The Perimenopause - Menopause Chat: Your Skin and so much more!
Hot flashes? Brain Fog? Heart Palpitations? Anxiety?
You're not alone going through Perimenopause or Menopause!
Today we're having "The Chat" about Perimenopause and Menopause, what I've gone through personally and fabulous tips I've learned from @drmaryclaire who specializes in Menopause Women's Health!
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Topics include:
- Perimenopausal / Menopausal Skin Changes and the best way to care for your skin
- Other symptoms you might experience
- My personal experience going through hot flashes, weight gain, heart palpitations and panic attacks
And so much more!
LISTEN NOW or find the Fairface Podcast on your favorite podcast channel
Thanks for listening! We're all in this together ladies!
xo Shannon
SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPT:
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast!
Today's episode is about a topic that seems to be trending lately...either that, or the fact that I've been much more interested in this topic since I'm heading to toward menopause and I thought it was about time to have the chat.
I had to laugh, as I said, "The Chat", I pictured a mother having a sit-down with her mid-life daughter this time, talking to her as she probably did when she was a teen, yet again about what is happening to her changing body.
I actually wouldn't hate that because as it goes on, it all seems like one big surprise after another as I head toward menopause. Full disclosure, I am not yet in menopause, I am still in perimenopause (I'll talk about what that means in a minute).
My sisters and I often talk about our latest symptoms and laugh at all the annoyances that this time of life brings. It's nice to have them to talk to about what in the world is happening to us, with people who get it.
Perimenopause / Menopause Resources
My older sister shared a great perimenopause / menopause resource with me that I look to often for this type of information.
This resource is a wonderful board certified OBGYN, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, who specializes in menopause and perimenopause education and treatment.
She offers a wealth of information on her Instagram, her blog and her book, The Galveston Diet, so I highly recommend you go look at her account. I'll post it in the show notes, her handle is @drmaryclaire. Basically everything you ever needed to know or didn't know you needed to know about menopause and perimenopause can be found through her educational posts.
A lot of what I'll talk about today is be based on information I have learned through her.
So when does someone go through Perimenopause and when might someone go through menopause?
Let's look first at Perimenopause
According to Dr. Haver, and this is paraphrased, for most women, our ovaries produce normal amounts of Estrogen until our 30's and 40's, when the amount of estrogen produced begins to decline...and not just decline, but in an erratic way, marking the beginning, so to speak, of Perimenopause.
This erratic decline in estrogen, can cause all sorts of symptoms. This can last up to 10 years. I never knew that before.
Now let's look at Menopause
Menopause, is defined as not having your period for 12 consecutive months, and your ovaries at this point are now making very little estrogen and progesterone. This can happen at age 45 (or earlier) and as late as 55 (or later). These are the ages and ranges I remember Dr. Haver sharing as a statistic.
Some people are still experiencing side effects due to low hormone levels during menopause.
Although the longest I've gone without a period so far was a little over 4 months, it came back with a vengence...so I'm not done yet.
So estrogen, or the lack thereof, is a key part of perimenopause and menopause.
What does estrogen do for your body?
Estrogen, it turns out, is responsible for many, many systems and functions in our bodies, way more than just reproductive.
Estrogen does regulate menstrual cycles, but it also affects the reproductive and urinary tracts, pelvic muscles, breasts, skin, hair, bones, joints, mucous membranes, your brain, and your heart and blood vessels. (Hopkinsmedicine.org)
Dr. Haver said, "we have estrogen receptors in almost every organ system in our body."
And because we lose estrogen during perimenopause and menopause, we can have symptoms associated with those losses - and you can see why - estrogen does so much for our bodies.
Now lets Just take a quick look at Progesterone, which is also a hormone that declines along with estrogen, during perimenopause and menopause.
What does progesterone do for your body?
In simple terms, progesterone is a hormone that affects your mood, memory, and quality of sleep.
What I read on womenshealthnetwork, was that unlike declining estrogen levels, "your progesterone levels may suddenly plummet, or your estrogen levels can remain high, and it's this unbalanced ratio between estrogen and progesterone that causes a lot of trouble."
A quick word about testosterone -
Testosterone is also one of the hormones that decreases as we age, which can effect libido, as well as loss of muscle mass. Although I'm not going to talk about that, Dr. Haver has a lot of information about what testosterone levels are normal and who might benefit from supplementation. So check her resources for more on that.
What about Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Along those lines, Dr. Haver, who is an advocate for Hormone Replacement Therapy if it is appropriate for the person, says by replacing the lost estrogen and progesterone (and for some testosterone), can help to reverse many of the unwanted symptoms of perimenopause and menopause and regain the advantages to the body that these hormones offer all the systems of the body that they effect.
Lets talk about some of those pesky perimenopause and menopause symptoms-
Dr. Haver has shared through posts on Instagram and her blog and book, that
symptoms of perimenopause and menopause - *due to fluctuations and changes with hormones like estrogen and progesterone - can include things like (this is kind of a long list, so you can listen to see if any of these symptoms apply to you)
breast pain
irregular periods
dry mouth
dry itchy skin
sensitive skin
dry eyes
hair loss and hair changes
heart palpitations
panic attacks
depression
constipation
dizziness
hearing loss
brain fog
memory issues
urinary incontinence
decreased libido
rage
belly fat and weight gain
high blood pressure
high cholesterol
ADHD
frozen shoulder
gastrointestinal disturbances
insomnia
headaches
hot flashes and night sweats
joint pain
There could be others but this is what I collected from her blog and Instagram
When I look over this list I think, isn't this just normal life? ha!
I'm guessing many of us have had one or all of those symptoms at one point in our lives. I know I have had many of them.
It's interesting now, though, to look at this list and realize the symptoms I currently experience and those I've dealt with before, were and are most likely associated with perimenopause. Who knew?!
I'm going to share a few of the symptoms I have experienced myself, but first, lets take a look at what our changing hormones does to our skin.
What happens to our skin during Perimenopause and Menopause?
When our estrogen levels begin to decline, unfortunately, our skin also begins to go through changes.
These are some of the things you might experience:
- Our skin begins to lose its elasticity.
- You may experience itching, irritation, rashes and dryness and your skin may become much more sensitive.
- Your skin is prone to becoming dehydrated because it is less able to retain water than it used to.
- You may experience acne (maybe for the first time)
- Your skin may become slower to heal than it used to
- The skin becomes thinner and can bruise more easily.
- Because we have less collagen, the skin can look wrinkled and even sag.
So it doesn't sound great, does it?
However, there are some things we can do to help minimize the effects of all of this (this does not include taking HRT, which can help minimize these effects as well).
Recommendations for a good skin care routine during perimenopause and menopause includes:
(based on recommendations by Dr. Erica Kelly, from Thegalvestondiet.com and myself, Shannon Sorensen, CEO, and Founder of Fairface Washcloths for sensitive skin)
1. Wash your face with warm water (not hot) and use a mild cleanser, with no added fragrance, made for sensitive skin. Avoid abrasive textures.
Sensitive Skin Cleanser I Recommend:
I love Vanicream gentle cleanser with no added fragrance or textures. It is creamy, gentle, and never irritating. My dermatologist recommended Vanicream products for my rosacea-sensitive skin and I've been using this cleanser for years. *If you have acne, you might need a gentle cleanser that contains salicylic acid. Ask your dermatologist for recommendations.
Sensitive Skin Face Cloths I recommend:
I love Fairface Washcloths. They are the ONLY washcloths I will use on my sensitive face. Anything else is just too abrasive (even traditional baby washcloths). Fairface washcloths are made with soft, gentle, 100% soft cotton flannel that glides across your skin without any irritating textures. They are BY FAR, the best for sensitive skin. You can find our washcloths on FairfaceWashcloths.com and FairfaceWashcloths.etsy.com.
2. Moisturize your face and body with a fragrance-free moisturizer (*with hyaluronic acid is best) after each warm face wash and each warm shower (not hot). Apply it while your skin is still damp, to lock in all the moisture you can.
Sensitive Skin Moisturizer I Recommend:
I love CeraVe moisturizing cream. It is thick, creamy and gentle. I apply it to my face and my body and it is very moisturizing. I've been using for years and love it.
3. Protect your skin every day by applying a full spectrum sunscreen, of SPF 30 or higher. Make it part of your daily routine. It's NOT just for sunny days, it's for blocking UVA/UVB rays that are out EVERY DAY until the sun sets (even if you can't see it behind the clouds).
Sensitive Skin SPF I Recommend:
I've been using Eucerin SPF 30 every day for many years and I love it because it is lightweight, effective coverage, doesn't irritate my skin and I can wear it under my makeup. It is a chemical and mineral combo. Many dermatologists say, the best sunscreen is the one you'll use. Find your favorite and wear it daily.
4. Add skin care products that contain retinol or peptides to your routine, to help increase collagen which can help with wrinkles.
Sensitive Skin Retinol I Recommend:
I have shared before that I started using Olay Retinol 24 with peptides about 7 months ago. Since I have rosacea-sensitive skin, I use it every other day, and add CeraVe moisturizing cream on top of it to reduce any potential irritation or dryness. If you want to try it and are afraid of irritation, try putting a layer of moisturizer on your skin first as an added buffer, and then adding the Olay. Try it and see how your skin tolerates it or first ask your dermatologist what they recommend for your skin.
5. Drink water to keep your body hydrated (this can also help with dry eyes) and try not to drink caffeine, which has a drying effect.
6. Make yearly skin cancer screening appointments with your Dermatologist or sooner if you see any concerning skin changes.
No let's shift gears a little bit. I'm going to share a few other
Perimenopausal symptoms I have experienced
over the last several years. Maybe you've experience these too.
Heart Palpitations
In particular, I remember some of them beginning in my mid 40's.
I started having heart palpitations that scared the heck out of me and prompted me to go to the doctor. I had to have a stress test where I ran on a treadmill to get my heart rate up for a certain length of time and then they had me immediately lay on a table while my heart was still pounding from the exercise so they could watch how my heart responded.
Then they had me wear a heart monitor, taped to my chest for several days to collect data. I had to write down whenever I felt a palpitation so they could match that with the data from my heart to see if there was a correlation.
They didn't find anything worrisome, thankfully, but I also wasn't told why I was having heart palpitations and I walked out of the office and had no other information...which, looking back, doesn't make a lot of sense...but now I know it was very likely due to hormone fluctuations because I still have a lot of heart palpitations.
Brain Fog
Another thing I have experienced is brain fog, or as I like to call it, "I just can't think". Brain fog can be defined as trouble focusing, fatigue, forgetfulness, or hazy thinking. It's something I remember noticing in particular, when I was working at a school about 7 years ago. The manager I worked with would tease me when I couldn't remember words. Like we'd be talking and I would forget the word clip board and say, will you grab me that...uh, thing, you know that hard thing you put papers on and clip it.
It was funny in a way, but also frustrating because I felt like I just couldn't think sometimes - like the best way I can describe it is that my brain was tired. In my position, I had to remember hundreds of children's names, their parents' names and even from some, their grandparents' names and sometimes it felt like my brain didn't have enough room in there.
I hadn't remembered feeling that way when I was younger. I went to college and grad school and could think just fine. Some days I just felt like I couldn't think and other days I felt fine and didn't have that same fogginess.
Sometimes I joke to myself that I'm glad I went to graduate school in my late 20's when I could still think. Just kidding, I have learned a lot of things since then, and many more upon starting and running my own business.
I still have moments where I feel like I have much more "thinking energy" than others, and I just have to laugh when I forget why I've walked into a room, or when I can't think of a word or someone's name and it almost hurts when I finally remember it.
The key is fluctuating estrogen - when estrogen levels are low, it can effect your cognitive abilities and cause what many call brain fog. And I'm assuming it also has to do with progesterone levels.
My mom and I have recently been playing Scrabble together, which is new for me and so fun, and I think it helps grease the wheels of both of our brains, ha! So that's a good thing.
We've all heard it's important and helpful to stimulate our brains as we get older to maintain mental cognition, and that can be with different types of learning and activities and thinking - using word games, and cross word puzzles, painting, singing, playing scrabble, learning new crafts or playing memory games. My grandpa on my mom's side, who lived to be 90 years old, did the cross word puzzles in the newspaper every single day. He was very sharp and didn't show mental decline at all.
Anyway, I just went off on a tangent. And, PS, being a man, my grandpa didn't have the same hormone challenges that women do, but it still is great for your brain to do those types of activities that can stimulate different areas of the brain.
Another symptom that I have endured are panic attacks.
Panic Attacks / Anxiety
I have also suffered through panic attacks that came on about 5 years ago, which are a whole other level of horrible. I have worked really hard to get through that, through some counseling, and tools that have helped, working purposefully on my mind, the way I think about things, putting certain practices into place so I can help myself through that. I still have my moments, but through the things I have learned I've been able to deal with it better. Knock on wood, of course.
Hot Flashes
Let's talk about Hot flashes for a minute - the thing most people associate with menopause, and these can also hit you during perimenopause because it happened to me.
FYI, if you've seen a middle-aged women fanning herself profusely, she could either just be hot or she's having a hot flash which requires quick, almost aggressive fanning, by the way. I've gone through this myself. I had hot flashes for about 3 months multiple times a day and at night, which kept waking me up all through the night. When they hit, I also felt light headed, anxious and queasy at times. So, it wasn't fun. They went away. I hope they don't come back. It was pretty awful.
It's like your body just turns up the heat by a zillion degrees and all your blood has been replaced with hot lava flowing through your veins and it does feel like you're standing in an actual oven. After about 5 minutes, it slowly tapers off to being cold and chilled. How does that sound? Sweater off, sweater on. Always bring a sweater. Some people have sweat dripping down their faces and all their body parts, others have hot flashes at night so severe their sheets get wet. So, anyway, there's a whole spectrum there.
The last symptom that I've experienced that I'll talk about is
Weight gain and belly fat
This is the last one I'll touch on, though there are many more symptoms to choose from. I mentioned earlier that the longest I've gone without a period so far toward menopause, was 126 days, which is a little over 4 months. I really thought it might be the end...until it wasn't.
During that 4 months, I noticed I had gained a bunch of weight. Now, granted, I wasn't focused on eating healthy, so I was not limiting myself and I was eating all the delicious things...like chips and cookies and donuts...what I'm saying is that I wasn't trying not to eat those things so that could have contributed to my weight gain, but I found I had gained weight across that 4 month period that seemed more-than-normal to me, and my stomach was part of it.
Dr. Haver says that many of her patients first come to her because of weight issues. They have gained weight even though they haven't changed anything about their diet or exercise routine...and in particular, people who have never had problems with belly fat, are now seeing it and can't figure out how to get rid of it.
So her book, The Galveston Diet (which isn't so much a diet as it is a guide for nutrition and lifestyle changes) outlines how to help with weight issues by doing things like increasing your fiber intake each day, keeping your added sugars under a certain amount each day, exercising and strength training in a certain zone, and doing stress reduction activities to keep your cortisol down, etc.
Have you had any of the symptoms we've talked about or any others we haven't touched on? I'd love to hear about your experience.
Menopause and Perimenopause are subjects just not talked about a lot, but I'm happy to see them in the spotlight so we can all get more informed about what is happening to our bodies and feel more normal, and less alone.
It's kind of sad for me to think that within the last 10 years I have had so many of the symptoms I mentioned in that list, and I had no idea it could be related simply to my hormone fluctuations.
Knowing that, I may have opted to use something like an IUD, which can help regulate hormone levels, and help alleviate some of the symptoms that I dealt with.
I think it was on Dr. Haver's website that says something like, "suffering is optional". No more suffering. We don't need to go through this natural phase of life alone and we don't need to go through it suffering.
I hope bringing some of these things to your awareness has helped you. And I really would love to hear from you. You can email me through our website FairfaceWashcloths.com or message me through Instagram, @FairfaceWashcloths.
It's been so nice chatting with you today! I look forward to seeing you next time!
If you're interested in trying our soft washcloths for your sensitive skin
You can find them on FairfaceWashcloths.com and FairfaceWashcloths.etsy.com.
Take care and I'll see you again soon!
The Fairface Podcast is brought to you by Shannon Sorensen, the Founder and CEO of Fairface Washcloths, the best washcloths for sensitive skin. Please share your experiences with perimenopause or menopause, below! We'd love to connect with you!
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