Have you been sleeping bad? Is your hair thinning, and are you suffering from hot flushes? If you are experiencing these and other symptoms, but are still getting your period, there is a chance you might be in perimenopause.
Last week, I was reading an interesting article in the scientific journal Nature about perimenopause. In this blog, I will discuss the most important insights from this article and look at these findings from a TCM perspective.
What is perimenopause?
Perimenopause is the hormonal transition phase in the years leading up to the real menopause. The real menopause is when your oestrogen levels have significantly dropped and you have not had a menstrual period for 12 months. Perimenopause however can begin as early as in your thirties or forties and can be either a phase or continue until you reach menopause.
During this perimenopause your hormone levels fluctuate. As a result, you experience a variety of symptoms that can sometimes resemble chronic stress or burnout.
These are the most common symptoms:
Hot flushes and night sweating
Low energy, lower motivation, and a decrease in self-confidence.
Poor memory and ‘brain fog’.
Sleep issues: difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently, or waking up too early.
Mood swings, feeling down or angry.
Tender breasts or an increase in headaches.
Hair thinning.
There is no specific therapy for perimenopause
The article in Nature points out that it is still very difficult for doctors to treat perimenopause effectively, mainly because there is not enough research. There is also no diagnostic blood test available (yet). Because many people suffer from perimenopausal symptoms that affect their quality of life, doctors often prescribe Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) or a hormonal birth control pill.
However, the author of the article explains that this hormone therapy (which adds extra oestrogen) was designed and tested for women who are already fully in menopause. Perimenopause is different: your body is still producing oestrogen and going through hormonal fluctuations, whereas in menopause, the oestrogen production has dropped. If you add extra oestrogen during perimenopause, it can sometimes actually worsen the symptoms.
Hot flushes are linked to cognitive functioning
Another very interesting conclusion in the article is that they found symptoms like brain fog, poor memory, and moodiness not necessarily to be linked to a decrease in oestrogen levels. According to neuroscientist Pauline Maki and other researchers, it is linked to hot flushes.
If your body experiences hot flushes at night, your sleep will be disrupted. Brain scans of women who suffer from frequent hot flushes show that their brains have to work much harder to perform cognitive tasks during the day. Their conclusion: if you stop the hot flushes and help people sleep better, the brain will naturally function better as well.
TCM and perimenopause
The hot flushes (heat), poor sleep, and brain fog is something we have actually been treating with TCM for a long time. The link as researchers just found has been confirmed in TCM for decades. Because those are part of symptom patterns in the TCM pathology linked to Kidneys, Liver and Heart.
Within TCM, we view perimenopause as a time when your ‘Kidney-Yin’ (your deep reserves) begins to decline. Yin is the cooling system in your body that activates rest and hydration. When Yin decreases, Yang (the warming system) takes the upper hand. This decrease in Yin and rise in Yang creates heat (hot flushes). This heat rises upward and disturbs your Shen (your spirit/mind). From a TCM perspective, the solution is: we need to nourish the Yin, clear the heat, and calm your nervous system.
3 TCM Tips for perimenopause
Get acupuncture to nourish your yin and for better sleep. With acupuncture, we activate your parasympathetic nervous system for the rest and digest mode of your body and mind. By needling specific points, we help your body release excess heat and restore your Yin for better sleep and deeper relaxation. As the Nature article concluded: better sleep = better functioning. You may want to read the article yourself here .
Take your symptoms seriously and get enough rest. Are you having night sweats and hot flushes? That means you are losing fluids, so it is important to stay well-hydrated. It could be as well that you have less energy during the day because of this. Take yourself and your energy seriously, and slow down when necessary. Schedule enough moments for rest and relaxation. Additionally, make sure to keep moving gently to supply your natural energy levels, for example by walking or doing light exercise. If you have further questions about your symptoms, always consult your GP to discuss your options.
Adjust your diet and eat your Yin. In TCM, we know of many foods that have a cooling (Yin) effect. Try to reduce extremely heating products, such as coffee, alcohol, fried and spicy foods. Instead, choose foods that nourish your Yin:
Dark berries and grapes
Green vegetables, such as broccoli
Black beans
Walnuts and black sesame seeds
Soy products (a great natural source of phytoestrogens)
Watermelon and cucumber
TCM herbs like Dong Quai and Angelica root (more on this in an upcoming blog!)
If you feel like trying a natural approach to relief the symptoms of perimenopause, come by at the clinic for a personalised treatment plan. Schedule your intake at the clinic here , and let’s restore your balance together
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