Perimenopause and Aging Overies
Do you hear the tick-tock of your biological clock? I had my last son just before my 30th birthday eight years after my second son. I had two boys and really wanted a daughter. My second son was a cesarean birth and very traumatic at that. It scared me because I had had a very easy vaginal birth with my first son. I didn’t even know I was in labor and by the time I reached the hospital I was already dilated to seven! Five hours later and a couple of pushes and he arrived. Then the second baby didn’t do what he was supposed to do and was breach. I was not prepared for the cesarean. Then my biological clock was ticking..ticking Another boy who was healthy and beautiful and no more! I did get granddaughters though!
All that to say that around age 35 most women begin to have anovulatory cycles, which means no ripe egg is released from the ovaries during the menstrual cycle. Your levels of estradiol, the main form of estrogen produced from about age 12 until the end of perimenopause, start to fluctuate wildly while progesterone levels drop. The control center, the hypothalamus, and pituitary in the brain, are screaming louder and louder for the ovaries to get the progesterone levels higher. But those aging ovaries just can’t make enough. This means the hormonal couple can’t figure out who is leading who and the confusion starts.
Temporarily left unchecked by low progesterone, estrogen continues to stimulate, which results in increased endometrial thickness, heavy bleeding, clotting, and did I say lots of breast tenderness. Fluctuations can lead to migraines, irritability off the charts (like you don’t even like yourself but you can’t get away from you), and in some cases such as mine, anger or rage. I can remember getting angry at the way my husband breathed! It was not pretty. Your periods may come early or be heavy or both. You may have a light period one month then a heavy period the next. I developed breast cysts during this period which I found during my monthly self-breast exam. No more under wire bras. All this to say, there is no exact time for perimenopause. Pay attention to your body, talk to your mom or aunts about when they started and look at the family history. It’s a journey we all have to take. I choose to do the natural protocol which worked best for me. I can help you through this process.
