How To Approach The Struggles We Experience In Menopause Transition
We don’t need to draw a line in the sand when it comes to Menopause support.
There is a huge gap in support for women transitioning into Menopause. Doctors don’t have the information to give us. It’s that simple. This is due to lack of research and the research that has been done, is based around medications or the conclusions include the statement “more research is needed”. This makes it difficult for doctors of any specialty to give us solid information when it comes to supporting us through a very tough time.
Symptoms can get so bad that it affects our quality of life. The only solutions really given are HRT, BHRT and TRT as well as antidepressants, and statins. We aren’t given enough support as we go through Perimenopause. Could there be something that can support our health and lower the risks of having to take all of these or any of these? What if we can’t take HRT? Where does that leave us?
There seems to be a lot of posturing going on right now. The medical community vs the self-care community (Health Coaches, Personal Trainers, Holistic Practitioners etc). The truth is, both sides do have points. There are a lot of, what I call self-care advocates that do make claims they should not. It’s important to keep in mind that unless they are a doctor they can’t recommend testing, analyze testing, prescribe supplements outside of recommended dosage, or claim to cure, treat, heal, or diagnose. Most doctors won’t even use the term cure. That is a very big and bold statement to make.
There is no situation or desperation where you should take medical advice from a personal trainer, health coach, holistic nutritionist (for the record I’m all of these) or your buddy who isn’t struggling through it. Menopause transition is multi-faceted. This is due to the affects of hormone levels changing and fluctuating. Our bodies are changing and there isn’t anything to stop that process from happening.
There are many things that bother me about how the medical community deals with things. I was told outside of HRT, there isn’t anything I can do. Just deal with it. But that isn’t acceptable to me and it shouldn’t be for you either. If any medical professional tells you that food, exercise or changes to your lifestyle habits won’t help, RUN!!! If that were the case we could eat what ever we wanted and be healthy as horses but we know that the increase in illness or illness in our last 10 years of life is partially due to how we have lived our lives.
Menopause is not a disease to be cured or treated. Can it lead to increased risk of illness? Yes it can. There is plenty of research supporting the increase in Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular disease, NAFLD, and thyroid disease. So why do we constantly hear language like symptoms, treat, heal etc when it comes to Menopause? The truth is there is now big money in it. Influencers are selling supplements and overpriced wellness programs as well as teas, and other things that women buy into because they have tried everything, they are desperate to feel better and we are too darn trusting of some random stranger online.
When I started seeing changes in my body I had no idea it was perimenopause. I was about 38. I know my symptoms were intensified by restrictive eating with extreme exercise but I got no help from doctors. They can’t get solid readings from testing to really make any solid claims. They aren’t qualified to give exercise or nutrition advice so unless we seek out a professional in that department we are fending for ourselves.
But now we have so many “Menopause Experts” out there. Too many in my opinion. We are saturated with conflicting information, doctors fighting with self-care influencers online, doctors and self-care professionals posturing online, and we still feel left out in the cold. We are all different. We won’t all experience the same thing. Some women may even breeze through it. Some will struggle a bit and some will struggle a lot. We need to band together not shame one another for what we experience. This isn’t a competition. We need to stop making it one. By doing this we spend way too much time trying to prove ourselves versus helping.
So what makes someone a go-to for Menopause Support? This really depends on how severe things are for you, your health status and how you prefer to deal with it. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choices.
It’s your body!
In general, your average joe online who has been through menopause, feels great now and took a coaching course for $55 online is not the solution for you! Please don’t use these sources to help you through something that may need more attention then they can give. If you want nutrition, exercise and lifestyle support, doctors most likely won’t be a good source. Unless you are lucky. My doctor is pretty good but at the same time I think he fluffs things off because I am in the Health, Nutrition and Fitness industry. Like that makes me some how immune to things going wrong. That is definitely not the case. I may be severely lowering my risks of illness but nothing is guaranteed.
If you want to take HRT or other hormones, don’t take advice from a self-care professional. If they don’t have a PHD they shouldn’t be telling you what to take, what not to take and how much. This is careless, dangerous and can lead to people doing things without their doctors advice on combinations and dosage. Don’t buy some test online from some stranger online and get them to analyze it. Unless they have qualifications to do it. Testing should be done by your Doctor or other practitioner that has the qualifications to understand the testing and the results.
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to look up someone’s qualifications. Now a days some claiming to be doctors are not. Some claiming to be nutrition experts are not. If you can’t find any or their bio is based only on their experience aka “their story”, you should be skeptical. If their story resonates with you that’s great! It’s important to have someone who can understand or empathize with you but that doesn’t make them a professional or expert.
I have been doing this for a very long time. 33 years to be exact. In that time I can’t even begin to tell you how many men and women have complained about being ripped off. I say the same thing every time, “stop buying things from people online with no qualifications or history to look up” Yes I make a living off of helping women. I have for a long time. I recently got my diploma to be a Holistic Nutritionist. I’m a Registered Health Coach and experienced Personal trainer. I will be a Menopause Specialist through a certification I will be doing this Summer with Girls Gone Strong.
I can honestly and proudly say that I am an expert in helping women through Menopause with nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes. But I am not a medical expert. I stay in my lane and make sure that women are always in contact with their doctors and or specialists.
I decided that good marketing skills, shirtless young men and blowing smoke up was not something women deserved when it came to good quality self-care support. I am over the marketing ploys and look at me scenario’s. I am a firm believer that all women should share who they are authentically and be who they are. But I am not in support of using tactics that pull at women’s weaknesses to lure them into buying from them. I’m tired of looking for better and seeing the same old “hot button” approach to women’s wellness.
AREN’T YOU?
We deserve a better standard of care. In both arenas. We need doctors who encourage you to seek out nutritional and exercise support. Who encourage you to look at your health beyond medication. We need self-care professionals to stop making weird claims and sell a fake dream so they can rake in the dollars while we get the short end of the stick. We don’t need more restriction, more focus on how we look or shame if we don’t want to do all that.
Our bodies aren’t problems to be solved. We don’t need to be super lean and extremely muscular to be healthy. But on the other hand if you want that, we need to stop shaming women for wanting that too.
This phase of life is hard! We don’t need to make it harder by falling for a stranger’s antidote online, overconsuming information that paralyzes us, and looking for quick fix solutions.
We deserve to be heard, supported, educated and guided in a way that allows us to move forward without shame, frustration, unhappiness and confusion.
Be proactive! Support your health in all the ways that make up the term holistic. Mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. Look at yourself as a whole not just one thing. Menopause is a change in life like puberty. We can’ t avoid it but we can make it less painful and frustrating by getting ahead of it. We can make it easier to deal with by creating patience and being consistent with our day to day wellness. We can take HRT and still support our health with Self-care practices (and we should).
The first step to feeling more like yourself again and positively support the aging process is to change the way you support your health…. Nutrition, exercise and lifestyle habits. If you do this consistently and still feel like your quality of life is being affected, see your GP. If they won’t give you any solutions, ask to see a specialist, OBGYN or endocrinologist. Don’t be afraid to ask for research on what they are suggesting or asking for the side effects and risk factors. It’s important to know all this in order to weigh out your options.
If you can’t take hormones or choose not to, then also ask your doctor or specialist what illness risk factors to consider and then seek out a self-care practitioner with the qualifications to support you. Look for a professional that listens, guides but doesn’t dictate, supports your goals and boundaries, doesn’t treat you like a child and is willing to allow you some autonomy in the plan. You have to feel like you have some ownership in what you are doing or you won’t feel comfortable with it.
ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF!
If we all sat around waiting for research on every little thing (that may not even be implementable in our lives) we may not be as healthy as we should be and on the other hand if we did every wacky thing someone suggested we may severely put our health in jeopardy! Do your homework and support your body in a way that you think best suits you, your beliefs and your life. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty or shame you. This is your body and your life.
Do what you think is best for you.
To your health, Carmen