Hi Nostr community, today is World menopause day, so I'm making a comeback after some months, to leave you some basic definitions to orient you on the journey.
Unfortunately, most women in their late 30’s & 40’s have no idea what menopause is. And, if they have it, it’s based on what the media feeds us: a devastating disease, where your ovaries stop functioning, and after it its THE END. Nothing farther from the truth 🔥!
Many feel confused and disoriented because they don’t know what’s going on. Others feel they aren’t getting the support they need, or are spending years trying to figure it out on their own.
So here are some basic definitions to get you oriented on this journey which lasts about a decade,and what you can expect.
Symptoms of perimenopause include:
🔥 Irregular periods
🔥 Memory issues, brain fog
🔥 Anxiety
🔥 Less stress resiliency
🔥 Mood swings, Depression
🔥 Migraines
🔥 breast pain
🔥 heavy periods
Joint pain
But the truth is that the temporary perimenopausal symptoms are our bodies and brains re-patterning to new hormonal and brain pathways, away from reproduction into sustaining the second part of our lives.
And these are symptoms that take a toll in our quality of life, and are not to take lightly or just endure.
🐳 Perimenopause 🐳
Perimenopause begins 2-8 years before we cease to menstruate, our periods start to fluctuate. They become farther apart or closer, scantier or heavier.
Here you have early perimenopause and late perimenopause (see my next post)
First you have a stage of early perimenopause that is characterized by low progesterone and high relative estrogen.
Then, late perimenopause follows with high and fluctuating estrogen. And these can come with distinct symptoms, related to estrogen leaving the house, followed by its partner progesterone.
🐳 Menopause 🐳
Refers to the permanent cessation of menses after a year of complete absence of menstruation.
🐳 Postmenopause 🐳
The period after menopause and when bleeding has stopped for over 12 months.
What has been your experience with Perimenopause so far?
#perimenopause #menopause #womeninnostr #womenhealth #hormonehealth
Paradise!
GM 🌿
Morning harvest: Lemon balm, apple and chocolate mint, artemisa, mullein leaves, and cucumbers and tomatoes from the green house
#homestead #herbs #herbalist
Can't believe is end of July already! Here is a podcast episode, where I share about how we can understand the #menstrualcycle through a different lens, not as a burden but as a superpower!
Spotify
#49 - 100% syklus
100% · Episode
What do you think?
I had to turn around, park and take this picture.
Hey there nostr! it's been a while since my last post. I'm now in Puerto Rico, visiting family, but here comes some inspiration. this time, about how our cycle impacts our brain.
Monthly cyclical changes in our hormones dramatically reshape regions of the brain that mediate emotions, memory, behavior, and how information is transferred.
In the first half of the month high estrogen levels give you an increase in mental sharpness, creativity and communication skills.
Estrogen also enhances the release of serotonin which is our happiness hormone.
In the second half of the month, your cognitive abilities shift and you turn inwards.
What can go wrong?
Some of the hormonal changes, especially in the second half can express strongly for some. For example PMS affects the limbic system and prefrontal cortex, where decision making, good judgment and stable emotions occur.
PMS symptoms include moodiness, trouble concentrating, aggressivity, and irritability.
Studies show that the longer you go untreated, the greater the risk of dementia.
Here's a challenge:
Start noticing your daily mood and mental patterns. How is your mental clarity today?
Do you feel foggy?
Do you feel more inwards or more outwards, articulated and able to make good judgements?
Noticing these changes will help you be aware of your cyclical strengths and can help you better organize your tasks at home and at work.
I read you in the comments!
#women
#hormones
#brainhealth
#holistichealth
#menstrualcycle
To understand hormonal health, its important to understand that physiology doesnt happen in a vacuum. We live in a society that defines what it means to be a woman, who has knowledge about our bodies and how we are to behave from a very young age and in all stages of our lives.
**In menstruation, society dictates how we should bleed (or not blleed).
**In motherhood, society determines how we should birth and what does it meant ot be a good mother.
**And during menopause, society makes us beleive that we have to endure our old body, as we no longer fit the standard of beauty, productivity and fertility.
We live within structures that dictate that health is a goal to reach, with very little emphasis on how our bodies are a reflection of these same structures that perpetuate inequality, powerty, discrimination, shame and sometimes, liimited access to quality health care.
When we are ashamed of our body or our vital life cycles, whether menstruating, mothering or menopausing, we are giving our power away.
it's time to reclaim our body as our power, from a place of sovereignty, love, connection, pleasure and respect, beyond society' s expectations and definitions.
#womenhealth
#holistichealth
#womeninnostr
#inequality
#hormonebalance
Hey Nostr, here comes 4 Tips for PMS management (and other hormone related issues).
Many of the conditions that we think of as hormonal imbalances are much more complex than hormones being too high or too low. In fact, most studies find that hormone levels in women with PMS are usually normal.
What we know is that women with PMS seem to have an irregular response to progesterone and serotonin. That’s why treating with progesterone doesn't «fix» PMS.
You hormones can be normal, but if you don't respond to them, it doesn't help.
Stress levels, dietary factors and environmental exposure to chemicals can activate/worsen PMS.
We also know that antidepressants, B6, and exercise improve PMS symptoms. This might be because these increase how we respond to progesterone, rather than increasing our hormone production.
If your mood and physical changes are cyclic in nature it can be you body trying to signal inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, or gut problems and can be a sign of serious hormonal imbalances like PMS, endometriosis, PCOS.
4 Tips for PMS management (and other hormone related issues)
EAT FOR BALANCE try an elimination diet, remove dairy, gluten, sugar, alcohol, and processed foods for 3-4 weeks and keep a journal to note any findings/improvements.
NOURISH YOURSELF
Herbs like St. John's Wort and Vitex have been found to reduce depression/anxiety and support the nervous system. Adaptogens like Tulsi, Ashwagandha, Reishi, Schizandra, support mood, energy levels, stress response, and metabolic function.
UNDERSTAND YOUR CYCLES track your cycle so you can carve alone time a week before for rest, being in nature. Track your mood/energy levels to get an understanding if they have a cyclical connection.
CHANGE YOUR BELIEFS
Dig into your hidden beliefs/attitudes about your body and your menstrual cycle. Studies show that our beliefs about menstruation, birth and menopause can influence how we experience them.
#pms
#homonehealth
#womenshealth
#holistichealth
#womeninnostr
I got asked this super important question: What alternatives to the pill are there for women who feel the stronger negative symptoms of menopause due of the depletion they experienced in their reproductive years?
Western medicine addresses individual symptoms (hot flashes, brain fog, anxiety, depression) with one magic pill, because this is what they are trained to. The holistic approach looks at the person to address the root causes of all the symptoms: inflammation, high levels of stress hormones: cortisol and adrenaline, which also fuel more inflammation, address gut issues, which lead to insulin resistance and taking care to balance your whole body systems (endocrine, brain, nervous and digestive). hope that makes sense. the how is through lifestyle changes!!!!
#womenhealth
#menopause
#holistic
#hormonehealth
I'm excited to host another online edition of The Five Pillars of Hormonal Health: How to solve your hormonal imbalances holistically on June 11th at 19:30 CET (Oslo time)
10:30 AM PT
1:30 PM ET.
80% of us will get a hormonal related imbalance in our lifetime that will impact our quality of life.
This class will be a game changer for you if you are:
🔥You're struggling with fatigue, weight gain, PMS, cramps or mood swings.
🔥You have been diagnosed with PCOS or endometriosis and are feeling lost.
🔥You are experiencing menopausal symptoms, like brain fog, anxiety, burnout, or sleep issues and are confused by all the information out there.
These are all symptoms of hormonal imbalances. Your hormones are the base of your whole body - your brain, heart, gut, bone health, your immune system and metabolism.
Come to this free class to learn how to solve your hormonal imbalances holistically. This event will provide you with a root cause approach that will help you identify and deal with the root causes.
After this class you will feel inspired to take action to get your hormones and your whole physiology back in balance.
Date: June 11th, 2024
Time: 19:30-21:00
via Zoom
FREE sign up here:
Google Docs
Alquimia: La plenipausia como caldero de transformación
Bienvenida! Regístrate para el taller aquí. Este formulario es una manera de conocerte un poquito mejor, así puedo contestar tus dudas de la mej...
✨📸 Veronica van Groningen
#pms
#womenhealth
#hormonehealth
#endometriosis
#hormonebalance
Day 1 at the Oslo Freedom Forum!
Did you know that 5 billion ppl live under authoritarian regimes? That's 70 percent of the world's population. Today we heard about from Iraqi, Gazan, Venezuelan, Iranian, Cambodian, Ugandan, Nicaraguan activists and their struggles for freedom of expression under authoritarian regimes. I also learned how Bitcoin is censorship resistance currency that can be used by activists in their human rights work.
To give you some context, I worked as a humanitarian and environmental activist before I moved to Oslo in 2013. I lived in northern Iraq and traveled the middle east, doing advocacy to protect the Tigris river and also on a campaign to expose honor killing a in Iraqi Kurdistan.
This work was the foundation of the work I have been doing for the last 10 years on women health and rights. For me health human and environmental rights are deeply intertwined.
#OFF
#humanrights
#bitcoin
#reclaimdemocracy
I'm reposting this, because I see it in Primal, but not when logging with Amethyst.
This is whats missing from current menopause discussions
There is a lot going on now on the menopause health world, with the reinterpretation of the WHI (Women Health Initiative) study, from 2002 and now in 2024, it's gone from HRT increases risk of breast cancer to the other polarity: all women should have access to menopause therapy, its safe, and all women should be able to have this conversation about risks and benefits with their provider. Having that conversation can be life changing/life saving for many.
But in the name of access to care, come a lot of narratives about women's bodies that are important to deconstruct.
First, the idea that a magic pill can replenish our needs and take care of all our symptoms. The symptoms of menopause are symptoms of a systemic depletion of women's bodies, something that has developed over time and there is no magic pill that can fix that. You can replenish biochemistry, but the toll that it has taken on your body, your emotions and mental health, that is irreplaceable. And yes, many women report feeling better: they are able to sleep, go to work, but still the narrative is that “my body is broken, and I can fix it with this magic pill” and that's where I see the disconnect.
Dr. Lara Briden refers to the work of endocrinologist Jerilynn Prior: Menopause is not a failure of the body or the ovaries, but a neuroendocrine transition that is completely detached from aging. Menopause is a brain overhaul to become more efficient to tend to our physiological needs in the second half of life. So, it's not about the failure of our bodies because we are aging, it is about our body’s ability to transform and to tend to our physiological needs. From now on, the focus is not the energy intensive process of reproduction, instead is brain, bone, cardiovascular health, and metabolism.
Neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Mosconi, who studies women's brain in menopause explains that the menopausal brain is smaller and less energy demanding, because it doesn't need to tend to this energy intensive process of reproduction. Instead, the focus shifts to other body systems: our nervous system, brain, cardio health and that's why menopause is a window of opportunity. That is why many women fall off the cliff in menopause; It's not because of aging, it's because they have been stressed, undernourished and overstretched for the whole reproductive period, and now when they enter menopause, that depletion makes they more vulnerable to symptoms.
Is like when you are rebuilding your house, but you didn't tend to your house for 30 years, and when you start remodeling, you find that the electric cables were damaged, the water piping breaks, it's not because of the remodeling. It's because it wasn’t maintained for 30 years.
Would love to hear your reflections and if this resonates or if I'm completely alone in this train of thought.
#womenhealth
#menopause
#health
#womenrights
#
