Perimenopause has been a roller-coaster ride for sure. When we left home 10 months ago I already knew that I was in the midst of this interesting time of life, but I didn’t expect my symptoms to get progressively worse and to cause us a few problems as we travel. I’m tough, really tough, not a delicate flower at all and not prone to rushing to doctors for anything less than imminent death, but at times I’ve struggled.
Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause, it can last up to 15 years and every woman is different, symptoms and duration vary wildly. It’s generally agreed that there are AT LEAST 35 SYMPTOMS of Perimenopause. Each one more joyous than the last. In my case I started getting symptoms at 40, just after I stopped feeding my second child. I’m 47 now and sometimes it’s pretty full on, sometimes I’m fine. I never know from one day to the next how I’ll feel.
Sweats, palpitations, tingling and breathlessness have seriously worried me at times. I’ve been concerned that I was about to have a heart attack. I remember sitting on the bus to Luang Prabang in Laos and thinking “This is it, I’m going to die here.” It passed, with the help ( maybe) of aspirin, magnesium spray and water. But that set of symptoms rears it’s ugly head fairly often. I actually had an ECG and bloods for thyroid etc. done before we left, they were fine. I keep reminding myself that the science proves me healthy. ( If you have any of these symptoms you really should pop along to the doc’s.)
Erratic, unpredictable and heavy periods, boy are they fun on a bus or in a hostel with shared bathrooms! Particularly when you can’t find industrial strenth sanitary protection. TMI, I know. We try to plan travel days for the “right” time of the month but with cycles varying from 2 weeks to 8, it’s hard to do. I stock up whenever I find what I need, in parts of Thailand, Laos and Malaysia I had a few issues.
Sleeplessness, isn’t too much of a problem for me usually. I actually consider insomnia my super power. 2am often sees me up, working, while the family sleeps. The only time that insomnia bothers me is when I can’t get to sleep for sweats at bed time, luckily that doesn’t happen too often.
Mood Swings and feeling like you’re going crazy is a fun one. You never know when it’s going to strike because the cycles are so erratic. I never had PMT in my life until perimenopause struck, I thought I was too tough for all that stuff. Wrong!
Anxiety is something that I’ve carried with me since early childhood, but it becomes intensified during perimenopause. I had a bad run in with it a few years ago but it actually hasn’t been too bad lately, other than when the cardiac-like symptoms strike. I tried drugs for a couple of days back home in Port Douglas and then threw them in the bin in favour of running. A very wise doctor was my saviour with this one. He simply told me that I was quite unwell but I was an intelligent woman and I would find a way to fix it. I did, I loved that man, he advised me to ditch the tablets prescribed elsewhere or I’d never get off them.
Everyone has something to recommend, but the reality is that drugs and natural supplements can be hard to find on the road.
I’ve found Black Cosh here in Guatemala but friends have told me of nasty side effects so it didn’t seem worth giving it a try at $40 a bottle.
In my case, caffeine alcohol, spicy food and carbohydrates seem to make the symptoms worse. Those are my favourite things, I’d rather have sweats than give up 3 of the 4. I have to have some joy in my life! It’s only the carbs that I cut out. I’m not a fan of carbs anyway, they’re mostly empty calories, so give or take the odd pizza or cake craving, they’re gone and have been for years.
Keeping busy helps, so in that way the travelling has been great. I’m much less likely to notice the symptoms when I’m actively involved in something. The times when we’ve been doing nothing, like now, during our month in Antigua, make me notice all of the symptoms more. Doing something I enjoy is best, a dawn walk at the beach, staring out to sea, kayaking, climbing a mountain, cuddling the kids, anything that lifts my spirits makes me better able to cope.
Exercise really helps. On Ko Phangnag I spent a lot of time hiking up and down the hill to keep the breathlessness at bay, it seemed to work. I’m not fit enough to run now, but up until a few years ago I could run a half marathon any time. I’d really like to get back into it if we ever settle somewhere again, I think it’s achievable, even at 47.
Multivitamins, iron supplements and magnesium oil spray are my friends ( I buy mine back home in Port Douglas and have been carrying the concentrate around the world). As you get older you don’t absorb Mg so well, if I’m low on Mg I get cramps and feel down, I also find the spray really relaxing at bedtime, it helps me sleep. I think I became anaemic recently due to poor diet, the iron ( with B vitamins) seemed to help within a few days, but of course, it could just be that my perimenopausal symptoms subsided naturally. Anaemia causes very similar symptoms. ( see a doctor to check!)
Breathing, in for 4, hold for 2, out for 4 is a quick fix trick that you can use anywhere to calm anything. I like self hypnosis too, I used it in natural childbirth and regularly use it to fall asleep.
Yes! You may as well get through this out in the world having fun as sitting at home.
So that’s it, my personal experience with the end of an era. I don’t know how I suddenly got so old, it really does creep up on you. Friends who are through menopause tell me that the other side is great, they feel amazing, I’m hanging onto that thought.
