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 flushes.

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 soaking wet.

You’re okay. I’m here to throw you a lifeline and to assure you that that these symptoms won’t last forever. And there are simple things you can do now to feel better quickly.

These are not what your doctor may want to prescribe such as the coil, pill or even antidepressants but something different.

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 flushes. 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 Lara Briden gives her 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 flushes, this could be as much treatment as you need. Try it for a few weeks, and then if you’re still suffering, consider adding bioidentical progesterone cream.

Step 2. Natural progesterone cream 

Natural progesterone or micronised 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 flushes—even on its own without oestrogen. 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 stabilising 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 oestrogen.

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

Step 3. Oestrogen

It’s okay to add a small amount of oestrogen and can be incredibly helpful for sleep and mood and hot flushes.

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

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

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

Bioidentical, which means it is identical to human oestradiol or oestriol. 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. Oestrogen 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.

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 as 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/