Perimenopause is long. It can last longer than 4 years, the frequently cited length, for many of us.
In this video, Dr. Prior acknowledges that perimenopause can be long, but she shares a hopeful perspective after seeing many women go through it. She also offers advice about connecting with other women and makes suggestions about how to ease symptoms. (Full transcript below)
Transcript
Perimenopause Wisdom
The most important thing is understanding that you will get better. I see so many women who think they are condemned to feel this way forever. I promise you that you won’t. I promise you, that you will feel better. Perimenopause is long, it’s irregular, it’s unpredictable but it ends.
Know you will be okay
The first one is: you, too, will survive this. It’s horrible but it’s not going to kill you.
Talk to others about perimenopause
The second thing is talking to other women. Find someone you can trust, someone who is not going to preach at you or tell you to go to the doctor, someone who will just listen to your story. Because having the ability to tell other women about what you are experiencing and hear their response and what they’re experiencing is really empowering. Feeling alone is just a horrible thing. Perimenopausal women should not feel alone.
Dr. Prior’s Suggestions to Manage Perimenopause
Have a plan to do moderate exercise (30 minutes)
It sounds like motherhood and apple pie, but it really does help to have a regular, at least, walking plan. So 30 minutes of walking or doing something moderate, doing that every day helps a lot with all of the things that are changing in perimenopause. The other thing is you know how to eat better but you’ve been just rushing about and not taking care of what food you eat. Do try to eat more healthfully.
Make a plan for increased hunger
If you are starving all the time, then eat crunchy things like carrots and celery and broccoli and stuff that can kind of take away that demand for food. So you don’t gain a lot of weight. It’s normal to gain some weight in perimenopause. But for those of us with really high estrogen levels, the drive to eat is there and we just pack it away into fat.
Track cycles and symptoms
For me keeping the daily perimenopause diary was really helpful. It made me absolutely sure of the things that I thought were changing. Because I had a record.
Use your ability to calm yourself, find a tool
Another thing that is important, and you can pair this with walking if you have a park or some outdoor place that’s pleasant, is to practice or learn some kind of relaxation; some kind of meditation, yoga or walking. We have the ability to calm ourselves, the core of ourselves, tto get back to what is really important. And we often don’t use that ability. In perimenopause, you need that ability.
Ideas to implement Dr. Prior’s advice
Read a post about the research-backed results of 5 minutes of daily mindfulness including sighing as a technique.
Diaphramatic breathing can both be a tool to calm yourself and it has benefits for your pelvic floor.
Find more on the benefits of tracking your cycles and symptoms here.
Other videos with Dr. Prior: “Then You Don’t Think You are Going Crazy“, “The Only Conclusion I could Make was that Medicine had it Wrong” and “This is Not Me! When Do I get my Self Back?”
Dr. Prior is the founder of The Centre for Ovulation and Menstrual Cycle Research.
