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Ep 50: Heavy Periods, Rage & Weight Gain? It Might Not Be “Just Perimenopause”
22 Plays8 days ago
In this episode of What's My Age Again?, we're unpacking one of the most misunderstood hormonal shifts of perimenopause: estrogen dominance. While many women assume their symptoms are caused by declining estrogen, progesterone often drops first, creating an imbalance that can lead to heavy periods, breast tenderness, mood swings, anxiety, migraines, weight gain, poor sleep, and more. We explore why estrogen dominance is so common today, the role stress and environmental toxins play, and practical ways to support hormone balance naturally through nutrition, blood sugar regulation, stress management, detoxification support, and lifestyle changes.
Links/Resources:
EWG Skin Deep: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
EWG: https://www.ewg.org/
Where to find us:
IG @whatsmyageagain.podcast / FB - What’s My Age Again Podcast
Email us at: wmaapod@gmail.com
Where to find Tanya:
IG @tlcholistic / FB @tlcholistic
Book with Tanya:
Join the TLC Community: https://www.patreon.com/tlcholistic
Where to find Kim:
IG @kimdesmarais.nutrition /FB @KimDesmarais
Book with Kim: Complimentary Connect Call
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to What's My Age Again, the realest podcast for women who are done chasing trends and ready to feel empowered. Hi, I'm Kim. And I'm Tanya, holistic nutritionists and childhood best friends who've been there, done that, and bought the collagen.
00:00:16
Speaker
more than once. Each week we provide actionable steps that you can start today to help you thrive through every decade to come. We're cutting through the wellness noise to bring you honest conversations about aging, hormones, health, beauty, mindset, and everything in between.
00:00:33
Speaker
You see, we're also on a mission to age gracefully one WTF moment at a time. Backed by research and real life, we're here to share what actually works, what's a waste of time, and how to truly thrive through the messy, magical midlife transition.
00:00:49
Speaker
We're so happy you're here. Let's dive in. How are you
Understanding Estrogen Dominance
00:00:54
Speaker
today? So we are going to be talking about a topic that is so misunderstood, which is estrogen dominance in perimenopause. And you're probably thinking, wait, I thought perimenopause means my estrogen should be low. But are your periods suddenly heavier than ever? Or maybe your breasts are really sore before your cycle. A lot of us are saying we feel puffy, emotional, anxious, irritable, exhausted, yet somehow we're also feeling wired at the same time.
00:01:30
Speaker
For a lot of people, migraines are worsening. um Maybe your sleep is terrible. Maybe your body composition has changed, um even though you haven't changed much at all. And maybe, like Kim and I, and like so many women, you've just been told it's all part of getting older, Right. But what if the issue isn't actually low estrogen, like you may think is happening during perimenopause, at least not yet? um What if the real issue is that progesterone is dropping first, right? Creating a state called estrogen dominance, something many women in perimenopause are silently struggling with without even knowing.
00:02:15
Speaker
So today is super, super exciting because we're diving into one of the most misunderstood promotional shifts women experience. And I promise, and I know Kim agrees, many of you listening are going to be saying, good Lord, that is me, right, Kim?
00:02:33
Speaker
Absolutely. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to What's My Age again, Tanya. I'm so, thrilled that we're talking about this because some of you may have heard me talk about this on the podcast before, but I actually very much suffered from estrogen dominance. And I know, Tanya, you talked about experiencing symptoms as well, even in our 30s. So if you are listening to this and you aren't in perimenopause just yet, stay with us because we're going to touch on that as well. um But yes, we're talking about estrogen dominance today, why it happens, why it's incredibly common during perimenopause, and most importantly, what we can actually do to support the body's net the body naturally, right? Through food, through lifestyle, through stress support, our favorite detoxification and nourishment.
00:03:24
Speaker
For sure, because I think the thing is, um most women like in this perimenopause age group, um assume that it means that estrogen just declines in like that straight line. Do you know what I mean? That straight downward line. But hormonally, often, because we are all different, that's not what happens first, right?
00:03:46
Speaker
Absolutely. And we talked about this in our perimenopause 101. So for all of you who are interested in really diving deep into the hormonal changes we are experiencing in perimenopause, that's a great episode to listen to as well.
00:03:59
Speaker
Because yeah, as Tanya mentioned, usually what happens is our progesterone begins to decline first. And that, you know, is when we can experience all those symptoms Tanya was talking about. Because when progesterone drops faster than estrogen, our ratio is then off and we can become relatively estrogen dominant.
Hormonal Imbalance Symptoms and Misconceptions
00:04:22
Speaker
Right. Simply just buy the scale hands. So again, it's not like you're making more estrogen. You're not. But you know, my scale hands, if you put them out, all of a sudden, if your progesterone falls to the floor, well, what's left with the scale hand of estrogen?
00:04:37
Speaker
It's way up in the air. So what happens is estrogen then becomes technically high just relatively to the progesterone. And that is the imbalance. Right.
00:04:49
Speaker
That matters. And this is the imbalance that I think a lot of people are missing when women in their late 30s, 40s begin experiencing symptoms that seem completely random and disconnected. For sure, Tanya, because the first thought is always like, well, my estrogen's high? Not necessarily. I love your scale hands, Tanya, because it makes so much sense, right? It's like your estrogen can be exactly the same. Obviously, we know, and again, in that perimenopause 101 episode, we talk about estrogen fluctuations monthly. you know During perimenopause, sometimes it is higher or lower depending on what's happening in your body.
00:05:31
Speaker
But again, it's that progesterone that we're really looking at. Estrogen could be high, low, right there, but it's really about that progesterone imbalance.
00:05:43
Speaker
Exactly. And I think that it's really important just to simply define estrogen dominance is, as most of us expect, essentially a state where estrogen outweighs progesterone in the body. Pretty simple. And again, it can happen because estrogen is excessively high. And that is a whole other series of podcasts. That is my Dairy Queen Youth, but other podcasts, just like we were talking about, it can happen when progesterone is low um or both, right? So it can be a choose your own adventure for all of us. Absolutely. And during perimenopause, as we said, progesterone is often the first hormone to start the decline. And this is because our ovulation becomes less consistent. And as we talked about before, no ovulation, progesterone is affected, less progesterone production.
00:06:39
Speaker
And again, like I said at the start of this, we think then because progesterone is declining, estrogen is just following in a straight um dip as well. Absolutely not. Estrogen is wild and it can still fluctuate up and down. Sometimes it can even surge. So this actually creates the perfect storm for many things. But for today's purpose, estrogen dominance.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. And as we talk about so often, Tanya and I, our body is always communicating with us, right? And so many, we wanted to do this episode today because so many women don't even realize, you know, that their symptoms that they're experiencing could actually be connected to this estrogen dominant state.
00:07:24
Speaker
Exactly. And I mean, I've been there even to myself and, you know, just conversations with friends, we're often like, oh, it's just what perimenopause means, right? Or, oh I just have bad periods. This is a classic one, Kim. I don't know if you hear this. Oh, no, no, no. I've always had bad periods. Yes. Always had bad periods. Yes. I've always had bad periods. And then we're like, well, likely you've always been. Especially And it's getting worse as you're getting older because of that progesterone natural decline, because we're going to dig into this, but this, this was also me.
00:07:57
Speaker
This was also me. So a hundred percent. Conversations like, Oh, I'm just emotional because it's been really busy. Like the kids are keeping me really busy. I'm overwhelmed. Like all of these things we kind of normalize, you know, weight gain is inevitable at this time. Yeah.
00:08:16
Speaker
yeah is normal because why? oh I've always had it around my cycle. And we've said this before too, just because something's common or you've always had it, it doesn't mean it's normal and it's supposed to be there.
00:08:27
Speaker
A hundred percent. I love that. And so let's, let's just really, cause we've kind of laundry listed a bunch in the intro and then now, but let's really just talk about the common symptoms. So we talked about heavy periods, clotting, the breast tenderness, PMS, and You also mentioned mood. So mood swings, anxiety, irritability, migraines, which was my big, big one in my thirties, water retention, bloating, painful periods, fibroids, endometriosis, trouble sleeping, weight gain around the hips and thighs, low libido, fatigue, and brain fog.
00:09:06
Speaker
Right. What a fun freaking laundry list that is. And the reality is many women normalize these symptoms for years. You just said about your migraines. I normalized some of these symptoms for years. And you just, you know what I mean? You just take it. That's a woman, our hormones fluctuate and it's not normal, right? Oh, for sure. For so long, Tanya, i you know just thought I was getting hormonal migraines because every every month, right before my period, I would get a debilitating migraine. And how would I, you know i would
00:09:40
Speaker
support myself through pain medication, which didn't necessarily even help. so So yes, I normalized it for a long time until I understood what was actually going on.
00:09:51
Speaker
And how interesting is that? Is that you knew... what it was. You either came to that conclusion yourself or you were, you know, with a doctor, a practitioner, you were told it's hormonal migraines, but still we're like, oh crap, it's hormonal migraines. So let me mitigate that every month. I know to expect it. It's going to be crappy at the start of, you know, my cycle and I'm going to take pain medication. And it's just so wild to me that we do this for so long and stating, you know, our past, you
00:10:24
Speaker
you know, incidences with estrogen dominance, dominant sorry, this, it can happen all the time in your teenage years, twenties, thirties, forties, like it's a big thing. Oh, a hundred percent.
Environmental and Lifestyle Factors
00:10:36
Speaker
And like you said, Tanya, it's like, it's the, we normalize these symptoms.
00:10:44
Speaker
Whether it be you know painful periods, breast tenderness, those things, it's like, oh, those are just hormones. That's part of being a woman, right? this what This is what happens during my period. I get moody. I get you know i get breast tenderness. my peer I need to take Advil because my cramps are so bad.
00:11:02
Speaker
Exactly. And you know, it's wild because I feel that we are seeing such a rise in all of these symptoms, right? And we're wondering, we're examining why is, is there so many more people experiencing this? Why are so many women more estrogen dominant today? Is it simply that we're more aware of what it is, or is it that we're living in a world that heavily exposes us to things that disrupt our hormones and, uh, Me and you, Kim, we're we're going with the latter. I'm pretty sure. Well, yeah. And I think there's we're going to get into this too. There's a combination of them. There's the heavy exposure to hormone disruptors and also stress. So first of all, let's start with the disruptors because you're absolutely right, Tanya. And we've talked about this too in past podcasts where we are more and more
00:11:58
Speaker
experiencing and being exposed to things called xenoestrogens that compound and mimic estrogen in the body. And what are these? These are things like plastics, pesticides, synthetic fragrances, conventional beauty products, hormone disrupting chemicals, um poor quality foods, alcohol, lack of sleep, nutrient deficiencies, fabrics in our clothes and household items, cleaners,
00:12:29
Speaker
Basically, every single thing that we can probably list, see in front of wherever you guys are like listening to your podcast, all the things that you're looking at in front of you and that you can consume have the potential to be xenoestrogens, right? They can mimic estrogen in the body. um But the good news is, obviously, there are all of the cleaner options that we we learn about and we talk about in our practices and here on this podcast today. That can eliminate these zynoestrogens. But on top of that, here's the perpetual problem that, you know, you hear talked about all the time. Many women are under eating, especially protein.
00:13:09
Speaker
Many a women, we've talked about this, are skipping meals. are over-caffeinating it, over-caffeinating it, over-caffeinating just to make it through the day. And just like you said, living in chronic stress response, right?
00:13:26
Speaker
Yes. And this, I'm putting my hand up to all of these things in my 30s when I was experiencing those hor hormonal migraines. I'm using air quotes here, right? When experiencing reality, estrogen dominance, right?
00:13:42
Speaker
ah I was the girl who somebody would say, are you going for lunch? I would work through lunch and be like, can you grab me a coffee and muffin on your way back? I was living... important likely oh ah yes Tim or Starbucks, either they were side by side.
00:13:58
Speaker
And yeah, I was living in that chronic stress response because... what we just said stress is massive and we talked about this you know in that progesterone steel episode for those of you who listened another great episode because progesterone is incredibly sensitive to stress and if our body is in a constant state of stress it prioritizes the hormones associated with that stress response cortisol right so rather than producing progesterone Our our body produces more cortisol.
00:14:35
Speaker
And that's where we get that progesterone steal. So here's where the perfect storm comes in, if I can summarize it up until this point, is that naturally we've talked about during perimenopause, our progesterone is usually the first hormone to decline. Then we pile on top.
00:14:53
Speaker
these xynoestrogens that we are always being exposed to, unfortunately. Then on top of that, we pile on stress that a lot of us have that go, go, go lifestyle in perimenopause, you know, the kids, the aging parents, the job, the household, you know, all of the time that we want to spend on our personal things and trying to fit everything in. So all of these things are either driving estrogen up with the zynoestrogens and then pushing progesterone down.
00:15:25
Speaker
So you can see what we really do have is a lot of women in a state of estrogen dominance. And it is really important that we stop ignoring this.
00:15:36
Speaker
Absolutely. There are so many women out there right now who are exhausted, depleted, overextended, undernourished, which you mentioned at the beginning, that protein.
00:15:47
Speaker
So many women are undernourished and their hormones are a reflection of that. Right. And why do we want to make this so well known that you are armed with this information so you can continue to do your own research, bring it to your healthcare practitioner.
00:16:07
Speaker
Estrogen itself is not bad, obviously. It's a hormone. The body makes it and we need it. It is not bad. We need estrogen. good lord do we need estrogen i need estrogen right now i am not dominant at this season of life estrogen is not just a sex hormone reminder it supports bones brain cardiovascular health skin we have estrogen receptors on every single part of our body so the goal for us always is balance, right? So if we are seeing ourselves in prolonged estrogen dominance, it really can increase the risk for things that we don't want to ignore, that we don't want to see happen down the road. So not from a place of fear, let's look at estrogen dominance now before we get those 10 steps down the road, right?
00:16:59
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. It's not about fear. You know, we talked about because, you know, so if you're in a state of estrogen dominance, it can increase the risks for PMS, right? Inflammation, migraines. For me, it was debilitating.
00:17:17
Speaker
Insulin resistant. We talked about the domino effects of all hormones. And I loved your analogy, Tanya, on that. You know, this is creating a domino effect in your body as well.
00:17:28
Speaker
And, you know, in worsening fibroids is another one. So, you know, it is important to be aware. And as Tanya mentioned, go to your practitioner and talk about solutions.
00:17:40
Speaker
Talk about diet and lifestyle and supports that you can you can do for this. And some of the things that you just listed off, Kim, like inflammation and insulin resistance, these are foundational things.
Holistic Approaches to Hormonal Health
00:17:56
Speaker
foundational in like every degenerative, you know, disease that we see in the body. So we don't want to drive inflammation and insulin resistance. We've had separate podcasts, how not to drive inflammation and insulin resistance. So that's great to know all about that. But now knowing that high estrogen drives these behind the scenes, you Like it's the bigger picture here. It's the whole picture of health, not just hormonal balance, but whole health. And like the body is communicating with you. So if you're like, shoot, I have a lot of those symptoms. Yeah. My periods are getting worse and worse. And my um hormonal migraines, you know, some of the things we listed off, listen up because there's definitely ways that you can support your body
00:18:47
Speaker
naturally, obviously, with estrogen dominance and helping to push out and metabolize that excess estrogen and bring balance back.
00:18:57
Speaker
Absolutely. And we can get into that right now. I think it's a perfect time. So number one, No surprise. and no No surprise is we need to support our detoxification pathways, right? Our body needs to properly metabolize and then eliminate estrogen and excess estrogen.
00:19:19
Speaker
You know, that's why we did our spring reset. If for those of you who joined us, it was, we had such an amazing container of women and that is what we were prioritizing, opening up out those detoxification pathways so that we can properly metabolize and eliminate things like estrogen.
00:19:38
Speaker
Absolutely, because if estrogen is not being metabolized and eliminated, it continues to recirculate. And all of a sudden you have estrogen from like 1997 being like, hey girl, why don't we give you some whiteheads on your face right now? Why don't you just break out in acne when you're 46, right? So we wanna be like, hey, you guys need to go, you're old, so let's get out there. um And again, we're not gonna go deep into the detox now, but key supports, let's just do the key supports.
00:20:08
Speaker
Through food, cruciferous vegetables. If you don't know the list, Google it, get the list. These are gold for your liver and your systems of detoxification and elimination, as is fiber. We need that regular bowel movement. Same thing. We're going to go there. We're going to talk in detail. When you have waste sitting in your intestines, waiting to, you know, go on its happy way and it's not moving.
00:20:35
Speaker
It's stuck in there. Your body is reabsorbing. It's actually gross. Reabsorbing through your intestine walls, what's sitting in your waist. And if you have a whole bunch of estrogen, nevermind all of the other toxins you've gathered in your waist, you're putting that back into your bloodstream and you're putting that back to your body. So fiber,
00:20:54
Speaker
Adequate hydration. That's not only going to help with the lymph, but it's going to help with elimination in the bowel movements. We've talked about sweating and the importance of sweating. um Movement comes with that to move your lymph. And toxic load reduction. It's a big, broad topic, but those things like the products that you're choosing, all of these things help to reduce reduce your toxic load wherever, whenever possible.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yes, and for for just with reducing the toxic load, if that feels overwhelming to you, start small. Start with replacing when your cleaner runs out, replace with something else. you know When that you know mascara runs out, replace with something else. And there's great resources like the EWG website.
00:21:40
Speaker
um They have Skin Deep where you can literally go and look at your products and see how they relate rate. And they actually tell you everything for the about products containing hormone disrupting chemicals so that's a wonderful resource if you're looking to reduce that toxic load because as tanya and i say it's like what goes in is important and also what goes out so so it's important as you mentioned tanya the hydration the sweating and also making sure our elimination is daily a few to a couple times a day actually we want to make sure that's like one of the number one things
00:22:16
Speaker
I agree. I always say like pooping two to three times day is the new pooping once a day. So yeah get on that train, right? um Nourishment, no surprises, number two. And we've said it again, I'm going to be very clear.
00:22:28
Speaker
Undereating is one of the biggest issues we see in women. Not saying that y'all are intentionally setting out to undereat. but under eating is huge, right? Especially in protein deficiency. And I get it. Oh my God, there's so many funny memes and so many things people send me about um protein and how it's a full time job to get what you need. you know I've never been peer pressured to have drugs in my life, but how much peer pressure am I having to eat protein? I love that one too.
00:22:59
Speaker
Tim, that is the one I was thinking of and I couldn't formulate it in my mind. So I'm so glad that you said that. Exactly. but hormones require the nourishment and it's so, so important. And blood sugar stability as well. We know that protein helps stabilize that blood sugar. That matters tremendously for the balance of your hormones. So it's really important. We need to focus.
00:23:23
Speaker
protein at your meals and your snacks. Well, and protein is literally the building blocks of our hormones. So if you are also in a state of stress and burning through that cortisol, you need more protein to help replenish those. Hormones are the building blocks of our body, of everything in our body, including our neurotransmitters and hormones. So that's why we we talk about this so often.
00:23:49
Speaker
I know. And that's why it's so annoying that it's so hard to get a lot of protein. I even struggle, you know, as a plant-based eater, but it is so important. so if you don't know, call us, we're going to help you. Yes. Like mineral rich foods, balanced meals. So again, we're really drilling it in there today. Sorry. Balance with your protein, your healthy fats, your fiber, your complex carbohydrates. Here's one.
00:24:14
Speaker
How about stop skipping breakfast? Love it. Yeah. Or like me in my early 30s and 20s, stop skipping lunch. Don't work through lunch. We know you have so much to do, but make sure you either pack a healthy snack or find something that's nourishing to your body and do not skip lunch.
00:24:32
Speaker
Do not skip lunch. Do not use your Slim Fast and skim milk as your lunch either, Tanya. um Listen, here's the bottom line. The body can't create balance from deprivation.
00:24:46
Speaker
Love that, Tina. Absolutely. You can't. You can't be depriving your body. Your body needs to be nourished. And- This is this back to stress, as we talked about with the progesterone steel, this is the base of the pyramid, right? As Tanya and I always talk about our nervous system, our stress response is so important.
00:25:09
Speaker
Chronic stress shifts our hormonal environment, right? So supporting the nervous system. And these are things that, again, always kind of come off the list because they seem so simple, but ladies, it's It is the foundation. So breath work, taking a deep breath before you walk into that meeting, taking a deep breath after this podcast, you know me, I'm going to go lie with my feet up the wall.
00:25:34
Speaker
um And take some deep breaths before I move into my next client appointment. You know, walking outside, sunlight, even rain on your face, you know, restorative movements, sleep, like the biggest health hack there is out there.
00:25:49
Speaker
Creating moments to put your body into back into that parasympathetic state, that rest and digest throughout your day. thousand percent. And here's one of my personal favorites that I know a lot of women struggle with. um And I feel like I say it over and over again, saying no and saying no without feeling guilt or without feeling selfish because saying no to things um helps you create those moments of safety, helps you create pockets of space to slow down, to do the breath work, right? These things are not luxuries. Right?
00:26:26
Speaker
These are literally hormone support strategies. And it's time we really have to start prioritizing time for that in our day. And saying no, unfortunately, becomes part of that to make space for the things that you need. And it goes back almost to our first episode.
00:26:44
Speaker
This is your time. You have to things to make space to support that stress response. 100% Tanya and actually this was the biggest thing that moved the needle with me 100% I mean all encompassing right the diet the sleep the stress response but honestly that is what was affecting my migraines and after I dialed those things in i haven't had a migraine of course you haven't and I believe you and like yeah like you said it's all it's the simplest things that make the biggest impact right
00:27:19
Speaker
And then again, it's that, you know, we talk about supporting internally, but what we put on our body, what we consume matters, we need to reduce that xenoestrogen exposure. And again, there's times where it's, we're not asking for perfection. But what do we need, we need you to prioritize this, pay attention to this and be consistent with it.
00:27:40
Speaker
Right. And small shifts really matter. You know, Reduce your plastic use. so much So many people are talking about this from an environmental perspective, from a health perspective. Reduce that plastic use.
00:27:53
Speaker
Filter your water. Simple. you Find a great water filter and use that water filter. Choosing cleaner skincare. We talked about the resource of like the EWG website or Skin Deep.
00:28:07
Speaker
Finding skincare that is cleaner. prioritizing organic foods so that you're not ingesting the pesticides, you know, and when that's not feasible in terms of budget, which I get, I like grocery prices are increasing exponentially, but look at things like the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. Use those resources. um Again, that's on the EWG website if you want to look into that.
00:28:31
Speaker
And then avoiding synthetic fragrances. Like no Glade plugins in our bathrooms anymore, Kim? Our Bath and Body Works soap at every single sink, no? Yeah, that was our life. I remember like for birthday parties back in like when we were like 12, it was like bath, no, the Body Shop Bath Beads was like a birthday present that everyone wanted.
Supporting Hormonal Balance with Lifestyle Changes
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:57
Speaker
And then you put them in hot water and they're like all these colors, the fragrance and whatever else is in them comes out. And then the shell just like melts and stains your enamel. And you're like, this is great. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my gosh. um Yeah, but that in all joking aside, that is literally huge. And I love what you said, Kim, do it one little bit at a time. Because if you make it overwhelming, well, it's counterproductive to the whole thing. Because if you're overwhelmed, then you're not supporting your stress response. So don't make it overwhelming. Pick one thing at a time. And remember, we're here. If you have questions, next week you run out of cleaner. Hey, Kim, what kind of cleaner are you using for your bathroom?
00:29:40
Speaker
Kim will be happy answer you. as will I. So, so important. And I think the last one's worth being said as well, because we talked about earlier that estrogen dominance, um we really wanted to talk about it today in perimenopause, I think, because it's so unexpected because we are making that assumption of the huge estrogen decline. But when we are still in a position where we are cycling, especially, you know, in our younger years, I had to do this actually in my late 20s. Supporting ovulation can be helpful as well because it means that we're supporting progesterone naturally. So we want to still, even though we're talking about estrogen dominance, we want to make sure there is still a balance with that estrogen and progesterone, right? And it's so, so important because supporting estrogen dominance is going to slowly move your needle.
00:30:32
Speaker
You know, if you're doing all of the things that we talked about and we want to make sure that we don't push push the needle too high, where then we have that, you know, higher progesterone. So it's so important again, really kind of the same things we've been talking about eating enough,
00:30:52
Speaker
not skipping our meals, managing the stress, sleep, balancing the blood sugar. These are all foundational things and I think they can apply to all of the ways that we can look to support estrogen in the body and kind of bring estrogen and progesterone as best we can back into balance.
00:31:11
Speaker
Absolutely. And you know for those of you who may have said, for example, you're in perimenopause now and you're like, but I've always had you know really painful periods.
00:31:22
Speaker
I would recommend, these are the foundational things that we, that definitely need to be implemented. You need to focus on diet. You need to focus on sleep, stress management. This is foundational. But I would also go to your practitioner because there were some herbs and supplements that really supported me during that time in my life. You know, things like chaste tree. or vitex. It supports hormone balance and supports progesterone support. So for example, some practitioners, we would recommend that you take this in the last type of half of your cycle, again, after of ovulation to support progesterone. Adaptogens can be really supportive. For me, it was maca and a lot of And ashwagandha is another one. Again, back to that progesterone steel supporting that stress response. so But these are all personal.
00:32:14
Speaker
you know with Also, vitamins and nutrient deficiencies. If you're deficient in certain vitamins and nutrients, some of our vitamins and nutrients that we need actually create hormones in our body. So working with a practitioner...
00:32:27
Speaker
that can find can support you during this time with some herbs, some supplementation that can really complement the foundational work that you're doing is so important. so But again, you can always reach out to Tanya and I if you have any questions. We can at least point you in the right direction. But um yeah, there are so many things. we just We wanted to leave you with the fact that, again, those symptoms are common.
00:32:53
Speaker
Not normal. There's so much that you can do to support yourself.
Personalized Hormone Health Strategies
00:32:57
Speaker
If you're 30 and experiencing this, if you're starting perimenopause and those hormones are fluctuating, there's so many things practitioners can do to help to support you during this time.
00:33:09
Speaker
A thousand percent. And I couldn't agree more. Individuality is so key because it's like that quick fix we talked about a couple of weeks ago. So many women assume like, oh, I've heard it's Vitex is perfect for this.
00:33:23
Speaker
It can be, but there's also 17,000 different reasons why you could be experiencing hormonal imbalance, specifically estrogen dominance. And sometimes that's not appropriate for the reason. So I love it, Kim. You're absolutely right. Supplements are instrumental But for you. So please don't go to your health food store and just pick something off the shelf because they're smart, these supplement companies as well. You know, our pain points, they market things that say on the front for hormonal balance, and everything and they're not wrong.
00:33:54
Speaker
But they're not necessarily right for you. Your practitioner will go through an intake with you, find out other supplements you're taking, medications you're taking, birth control you're using if you have an IUD that has progesterone. you know There's all these things that matter when it comes to supporting our hormones. So definitely reach out to somebody if you if you are experiencing these symptoms that we talked about.
00:34:20
Speaker
um But start with the foundations. Yeah. Start with the foundations because that the diet, the lifestyle piece, the taking a look at what's in your cosmetics bag and what's on your shelf in your home, you know, making sure that you're supporting digestion and elimination and detox, all of those things are foundational. So starting there is, I'm sure you'll notice a difference.
00:34:46
Speaker
And if you're one of those people who's like, no, I've always been that way. It doesn't have to be that way. It's not normal. And, you know, we really want to mitigate always looking down the road a couple steps ahead.
Conclusion and Engagement
00:34:59
Speaker
So why not start today? And why not start with the basics? If you think you're estrogen dominant, talk to your practitioner, go from there. You have nothing to lose.
00:35:07
Speaker
Yep. And as somebody who can say, I've been there, it changed my life. Because those migraines were debilitating. So Tanya, thank you for this conversation. i loved it. um For all of you out there listening, thanks for being with us again today. We love having these conversations with you. And reach out to us.
00:35:26
Speaker
We love having conversations through DMs. If you haven't taken a look at our social media, join us on Instagram. And we love chatting. So have a wonderful week, everyone. Bye, everybody.
00:35:38
Speaker
bye Hey guys, thanks so much for hanging out with us today. If this episode resonated with you, we would love it if you would hit like, subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend.
00:35:50
Speaker
We love to hear from you because let's be honest, this show is for you. If you have a topic you'd love us to tackle or want to learn more about something we talked about today, send us a message. We got you.
00:36:03
Speaker
Stay connected with us on social media at what'smyageagain.podcast for even more knowledge and inspiration between episodes. Kim and I aren't doctors or your healthcare practitioners.
00:36:16
Speaker
Everyone's body is unique, so always consult your own healthcare provider before starting something new.