Homeostasis: The Physiologic Reason for Self-Care During Perimenopause

The less time we make for self-care in perimenopause, the harder our bodies have to work to achieve balance in the face of normal hormonal fluctuations that occur.

What’s more, the longer we deprive our bodies of this support, the worse symptoms can become. Our recent research documented an association between greater life stress and bother associated with some symptoms.

But what is balance and how does it relate to self-care?

Think back to high school biology. Does the term homeostasis ring a bell? In case it doesn’t, here is a definition from Scientific American: Homeostasis, from the Greek words for “same” and “steady”, refers to any process that living things use to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival.

Our bodies are working to maintain homeostasis — balance —  across many bodily systems at all times.

For example, our bodies work to maintain a core temperature of 98.6. That is homeostasis at work.  If you think about it – the best-known symptom of menopause is night sweats or hot flashes. Those are the result of hormonal fluctuations, which present a challenge to the body’s temperature-maintaining function.

The intricate system that governs our monthly cycles during our peak reproductive years begins to change as the last of our eggs is popped out. And these changes cause chaos to the system in the form of wildly fluctuating hormonal levels that can impact many parts of our bodies. Here is an image of hormonal fluctuations over 6 months in perimenopause:

See how this image compares to 6 months in premenopause and 6 months post-menopause here.

So any place in our bodies that has receptors for estrogen and progesterone can be impacted by these chaotic patterns.

Hormone lady illustrates where these receptors are.

Our bodies need our help, now more than ever, to maintain homeostasis. This is where self-care comes in, and becomes an imperative, not an option.