greg, it's fine. It's just the male gender that causes the rage. It's funny how that works, right? Yeah. Nurturing and caring to everyone else. But, uh, I don't know my, um, my preteen who is not male, um, I could express some, some rage on her too. So that's fine. I think that's normal. I think we can all do that. Yes. And that's why I'm so like honest and vulnerable about, um, the reality of these things, because I think that all too often we don't realize that like, yes, sometimes behind closed doors, other people are acting like crazy yelling hormonal beasts and you know what, that's okay. It's we're, we're figuring it out and we're getting through it. And, um, I think in my relationship, it's important that I label it and that I give myself grace that like, there's a reason I behaved out of character and that isn't who I am. That's not how I want to behave. And, you know, being able to recognize that really helps with some of that negative self-talk, um, because that's where my head goes, right. Is after I have a moment, then I, you know, that I call him like the little gremlin guy in my head, if he doesn't have nice things to say to me. Um, and so I think that it's important to give ourselves grace and learn to give ourself grace. And I think, um, a nice contributing factor to that is to know that other people are there too. And other people have been there and feel the same things. And, um, we're, we're not all, you know, a Hallmark card looking great and perfect, you know, every second of every day. So I hope that my banter and my stories helps other people to know that, you know, we're all just making it through. Right. Well, I think our podcast shows if anyone watches us live, like on YouTube, they know we're not perfect any day. So I think that that is perfectly fine. Um, one of the takeaways I have though, cause we kind of touched on it, but not a lot, and we touch on it kind of all the time. Um, but if you are not sure of the symptoms you're having and you are feeling, Oh my, what is happening with your hair? Um, if you're not sure of the symptoms you're having, but you're having like, you're not sure if you're having real night sweats, like, um, hot flashes. Um, one of the things that I noticed cause with everything, like I like to like experiment with things and see what's going on, especially when I'm really listening to my body. Um, if I eat after like seven or eight o'clock, if it's something super heavy, and you and I talked about this the other day, um, is that I, my body will overheat all night long trying to break down and process my food. And that's one of the reasons I say to fast between certain times. So if I even, if I have some chips, usually late at night, sometimes it depends what I have. Like if I'm having more than chips, maybe some chocolate or something, and I'm snacking when I shouldn't be, or don't want to be, I will notice because my body will burn up overnight and I'll be roasting. Um, because my body's trying to digest all that food. But if I have everything earlier before a certain time and just stick to like water or something at night, I don't get those night sweats. So for me, that's what makes me feel. It's not a perimenopause thing for me. It's like, Oh, I just ate too late and my body doesn't like it. So what a great thing to notice, right? Like, cause our bodies are smart and they're telling us stuff. Right. And so what a great thing for you to notice because like now you're less likely to eat at night, which is, you know, helping your hot sweats, but then it's also helping like weight management, healthy choices, all those things, because you're listening to your body and you're not ignoring it. Um, and so then you, you know, that's like a double health win. I mean, Oh no, I ignore it often, but I mean, at least I know it's happening. So I'm aware that my body doesn't like it, but for everyone else out there, you shouldn't ignore your body. Don't be like me. I just wanted to share with everyone. So, you know, that that could be happening. I can't help. I have late night chocolate cravings happens. And so I don't eat sugar. Like, like I'll eat chips at night sometimes, but I don't eat sugar because I full fledged get what I call a sugar hangover. No, no. Once I realized that that really puts sugar out the door at night for me. See, I'm good for you for listening to your body. We should all be like you. I know that was serious. Like we should all be like, I just can't. I think that the ramification isn't enough. Yeah. Someday. Because you own a candy store, you have chocolate at your disposal at all times. I will. I would love to say that's why, but yes. Okay. All right. Well, let's give the listeners some actionable steps after this episode. So I'm going to say the first action step I want all of you to take is to track your symptoms because awareness is the first step. And so if we track our symptoms, maybe we're going to notice