Definitely Perimenopause/Menopause can be a challenge and I wanted to share Australian Naturopath Lara Briden’s comprehensive take on how you might deal with them.

Here are the symptoms you don’t want to talk about: heavy/flooding periods, mood swings, insomnia, hot flashes.

They’re not nice symptoms because, well, it’s not fun to bleed through your clothes or wake at night with your heart pounding and your sheets all wet.

And part of you is thinking that maybe you’ve done something wrong to get into this situation. Or, at the very least, that you’ve made the shameful mistake of getting older in a society that doesn’t want to hear from older women. And so you keep quiet.

You’re okay. I’m here to throw you a lifeline and to assure you that you’ve done nothing wrong and that these symptoms won’t last forever. And there are simple things you can do now to feel better quickly. (Things that aren’t the hormonal IUD or antidepressant your doctor wants you to take.)

Please try them IN ORDER, adding the next treatment only if you need it.

Step 1. Magnesium plus taurine

Together, magnesium and taurine boost GABA which is the calming neurotransmitter your brain needs as it adjusts to the great progesterone crash in your 40s. They’re incredibly soothing and can improve sleep, mood, and hot flashes. I recommend 300 mg magnesium plus 3000 mg of the amino acid taurine. If you’re lucky, you’ll find them together in the same formula like the one I give my Australian patients.

⚠️ Tip: For additional relief, consider adding 50 mg of vitamin B6, which is another good way to boost GABA.

For mood and sleep and hot flashes, this could be as much treatment as you need. Try it for a few weeks, and then if you’re still suffering, consider adding progesterone.

Step 2. Natural progesterone cream 

Natural progesterone or micronized progesterone is entirely different from the progestins used in birth control or conventional hormone replacement (HRT). It’s not a drug. It’s the beneficial hormone you used to make in your 20s and 30s.

Progesterone has many benefits.

It makes periods lighter so progesterone can be used together with turmeric and other treatments to relieve the crazy heavy periods of perimenopause.

It relieves hot flashes—even on its own without estrogen. Progesterone works best in combination with magnesium and taurine.

For severe sleep problems, progesterone is like a natural sleeping tablet as it relaxes you, but if you are in difficulty a natural sleep capsule can also help and boost the effect of the progesterone.

It stabilizes the HPA or adrenal axis and improves your ability to cope with stress.
⚠️ Tip: Other strategies for stabilizing the HPA adrenal axis include rest, meditation, and adaptogen herbs such as ashwagandha and Rhodiola. All valuable self-care during the menopause transition.

Magnesium + taurine + progesterone should be enough for most of you. Try it for a few weeks, and then if you’re still suffering, consider adding a small amount of estrogen.

⚠️ Tip: Do not take estrogen until you are first taking natural progesterone.

Step 3. Estrogen

It’s okay to add a small amount of estrogen. It’s a lot safer than you’ve been led to believe and can be incredibly helpful for sleep and mood and hot flashes.

⚠️ Tip: Most of the cancer risk from conventional hormone replacement was from the synthetic progestin—not estrogen.

If you do decide to add estrogen, please choose one that is:

Low-dose. When it comes to estrogen, the lower, the better.

Bioidentical, which means it is identical to human estradiol or estrogen.  If you’re not certain if your oestrogen prescription is bioidentical or not ask your pharmacist or use a bioidentical hormone cream.

Transdermal, which means you absorb it through your skin from a cream, gel, or patch. Estrogen is better and safer when taken this way.

⚠️ Tip: Please also take progesterone—even if you don’t have a uterus! You need natural progesterone for mood and to protect your breasts.

⚠️ Tip: Do not take estrogen if you’re still having periods. A common situation is first, your periods stop (you need estrogen). Then, your periods return for a few months (you should stop estrogen). And finally, your periods stop again (you need estrogen again). But you can take the basic prescription of magnesium + taurine + progesterone during all the tumultuous years when you’re having symptoms but still having periods.

Lara Briden is a Naturopathic Doctor in Sydney, Australia and the author of The Period Repair Manual. Her blogs can be seen at https://www.larabriden.com/

Helpful information: 

Hormone imbalance can strike at any age, young to old can feel the effects so choose hormones to help your specific symptoms. With PMS  it is hormone imbalance, most frequently related to progesterone deficiency, that is the major factor in most PMS cases.

As well as the information above, diet is important, particularly having enough fibre, as when your body has finished using oestrogen it is dumped, via the liver, into the intestines to be excreted. Here fibre plays an important role in binding the oestrogen and holding it for elimination. A lack of fibre therefore can cause oestrogen to be reabsorbed and recycled back into the body.

It can also be associated with adrenal fatigue and low thyroid levels so these need to be checked so they can be eliminated as a cause. PMS is certainly helped by supplemental bioidentical progesterone as it restores hormones to normal balance.

Think you are too old to be suffering from PMS? This article might change your mind:

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/why-pms-can-strike-at-any-age/