This month we speak to Sarah Pinckney, a Women’s Health Coach specialising in peri-post menopause. Sarah is passionate about sharing her knowledge to empower women to make the changes to power through midlife and beyond. For more information visit www.sarahpinckney.com
If you are anything like me, I was completely unaware that there are 3 stages to menopause. I hadn’t really thought much about it, being in my early 40s, I thought I had years to go yet. I started researching my symptoms and discovered that I was definitely in perimenopause, the first stage. What I have found since is that for most women it is a gradual process that suddenly creeps up on us. We asking ourselves, what on earth is happening to me?
The 3 stages are:
- Perimenopause
- Menopause
- Postmenopause
Menopause & Postmenopause
Menopause is when you have not had a period for 12 months and you are no longer producing eggs. After this you are in Postmenopause which is basically the rest of your life!
Perimenopause
The years leading up to menopause, the first stage is often the least talked about. Perimenopause can begin from 2 to 15 years before your last period. It can cause a variety of overwhelming symptoms that can upset the balance of a woman’s life. Symptoms such as anxiety, weight gain, mood swings, skin problems, insomnia, erratic periods, depression, fatigue, brain fog, night sweats and hot flushes. For many women this time is very worrying and scary. A time where they are not getting the right information from health professionals. Perimenopause can start from mid 30s and even younger for some women who have had certain health conditions like cancer. This is when oestrogen and progesterone start to decline. Between the ages of 35 to 50 women can experience a 35% reduction in oestrogen and 75% reduction in progesterone. Unfortunately, not all GPs have enough training in this area and some will only offer antidepressants, pain medications or just turn you away with no help or guidance. It is vital that women are given the right information as early as possible so they can recognise the symptoms and get the right help. If women receive this at the early stages of Perimenopause, or are educated before this stage, evidence suggests their journey through and beyond the 3 stages will be a much happier one. In a recent study, surprisingly only 19% of premenopausal women were at least moderately aware of menopause expectations, the more you know about it the less of an effect it will have on your life
Working with a Menopause Coach
Working with a menopause Wellness Coach can be a great way for you to learn what you can do naturally for yourself. This involves taking a holistic look at your current lifestyle and seeing what you can change or add to your life to bring about a sense of balance and improved health mentally and physically. We look at nutrition, stress management, exercise and sleep specifically for the midlife woman. What your mind and body need now is very different to when you were in your twenties and early thirties. The positive changes you make at this time can have a huge impact on your overall health going into postmenopause and for the rest of your life. 32% of women are now living to the ripe old age of 90 in the UK. With the average age of menopause across the world being 51, this means you could be living in postmenopause for nearly half your life! You can make these years your best yet, by focusing on what you truly want from life, loving yourself more, eating the right nourishing foods, doing the right kinds of exercise and having a lot more fun!
You are at the gateway of the next half of your life not the beginning of the end of your life so take action now, you have the power to do it, you just need to know how.