Reviewed by our Perimenopause is a condition of lower hormone levels, particularly estrogen and progesterone. And perimenopause treatments need to focus on not just raising up your hormone levels, but balancing your hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. What does that mean?
Balancing the communication between the master controller, your hypothalamus, and your ovaries. Because when that gets out of balance, it is your hypothalamus that is actually triggering most of your symptoms. The symptoms of insomnia and hot flashes and mental fog is due to the hypothalamus missing estrogen and progesterone. So what can you do about perimenopause so that you can start to feel calm and back into balance?
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
Well, the first thing I want you to consider is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. That is always an option. It is not something you have to do, but you need to consider it. You can use natural progesterone as your first line of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Natural progesterone can be found over the counter and also by prescription. By usingtopical transdermal bioidentical progesterone, especially in the last half of your cycle about the time you expect to ovulate until about the time you menstruate, approximatley 14 days, will help to regulate your cycle, calm down your moods, actually suppress some of your premenstrual symptoms.
You may also need a little bioidentical estrogen. If you have severe hot flashes, if you are having issues with insomnia or major mental fog, taking some transdermal estrogen, particularly Estradiol which is only by prescription, will actually help to calm those symptoms down. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is a safe alternative to synthetic pharmaceutical hormone replacement therapy.
Herbal Remedies
The second thing that you can do is use herbal remedies. There are many herbal remedies that have been used for centuries by women who have issues with perimenopausal symptoms. One of the classic remedies is chasteberry from the Vitex tree. Chasteberry actually has a progestational or progesterone-like effect on your body, and that can help to regulate your cycles. It can help to regulate your moods and decrease the premenstrual symptoms that get so aggravated in perimenopause. Another herb that you can use that helps with estrogen levels is black cohosh. Using black cohosh along with chasteberry can help to regulate your cycles and actually balance out your perimenopausal symptoms.
The best way to balance out your perimenopausal symptoms is to support your hypothalamus with a full herbal blend like what’s in Genesis Gold®. All of the herbs in Genesis Gold® are designed to help balance out your hypothalamus and actually make the transition into perimenopause much more smooth. It may actually extend your time between starting perimenopause and actually going through the full menopause by regulating your cycles.
Eat Hormone Boosting Foods
Now, the third thing you can do is add foods into your diet that actually help to regulate both progesterone and estrogen. So some of the progestational foods are things like pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Orange squash like pumpkin as well as kabocha and also butternut squash are really great ways to keep the progesterone levels balanced.
In terms of estrogen, royal jelly, which is a bee product, can actually help to raise estrogen levels, as can soy products, particularly soy proteins like edamame beans. Getting a colorful diet can actually, in terms of produce, lots of fruits and vegetables, peppers, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, actually helps you to metabolize your estrogen and progesterone in a much more safe way so that you have more of your natural hormones on board and you are not feeling as deficient.
Making sure that you are eating a balanced diet so that you are getting enough protein, carbs, and fats and lots of those colorful fruits and veggies will actually help to keep your hormones in better balance and metabolize them much, more safely, making getting through perimenopause easier.
Research: Menopause and the Human Hypothalamus: Evidence for the Role of Kisspeptin/Neurokinin B Neurons in the Regulation of Estrogen Negative Feedback The Interrelationship Between Serum Pituitary Hormones in Healthy Adults
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