5 Steps to tackling Perimenopause with Dr Sophie Shotter
1. How to Sleep
Lots of hormones affect sleep - our ability to get to sleep, how well we stay asleep, and also how deeply we sleep. Progesterone makes us sleepy, and dropping levels of this in perimenopause can mean we do not sleep as well. Oestrogen levels also decline causing hot flashes and night sweats, which can disturb our sleep. Testosterone level decline will also affect how deeply you sleep and recover. Melatonin is our natural sleep wake cycle regulator, and this also declines in perimenopause, compounding the problem. All three of these hormones can be replaced with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy. Balancing these will bring hormones back into sync, and women treated with BHRT noticeably sleep better. This has an impact on how well they feel able to cope with everyday life, as a lack of sleep has knock on effects on mood, concentration and anxiety.
Sleeping with a window open and under a lighter duvet can help to regulate hot flashes if this is your primary problem. Practicing good sleep hygiene is always important - avoiding blue light before bed, making sure you have time to unwind before sleeping
2. How to avoid weight gain
In peri-menopause many women gain weight, often in a different pattern to what they are used to. Women often start to carry extra weight around their waist, which despite no changes in eating habits is harder to shift. It can become a real challenge to keep the scales steady. This is partly because our calorie requirements do decrease as we age, but is also to do with declining testosterone. Testosterone is responsible for helping us to preserve a healthy muscle to fat ratio, and as this drops we tend to carry extra fat. Testosterone can be replaced directly as a hormone cream, or also using the AQ Skin Solutions EndoTest which is a peptide proven to raise Testosterone levels. Decreasing calorie intake as we age is important if we want to stay at a steady weight - intermittent fasting is a great way of decreasing calorie intake without feeling the pinch too much. This involves only eating within an 8 hour window of the day, and usually means you only eat 2 meals. It’s extremely effective and also shown to help decrease how much central weight we carry.
3. How to manage a change in mood
A lot of menopausal women struggle with anxiety, depression and an inability to cope with normal life. These symptoms are largely due to declining oestrogen levels, but are compounded by the sleep problems mentioned above. I find that the best method of approaching this is with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement to identify what hormone imbalances they are suffering with, and additionally addressing any sleep problems. Some women may also need anti-depressant medication, and all cases of depression should be discussed with a GP. It can be difficult to determine what is chicken and what is egg sometimes - are you depressed because you’re not sleeping, or are you not sleeping because you’re depressed. You should never be afraid to ask for help.
4. How to avoid joint pain
As oestrogen levels decline throughout menopause, joint pain is common. This often affects the small joints of the hands and fingers first and is, for many women, one of the most troubling symptoms. Having a good exercise regime which includes lots of weight bearing exercise is a good place to start. Weight bearing exercise will give your body the muscle strength to support and stabilise joints. Collagen supplements are also a useful addition, as the collagen peptides can help to maintain cartilage health within the joint interface and reduce pain. Hormone Replacement with oestrogen is also extremely effective and can reduce or eradicate joint pain.
5. How to keep sagging skin and wrinkles at bay
As we enter peri-menopause we lose 30% of our collagen in 5 years - it’s a real cliff edge moment in our ageing process. We notice this as a rapid acceleration in ageing of our skin, both on the face and the body. Investing in your collagen bank is a great place to start - treatments like Sofwave, which uses ultrasound to lift and tighten, or Profound RF, which uses radiofrequency microneedling, are excellent choices. Facial fillers also help to keep tension in the skin by restoring the facial framework. Collagen supplements are again a useful inclusion here as they give the skin the building blocks it needs to make its own collagen. Hormone replacement will also help significantly. However if for some reason you are unable to take hormones or don’t wish to, then Emepelle is an excellent skincare range which uses MEP technology to activate your skin’s oestrogen receptors but without having any actual hormonal activity.
Visit www.drsophieshotter.com to find out more
