Perimenopause snuck up on me – one minute I was sleeping brilliantly, feeling great, eating healthily and exercising.
The next I was sweating buckets, red in the face and feeling so, so hot.
The worst thing is that it’s really bad at night and means that my sleep is rubbish.
I thought I’m not having this – so I began to try and find something .. anything that could help tame the beast.
I wanted to try and find something that was natural, that could sort out my hormones once and for all.
Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with medical pills.
It’s finding what works for your body.
But I wanted to try stuff first before going down the medical route.
I have a friend who runs alot and eats really healthily – nothing worked for her until taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
She swears by it and doesn’t want to come off it.
Another went on HRT and hated it – she couldn’t get on with it all and it made her feel awful.
We’re all different, so it’s finding out what works for you.
And it’s kind of fun trying different things.
Get any supplements you’re considering taking checked out first by your doctor or physician. This is a must if you’re already on any medication .
Don’t take everything all at once- then you can see if each one makes a difference – if they don’t, move on and try something else.
Always read the labels and take the correct dosage – check what’s in them as well for your own safety and so you don’t duplicate ingredients.
Natural options
Hydrolysed collagen – this is for general ‘ well being’.
It’s great for the skin, helps with gut health & digestion, strengthens nails & boosts hair growth. It also gives you a mighty boost of protein , which is so important for hormone production , maintaining muscle and getting that lovely ‘leaness.’ (I have a little cap full daily and have definitely seen an improvement in my nails and skin.)
Most women just don’t get enough daily protein and tend to be carb heavy.
A no brainer for perimenopause/menopause is to start with the specially put together tablets for the Menopause/perimenopause – I tried one but It didn’t help my symptoms, but some women swear by it.
Here’s some recommendations by a naturopathic doctor, who treats loads of women for perimenopause & menopause symptoms;
Magnesium Glycinate (300mg daily) & Taurine (3000mg daily) tablets, taken together with food.
Magnesium relieves stress and Taurine calms the brain.
(I take these- they instantly made me feel calmer but I was still getting the flushes & sweats- although they weren’t as frequent. I changed the timings of when I was taking the tablets to see if that made a difference, always making sure I took the Magnesium & some of the Taurine in the evening).
Aswagandha – helps anxiety and promotes sleep. Dose as on bottle.(I added these in to see if it improved the quality of my sleep & it has).
Ziziphus -non addictive sedative , to help sleep. Dose as on bottle.
Vitamin B6 (20 to 150 mg daily) to help healthy estrogen production ( I’ve started taking these).
She also recomends micronized progesterone – you will have to see your doctor for this as it’s a prescription medicine in the UK. The capsules help sleep and hot flushes.
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( I added Black Cohosh , after taking magnesium & taurine tablets for a little while – 1 tablet daily, as many ladies have said it’s got rid of their hot flushes, night sweats and they could sleep again.)
Update: after only 3 days of taking Black Cohosh ( and still taking Magnesium & Taurine) my night sweats and hot flushes have gone!! I’m now sleeping through the night. I can’t believe it and am so happy.
My tablets worked for about a year , when a major life event hit me ( my mum died who I was very close to) & all my symptoms came back, despite me taking the same tablets. I then sought help from a specialist menopause clinic & was prescribed estrogen patches & progesterone in tablet form. My hot flushes, night sweats , sleeping have all been sorted !
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Other ladies have found these useful;
Maca – can help to naturally balance hormones by encouraging your body to make the hormones it needs (I take these as well).
St.John’s Wort – can help mood and hot flushes. Dose as on bottle.
Montmorency Tart Cherry juice – helps sleep as it boosts the body’s natural prodcution of sleep hormone Melatonin. Dose on bottle.
Valerian root (tea or capsules) – helps you fall alseep quicker and can improve your quality of sleep. Dose on bottle.
Or a ‘mix’ of magnesium, plus other sleep promoting supplements in one tablet
Symptoms can change as you go through the different phases. so again you may have to experiment with what works for you.
I’d love to know how you’re getting on and what you’ve tried.
Drop me a message at claire@pilatesclaire.com
Claire x
