“I had NO clue that peri/menopausal changes could start as early as in my 40’s. As a matter of fact, it became clear that being a woman in your 40’s and 50’s often was a confusing and lonely time of frightful change.”
My 40's were an unexpectedly disastrous decade.
I felt so unlike myself I eventually knew it had to be hormone related. However, I - along with my doctor and most of my friends - assured me I was too young for menopause. Plus - as women in our 40’s - we were mostly still regular in our monthly cycles. It wasn’t until I did my research that I found out about the period "around" menopause ie. “peri”menopause is fraught with hormonal fluctuations that can be devastating.
For me, perimenopause was MUCH worse than menopause.
It’s that age-old story: On the outside things looked great - I was at the top of my career, jet-setting throughout Europe, living the life of Riley based in the French Alps.
On the inside however….I was feeling the same way many of my girlfriends also in their 40’s had told me they were feeling: We had lost who we were.
It wasn’t only the physical burden of perimenopause - debilitating fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, hot flashes….but also the unexpected, fierce emotional swings.
I had NO clue that peri/menopausal changes could start as early as in my 40’s. As a matter of fact, it became clear that being a woman in your 40’s and 50’s often was a confusing and lonely time of frightful change.
So to find answers, I threw myself into research. As a widely published academic researcher I scoured peer reviewed medical publications. I also sought out a team; an integrative care MD who specialized in Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement as well as a compounding pharmacist, as if my life depended on it.
And it worked.
Years later, armed with information, a healthy lifestyle, low stress, and bioidentical hormone therapy, I slowly came back to life. My mission was then clear: break the taboo around peri/menopause with the Menopositivity Movement!