What do you envision when you read the word MENOPAUSE? For many, the image conjured up in the mind is of an old, hunched over granny with rollers in her hair. Fortunately, the reality of menopause is that it is a time in a woman’s life that can bring VIBRANCE, JOY, and FREEDOM. But sometimes it can be really confusing and a downright drag if you don’t have friends who are going through it to offer you advise or because society really doesn’t normalize it enough to talk about it. If you are just joining us in menopause or if you have been menopausal for a while and are still struggling, here are my top 5 tools for your toolbox:
- A great practitioner to help you with your symptoms. I cannot stress the importance of having a great doctor or other hormone professional in your corner when it comes to menopause. Unfortunately though, help doesn’t usually come from your normal OB/GYN. I cannot tell you how many times I cried in the parking lot after my yearly visit when my doctor told me “welcome to your new normal” of gaining 10 pounds a year and offered me an anti depressant and a birth control pill! I felt like I was going crazy and have since learned that that is the USUAL NARRATIVE at most OB/GYN visits for women our age! (Drop me a comment if this happened to you too!!!!) There is another way to seek help these days! Through telemedicine, I work with a Nurse Practitioner to discuss lifestyle and symptoms. She sends me a lab requisition for bloodwork and I get the draw done at my local lab. She then tailors a treatment plan to my hormone results. I was very low on many hormones and she recommended bioidentical hormones, which leads me to #2 on this list!
- Bioidentical Hormones. Have you ever seen the books by Suzanne Somers about fearless aging and staying sexy for the rest of your life? Well, if you haven’t, it’s time to hit the library, sister (my favorite is “I’m Too Young for This!”). Suzanne has been an advocate for hormone replacement for many years. Her books are really well researched and are a wealth of great info. “The goal of natural hormone treatment,” Suzanne says, “is to bring our bodies back to balance, to replace what is missing, and bring the body back to your optimal healthy prime.” Before doing research and talking to my practitioner, I always thought that we could bring our hormones back to balance during menopause WITHOUT any interventions. Sadly, I was wrong. Bioidentical hormones have been a blessing for me and have given me back a quality of life that I forgot existed. Do you NEED bioidentical hormones? No – there are many other ways that you can work to relieve your symptoms like hot flashes, sleeplessness and low libido but bioidentical hormones replace what nature takes away.
- Menopause Taylor on YouTube. Go binge watch her videos. Trust me. Start by going to her playlist and start at video 1 in her menopause series. She is a quirky, retired OB/GYN who has made it her mission to give us the real deets on menopause. Drop a comment and let me know what you think!
- Sexually Woke by Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith. If one of your symptoms of menopause is low libido, it’s time to hit amazon and grab this book. It should be mandatory reading for women past 35.
- Probiotics and Magnesium. Gut health can be a huge issue during menopause and can contribute to the worsening of symptoms like bloating and constipation. One of the best things we can do is to make sure we are having at least one bowel movement each day to clear the body of old hormones and toxins. Magnesium is a supplement that many of us are deficient in. It not only helps us go to the bathroom regularly, but it is also known as the “calm and sleep” supplement. Take it at night and start with a low dose, working your way up to avoid loose stools. Another great supplement is a good quality probiotic. Repopulating your gut with good critters helps your immune system and overall health. Look for a probiotic with Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus strains.
Well, there you have it gals, my top 5 tools for menopausing like a boss. One last thing to mention (really, it should have been #1 on this list) is CONFIDENCE. Believe that these are going to be your best years yet. Confidence is the sexiest accessory you can wear. Please remember that, even on your hardest days.