Anxiety & Depression During Perimenopause Part 2

In my last post I spoke about how during perimenopause you may experience anxiety and/or mild depression, even if you have never had problems with these before.


As I said, it may take you by surprise and you may not know how to cope with it.

FIRST:     DO NOT PANIC – that just makes it worse

SECOND:   GO SEE A NATUROPATH DOCTOR OR A NATURAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER

ALSO: Start reading and learning about perimenopause (a great book is "Wisdom of Menopause" by Christaine Northrup). Take time for yourself and write in a journal or do some soul searching to see if you can get to the feelings of what is behind this. If you feel there is really nothing that could be causing the anxiety or mild depression that has set in, it is a good idea to get your hormone levels tested.

Here is a great link to articles by a very accomplished Dr (MD), Dr Erica Swartz, who specializes in women and hormone issues. Check out the articles for great information:

http://drhotzeblog.netymology.com/?cat=4

She also has a web site at www.drerica.com

How I got myself through this and over it:

First of all, I did not know why I was going through this. With research and a lot of reading I realized it was hormone imbalance. I went to Naturopath and talked to her about hormone testing and the difference between bioidentical hormones and synthetic hormones.

I was also extremely fatigued and cold all the time. It was getting hard to function every day. She looked at me and my HUGE cup of coffee I brought with me, and knew something was up. She tested my adrenal glands and my thyroid glands. We also talked a lot. Then I asked her what natural supplements I could take.

When she got the test results she confirmed that I was definitely in perimenopause but my adrenal glands were also burned right out (she even said it was one of the worst cases she has seen), as well as my thyroid gland was not functioning properly (hence being cold and so tired!!). She recommended some supplements for those things as well as digestive problems I was having.

I then went to a very good health food store and asked them. The health food store I go to is so great and they are very knowledgeable. I started on 2 supplements for perimenopause/menopause. I live in Canada and the supplements are by Lorna Vanderhaaghe.

I also started taking zinc, selenium, magnesium and a good omega oil blend with DHA, along with marine phytoplankton. I have always taken iron (I tend to be anemic), Vit C, E and B-complex. It sounds like a lot but I believe in feeling my best.

The Next Step:

Hormone Testing

The next step was to get my hormones tested to see where they were at…..I will report on this in my next post. I was very surprised, and so was the compounding pharmacist, about the results of my testing. Stay tuned and I will let you know how that went.