Perimenopause Signs & Impact

I have something more serious to share. Perhaps this topic and issue is suitable for my female readers that are in their 40s. If you are not yet, you might want to know also because you will reach that age or perhaps your sister, mother, friends, colleagues or relatives is going through Perimenopause. Being women is not easy, we have huge and big responsibilities but we love it. We enjoy every stage in life and experiences that we go through. If you are in your prime years of 40 to 56, you are menstruating and menopause is still many years away. Yet, you began to feel different. You don’t know what it is but you know something’s not the same. You ask yourself - why is your body suddenly sending weird messages like never before? What happen to me? Should I…

The experience is totally new and unsettling. Chances are you are going through what we women known as the quiet before the storm (menopause) – Perimenopause.  An often overlooked time in our lives, perimenopause is a natural transition that women go through when her estrogen levels are fluctuating until she becomes fully menopause. Hence, as natural as it may be, perimenopause can hit you full frontal and affect more than your just menstrual cycle.

OMG! I learnt a lot about Perimenopause though this education workshop themed ‘Embracing Femininity’ and Nuvafemme Feminini Tea Talk by the Nuvaceuticals division of Nuvanta Sdn Bhd. together with Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Dr. Wong Kim Lei; Health Psychologist, Dr. Hariyati Shahrima Abdul Majid and Pharmacist, Datin Swanee Teh. Dr. Wong was on hand to address the key issues of perimenopause and to share her advice on coping with the daunting perimenopause prelude, whilst Dr. Hariyati tackled taboo topics related to women and their changing relationships in her trademark witty candour.

Most women experience some degree of disturbing physical, mental or emotional changes during Perimenopause. While menopause has obviously struck a chord with the females, the term perimenopause is still less well known and even less well understood.

Nuvafemme new woman product from Nuvanta Nuvaceuticals helps meet the needs of women undergoing changes during perimenopause or more commonly known as the female midlife medley. We are only too familiar how this transition can be a rocky journey for many women especially when she is not fully prepared what to expect.

If we begin paying attention to the signs and signals that our body are giving us, we will be amazed how much better equipped we can be to deal with the demands when the time comes. This workshop is aimed at opening the conversation on all things related to perimenopause - the good, the bad, the ugly and the beauty.

This ideal platform to tell women that perimenopause is an opportunity for change, for women to take better care of themselves and to prepare for the best years yet to come. By equipping her with knowledge, there will be no need to fear and more freedom to embrace the change. Ultimately, I believe that this workshop will help us to reach out to Malaysian women and provide a viable natural option to help smoothen their journey through womanhood.

This is more like an education and information post so bear with me, if this topic interest you continue to read on and explore the world of feminity…

Menopause is defined as the time when a woman has not had her period for 12 consecutive months. Perimenopause is the time around menopause which could typically be up to 10 years before or a year after the last period. It is a time of significant change – not unlike a time of “reverse puberty”. Ironically, the perimenopausal prelude can be more troubling than actually hitting menopause itself - much due to symptoms being strange, unexpected and new to the woman.”

Perimenopausal Signs and Impact

Who Stole my Body? Story of the Changing Woman’s Body, there are some symptoms to tell when your hard-working ovaries start to take a little break. These symptoms can be broad-ranging and diffuse for every woman. There are more than 30 associated symptoms, and most women will experience at least a few of them at one go.  However, not every woman will experience every symptom; neither will every woman experience them to the same degree.

Our menstrual cycles may lengthen or shorten, the flow may be light to heavy and we may even skip some periods or encounter “phantom” ones as the levels of estrogen rises and falls unevenly and unpredictably during perimenopause. 

That’s not all, women may also experience “de-feminising” signals, such as weight gain  or extra pounds to the waistline due to a metabolism slowdown; skin dryness, hair loss, decreased libido and vaginal dryness - just to name a few other symptoms. 

Hormones: Fast and Furious

Perimenopause is hormonal driven affair experienced only by the human race, according to Dr. Wong. As estrogen levels fluctuate during perimenopause, various changes in the body will invariably take place as estrogen helps regulate more than 400 different functions in women.

What I tend to see in perimenopausal women is a condition where hormone levels are neither high nor low but frequently high and low. It is this erratic behavior that triggers this newfound perimenopausal “rage” in women”, she explained further.

"Unless women are aware of what is happening and taking steps to prepare the body, nutritionally, mentally and emotionally, many go through difficult times without understanding what exactly is happening. As hormones control so many key features of a woman’s femininity, perimenopause is a time when women will start experiencing various symptoms which could make them feel “unfeminine”, she said.

The Hormone-Brain Chemistry Connection

Hormones and brain chemistry are intimately intertwined. When hormones swing, the brain’s feel-good chemistry also changes leading to many women experiencing mood disturbances and depression including irritability, out-of-proportion anger and sadness, besides memory slips and poor concentration.  

On a larger picture, many a marriage or relationship are strained during perimenopause, often without the couple realizing that hormones may be to blame. “Don’t panic when your moods goes into a yo-yo mode. Feeling fine one minute, and crying the next may be a matter of biochemistry out-of-balance. You are not broken (although you may feel like it). In fact, it’s not the end of the world. Perimenopause may actually be nature’s way of telling women to care for themselves more closely when she has been caring for others all this while. It can be possible for this phase to be a blessing in disguise, something important to cherish”, assured Dr. Hariyati.

Genistein: Harmonizing the Hormones

Besides resorting to medications, it could be better to first achieve good health and hormone balance nutritionally and naturally. For women undergoing changes in their journey through femininity especially during the perimenopausal phase, phytonutrients such as hydrolysed genistein may hold the key to feminine balance. Taking a cue from how Japanese women go through perimenopause almost seamlessly, research found the answer in a natural ingredient known as genistein found in soy which is a key ingredient in Japanese food.

Genistein is an all-natural, phytoestrogen-antioxidant complex derived from organic soy isoflavones. One of its main actions as a phytoestrogen is to mimic the properties of estrogen produced by a woman’s body naturally. When estrogen levels are low, genistein helps fill in the gap. When levels are high, genistein will compete with estrogen in the body thereby regulating such hormonal ups and downs in the body.

The actions of genistein are also selective in that it benefits areas of the body such as the brain (mood and memory improvement), bones (regulating bone building) and heart, without any adverse effects on breast or uterine tissues.

Research has also highlighted genistein’s metabolic-regulating benefits, especially on fat cells. Women undergoing perimenopause know only too well the agony of eating practically “nothing” and still putting on weight, especially around the belly. This phenomenon is not caused by over-eating or a lack of exercise or our genes. It is simply the hormonal component of weight management “let loose”. The good news is that genistein is a fat regulator whose actions include preventing fat formation, reducing belly fat and inhibiting fat accumulation to complement a woman’s effort in achieving a healthy weight.

When deciding on a genistein supplement, be sure to select one that is derived from 100% organic soy and is non-genetically modified (non-GMO). And whilst it would be good if one could derive hydrolysed genistein simply by drinking soy milk, 80% of soy products in the market unfortunately are genetically-modified. Furthermore, it would take at least two gallons of soy milk to derive the amount of genistein from one tablet. And when newfound understanding, age-old wisdom and modern convenience come together, it is inevitable that a “new woman” in control of her destiny is rebirth.

For more information about Perimenopause and Nuvafemme please call 03-5636 3758 or 1300 88 1712 or e-mail: pharmacist@nuvanta.com