For those of you who are familiar with my life story, you will already know that at the age of 32 years old, following an emergency c-section with my 3rd child, I suffered a ruptured uterine artery, a haemorrhage and subsequent blood transfusions. I received life saving surgery that night and thankfully me and my son lived to tell the tale but sadly, I underwent a hysterectomy in order to stop the bleeding and repair the ruptured artery.
2 years following this, around the age of 34 years old, I was plunged into peri-menopause. The symptoms were debilitating and severe.
MY MENTAL HEALTH DURING PERI-MENOPAUSE
Anxiety, loss of confidence, feeling lost and alone during this time came from the fact that I was only 34 years old, caring for 3 young children between the ages of 2-6 years old and the emotional trauma I had experienced from the birth, the surgery and hormonal changes which followed.
MY PHYSICAL HEALTH DURING PERI-MENOPAUSE
My physical symptoms during this time ranged between severe night sweats – not just feeling a bit hot under the duvet – they were like nothing else I had experienced – I could ring my pyjamas out with sweat and my body felt like it was on fire. This was often accompanied with frightening nightmares which in turn affected my sleep quality. Getting through a day would feel like wading through thick mud – a huge effort to stay focused on anything. My energy levels were low. Brain fog meant that my mind would instantly freeze, mid conversation I could completely go blank and forget what I was talking about. Reading a book was impossible because halfway down the page, I would realise that I had absolutely no recollection of the words I had just read.
I think the most debilitating physical symptom I had was digestion issues. My body didn’t seem to be happy with most things I ate which resulted in bloating, gas, frequent toilet trips. I don’t think my body was absorbing much in terms of energy or nutrition during that time because everything just seemed to cause discomfort or the transition time was so fast, it was not bioavailable. As a result, I saw physical changes in my hair becoming thin, nails brittle, dark circles under my eyes and wrinkles more visible. My dental health also took a toll, and I had regular bleeding and a reseeding gum line.
These symptoms went on for around 12-24months, during which time I went to the GP to explain how I was feeling. I had ultrasounds on my abdomen to see why I might be experiencing such digestion related issues, and I had a liver function test – both of which came back normal. I was diagnosed with IBS and prescribed anti-depressants. Nothing was discussed regarding checking my hormones or the fact all of this could be due to me being in early menopause.
Looking back now, with all the information I have, it is obvious to me this should have been considered due to my hysterectomy. If I went to the doctors today – 16 years later – menopause would probably be one of the first things they would consider, and a hormone test would have been given and possibly an option of HRT. But 16 years ago – even though it’s not that long – the conversation surrounding menopause and HRT was not as it is today. Thanks to high profile people in the public eye – women who are talking about menopause more openly, we know so much more than we did even 10 years ago.
HOW I MANAGED MY EARLY PERI-MENOPAUSE
I have never really been someone to rely on pharmaceutical medication – if I get a headache, I drink water, if I feel tired, I move my body to energise it, so when I was offered anti-depressants, I took one moment to refuse and knew it was up to me if I was going to resolve this hell hole I had found myself in physically and mentally. (Disclaimer: if you take anti-depressants and they work for you, that’s great, but I knew anti-depressants were not the right treatment for me and what I was dealing with).
FOOD INTOLERANCE TEST – Bioresonance Test
I first booked myself in for a Bioresonance Food Intolerance Test – this is a type of therapy used in holistic medicine, using a machine to measure the frequency of wavelengths coming from the body in reaction to certain stimuli – in this case a range of commonly eaten foods. I found the test to be quite accurate with the foods it suggested I was showing a reaction to; barley, oats, oranges, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and a few more – all foods I was eating frequently at the time. By eliminating the intolerant foods from my diet, I saw a really positive change in my digestion very quickly.
WELLBEING & STRESS DURING PERI-MENOPAUSE
Together with diet, managing stress is absolutely essential in managing the peri-menopause symptoms. My body had been through the mill. My 3 sons are all born within 4 years so my body had undergone 3 pregnancies and births in a 4 year period. On top of that, the last birth was traumatic due to an emergency c-section, a ruptured uterine artery, 8 pint blood loss and a hysterectomy. The days, weeks, months and years which followed this were spent in a state of survival – raising 3 pre-school age active boys and balancing my dwindling hormonal state! No wonder my body took such a deep nose dive straight into peri-menopause within 2 years of the hysterectomy. I am fortunate enough that the surgeon took the decision to leave my ovaries. My ovaries still ovulating and producing oestrogen during that time will have had a big positive impact on how my body coped with the changes but I understand that the amount of oestrogen that the ovaries produce is much smaller, prompting the early onset of peri-menopause symptoms.
I have always had a keen interest in health, nutrition and taking care of myself. This mindset has been key to helping me navigate this period in my life. However, knowing something is good for you and regularly implementing it, can be 2 different things! I had to get really disciplined in living a life which created calm – easier said than done with 3 active toddlers to care for! So I did it as well and as often as I could – just small snippets here and there really helped. It could be as simple as taking a warm bath with candles, walking for 20 minutes around the block listening to calm piano music on my headphones, laying on the bedroom floor doing some slow breathing. If I was lucky, I’d have enough time to do some really relaxing meditation or yoga, a long walk somewhere with the dog. Anything which calmed the heightened and wired nervous system into a deeply, relaxed and calm state was completely transforming in how I felt both physically and emotionally during this peri-menopause period.
WHAT I ATE DURING THE PERI-MENOPAUSE
Changing my diet was hugely instrumental in helping me deal with all the symptoms I was experiencing with the peri-menopause. I was already eating pretty healthily and did not eat any highly processed foods or lots of sugar but I was eating things which I thought were healthy but in fact, were causing a negative reaction or inflaming my gut. Barley was a huge one – something I often added to soups with vegetables and herbs and spices – sounds healthy right? For some people yes, but for me it was a red flag and as soon as I removed it from my diet, it helped a lot. Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds – 2 other seemingly healthy foods – but my body was rejecting them. So, these foods, along with several others, I removed from my diet and the results were both extremely positive and quick.
I added kefir to help increase my good gut microbes and found yoghurt kefir to be incredibly calming and soothing for my gut – it was such a relief to have that feeling again.
I was low on B-vitamins, probably due to not absorbing food nutrients during digestion, so I started a regular B-vitamins supplement which really helped with my energy levels.
Eating smaller meals, 3x per day, allowed my gut to digest foods without being overloaded.
I omitted all sugar from my diet – both from added sugar and from tropical fruits such as mango, bananas, pineapple and concentrated more on low sugar fruits such as berries.
I invested in a slow-masticating juicer and made my own freshly squeezed green juice from green leaves, ginger and citrus each morning.
I increased my fibre intake with a variety of nuts, seeds and cooked vegetables.
Gradually, I healed my gut through eliminating foods which were causing harm and inflammation and adding foods in which were calming and nutrient dense.
I experimented for around 3 years eating a vegan diet, very high in plants, legumes, nuts, vegetables and low sugar fruits. This way of eating suited me for around 2 years but I really struggled towards the end and started to crave certain animal foods and the amount of fibre from all the plant foods was starting to cause havoc with my digestion. I could not risk going through all the troubles with my digestion again after my experiences so I decided to gradually add animal derived foods back into my diet and I know thrive from a balanced diet which incorporates all food groups.
WHERE I AM NOW WITH MY PERI-MENOPAUSE JOURNEY
I am 48 years old now. My hysterectomy was 16 years ago. My first experience of those terrible peri-menopause symptoms feels like a lifetime ago. That awful period lasted around 2years before my body completely started to calm into a regular and normal monthly hormonal cycle. I had the usual fluctuations of mood, emotions, energy levels and physical changes that you would get with a normal period, the only thing I was missing was the bleed. At first, this was sad for me. I could feel the release of the egg each month during ovulation – a small but significant sensation of the egg making it’s way up, ready to be released – but in my case, there was no womb to catch it and it was always a reminder of that empty void that had been left without my womb in place.
Having a hysterectomy and the removal of your womb as a woman is a hugely emotional situation to deal with. It’s an integral part of the female physical body – a girls first menstruation signalling the transition into womanhood, the monthly cycle which can have so much emphasis over a woman’s mood, energy levels, self love or loathing, pain and release of bleeding and subsequent renewal of the lining. It is so incredible that it can create a safe place for a new human life to be seeded and grown. For a woman, the womb is a fundamental part of the female body, so to remove it can trigger a sense of real loss and grief. For me, it was the loss of that womanhood and also the choice of never being able to birth another child after the age of 32 years old which I found the most difficult to process.
Subsequently, the stress of the event while caring for 3 young children and loss of oestrogen, each played a role in my body descending into an early menopause. However, for the last 13 years my body has stabilised and I feel my actions during those early years really helped to stop my body going into complete menopause. I am now 48 years old and my oestrogen levels show 260 pmol/L which is in the female oestradiol reference Range of 72-529 (post menopause range level 0-118 pmol/L) and my Follicular Stimulating Hormone FSH is 6. Post menopausal FSH is between 23-116.3 IU/L. These results and my mild hormonal symptoms show that my body is still pre-menopause.
I have a cycle, of course, no bleed, but I have fluctuating hormonal changes in mood and physical changes such as low or increased energy levels, days I feel like hibernating and days I feel on top of the world and I need to hug everyone! The mood and physical changes are very mild but the main change here is that they are more frequent – instead of a regular 28 days cycle, I know it is happening more regularly, a natural sign that I am in a stage of peri-menopause as the cycle duration decreases.
I feel I have had 2 very different experiences of peri-menopause! The first was a very sharp nose dive into the most intense peri-menopause symptoms – and the 2nd is extremely gentle and I hardly notice my symptoms. I know there are specific reasons for this – the impact of the traumatic birth, stress and hysterectomy the first time and this time, it is more on my terms and in my control. This experience has given me huge insight into the devastating lows perimenopause can cause but also the amount of control you can have as a women in impacting how your body responds during this phase of life through diet and lifestyle choices.
My website focuses on the diet aspects of managing peri-menopause through eating a wholefood, balanced diet. However, I am not a dietician or a nutritionist. I speak from my experiences and from a standpoint that a balanced diet, concentrating on protein, vegetables, herbs, spices, fermented foods and healthy fats and limiting processed, sugary foods and snacks, can have a very positive effect. I urge you to do a food intolerance test to see if something you are eating is harming you and to keep a food diary because writing down what you eat within a week can be an eye-opening exercise. Most importantly – create a diet and way of eating that works for you!
If you require more specific help with HRT, mental health counselling or support, please ensure that you contact the relevant professional service. Whatever you do, don’t suffer alone – there is so much help out there today, now that the conversation is wide open on social media, lots of books written on the subject, work places offering menopause support and many GP surgeries now have dedicated doctors to speak to or offer hormonal blood checks. I wish this help had been around when I needed it.
You can thrive, feel happy and alive and full of energy for life once your body and mind is in balance – you have the power to impact it!
With love and understanding – Joanne x