Ease the Transition: Natural Perimenopause Solutions That Work

Oct 29, 2024

Countless women will say it bluntly: “Perimenopause is rough.” The mood swings that feel like you're back in your teenage years, periods that seem to play hide and seek, and night sweats that leave your bed drenched.

But what’s really going on during perimenopause? Why do these symptoms arise, and what can you do to manage them? In the world of natural medicine, we have many tools in our belt to support you mixed with environmental and lifestyle support, you should find this a much easier time.

Let’s explore the answers. Along the way, we can help you discover how to turn perimenopause into more than just a phase you endure. I'll show you how to use this transitional period to strengthen key areas of your health—from heart function and bone strength to balanced hormones—so you can thrive in the next stage of life. Believe me when I say Menopause can be a much easier time if you support yourself through perimenopause.

What Is Perimenopause and Why Does It Happen?

Perimenopause is the transitional phase leading up to menopause when your body’s hormone production begins to fluctuate. It can last anywhere from a few months to several years and typically begins around your 40s, though it can start earlier for some women. During this time, your body may stop ovulating regularly, causing estrogen and progesterone levels to rise and fall unpredictably.

This is where we start to experience irregular cycles, mood changes, hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances and brain fog. These are just some of the symptoms and we have around 100 recorded symptoms currently.

These changes can come and go, making it a tricky time for many women, making them feel like they are on a rollercoaster!.

But why do these symptoms happen?

Understanding the Root Causes of Perimenopause Symptoms

As you approach menopause, your body's hormone production—particularly estrogen and progesterone—starts to become irregular. This change is linked to the natural decline in ovarian function as the number of viable eggs decreases with age.

When ovulation occurs less frequently, your body produces much less progesterone, resulting in hormonal imbalances. Estrogen levels, meanwhile, may fluctuate dramatically between high and low, though the overall trend is a gradual decline. This imbalance often leads to irregularities, such as unpredictable menstrual cycles and bleeding.

Once estrogen levels significantly drop and you’ve gone an entire year without a period, you officially transition from perimenopause into postmenopause. Menopause is actually just one day but of course we never know when that last period will be!

What Makes Symptoms Worse?

Certain factors, such as insulin resistance, adrenal health, and exposure to toxins, can exacerbate perimenopausal symptoms, intensifying their severity.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of these factors that can contribute to making these symptoms more pronounced:

Insulin resistance: This occurs when your cells become less responsive to insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. As a result, your body produces more insulin to keep your blood sugar in check, leading to spikes in insulin levels. Over time, this can increase your risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Insulin resistance also contributes to hormonal imbalances, which can intensify perimenopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats.

Addressing insulin resistance is so important—not only to manage symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats but also to support overall health during this transition.

Stress and adrenal health: Chronic stress can overwork your adrenal glands, which play a role in managing your body’s stress response and producing small amounts of sex hormones. And overworked adrenal glands can worsen symptoms like hot flushes, irritability, and sleep disturbances plus our insulin production causing weight gain around the middle.

Environmental toxins: Environmental toxins are everywhere, we can't get away from them but exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, such as those found in plastics, pesticides, cigarette smoke and even personal care products can interfere with your hormone balance.

For example, xenoestrogens mimic estrogen in the body, intensifying symptoms like heavy periods, mood swings, and increasing the risk of breast cancer plus in many cases sending women into early menopause.

Nutritional deficiencies in key nutrients such as Magnesium, B vitamins, and Vitamin D can affect how your body processes estrogen and other hormones. This can worsen symptoms like fatigue, bone loss, and mood swings.

Genetics: certain genetic snps can lead to poor oestrogen clearance and detoxification. Here we look at the MTHFR genes and COMT. Whilst we can't change our genes, we can turn off genetic expression through environmental and lifestyle changes. Here I run a DNAHealth test to identify and support any genetic snps that may cause us an issue.

Solutions for Managing Perimenopause Naturally

The good news? You don’t have to just “deal with” perimenopause. By making certain lifestyle changes and incorporating key nutrients and herbs mixed with a healthy body weight and exercise you can ease through this transition and reduce any symptoms you may be experiencing.

Balance Your Blood Sugar

One of the most effective ways to manage perimenopausal symptoms is to stabilise your blood sugar. Hormonal fluctuations can make you more sensitive to insulin, leading to blood sugar swings that worsen irritability, cravings for sugar, and fatigue and also cause the dreaded weight gain around the middle.

Eat a low-inflammatory whole food diet: Focus on a nutrient-dense diet filled with high-quality protein, healthy fats (like avocados, nuts, and olive oil), and low-glycemic vegetables. Here are some examples:

Leafy greens: Spinach, kale, collards, and Swiss chard
Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage
Root Vegetables: Carrots (raw), beets, and turnips
Other non-starchy vegetables: Cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers (including jalapeños), eggplant, asparagus, artichokes, green beans, snow peas.

Join our mailing list on our website www.hottieshormones.com and get a free download of our low-inflammatory food plan.

Also look at joining our '30-Day Body Transformation Plan' - a targeted plan combining intermittent fasting and healthy keto to get any hormonal weight under control and maintain health blood sugars.

Add key supplements to support blood sugar stability: Nutrient deficiencies can interfere with how your body regulates blood sugar, making it harder to manage symptoms. Make sure you’re getting enough Magnesium and B vitamins plus check your Vitamin D levels, as they play essential roles in balancing blood sugar, reducing inflammation, and supporting overall hormone health. We also look at Chromium, Berberine and Inositol here for balancing levels and some great herbs such as ginger, turmeric and American Ginseng.

Manage Stress for Adrenal Health

Your adrenal glands react to stress by producing hormones like cortisol, and over time, chronic stress can worsen perimenopausal symptoms. That’s why managing your stress can make a big difference in how you experience perimenopause:

Practice stress-reducing techniques: Meditation, yoga, and deep breathing exercises can all help calm your nervous system and reduce stress hormone production.
Prioritise sleep: Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night to give your body time to recover and manage hormone production. A good prescription of Magnesium Glycinate and Melatonin may also help improve sleep quality and of course adding in Micronized progesterone if levels are low. Also a herbal formula such as California Poppy, Valerian, Lavendula and Calendula can also help. I love medicinal mushrooms and Reishi here is good for sleep in perimenopause.
Consider adaptogenic herbs—taken during the day to support your adrenal health - herbs like Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, and Holy basil, which help your body adapt to stress by balancing cortisol levels, boosting energy, and easing the overall impact of stress. We can also look at a mixture such as Black Cohosh and Rhodiola to reduce overall menopausal symptoms.
Look at signing up for our '6-week Mindset Makeover' to support this time of transition and to give you the tools to navigate through perimenopause and menopause.

Detox Your Environment

Reducing your exposure to environmental toxins can help keep your hormones in check:

Avoid plastics: Switch to glass or stainless steel containers for food storage, and avoid plastic water bottles and food packaging that may contain hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPA and phthalates.
Eat organic: Choosing organic foods helps reduce your intake of pesticides and chemicals that can interfere with your hormone balance.
Drink plenty of clean filtered water - the way to work out how much you need is to times your body weight by 0.33 and that will give you what you need plus another 500ml for each hour of exercise. Example - 68 x 0.33 = 22 = 2.2L
Use a sauna: Infra-red and saunas can really help your body eliminate toxins through sweat, supporting overall hormonal health. An infra-red sauna can burn up to 600 calories in a 45 minute session and is also very relaxing.

Exercise for Hormonal Balance and Bone Health

Regular exercise is a game-changer for managing perimenopause. It can help reduce hot flushes, improve mood, and strengthen your bones as estrogen declines. Try these strategies:

Strength training: Strength training helps improve bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis, which becomes a concern as estrogen and testosterone levels fall. You can support your muscles and bones with Vit D, Magnesium, Collagen, Vit C.
Research shows that resistance training (like lifting weights or using resistance bands) can also help lower the number and intensity of hot flushes in postmenopausal women.

Aerobic exercise: Activities like walking, swimming, biking and dancing can improve cardiovascular health and help regulate mood.
Don't forget your flexibility training with practices such as yoga and pilates - it's essential that as we get older, we keep our body moving.

Consider Seeking Naturopathic Support

Naturopaths can advise on the right bloods and functional testing to do. For hormones we like to do a Dutch Complete Test. We like to see in your bloods your Vitamin D levels, Active B12/Folate, Glucose and Insulin levels, Cholesterol and a full thyroid panel plus any other markers applicable to your health.
We can also look at doing a GI MAP with Zonlin which is a one-day stool test which will take a comprehensive look at your gut microbiome and will support any targeted treatment needed.
We like to get to the root cause of any issues going on and put together a targeted plan to support your needs.
Some great herbs to use during perimenopause are: Vitex, Ashwaganda, St Mary's Thistle, Shishandra but really we have a huge array of different herbs that can help.
Also supporting all of your nutritional requirements with nutraceuticals.
Mindset support is also always very important at this time to support our emotional and spiritual needs.

Consider Hormone Replacement Therapy—but Personalise It

While lifestyle changes can make a big impact, some women may still require hormone therapy to manage severe symptoms. Deciding whether to replace estrogen and progesterone in perimenopause and beyond is a deeply personal choice.

If you choose hormone replacement, it’s essential to take a personalised approach, opting for bioidentical hormones—chemically identical to your body’s natural hormones—over synthetic versions.

Working with a good practitioner can help you determine the right type of hormone replacement therapy for you. As a general guideline, consider these options:

It’s also critical to regularly monitor how your body metabolizes hormones with your practitioner to ensure your therapy is both safe and effective.

Perimenopause isn’t just about managing symptoms like hot flashes or "brain fog"—it’s an important time to take charge of your health and plan for the next phase of life including supporting your passion and life goals.

Instead of merely enduring the changes, think of this transition as a critical opportunity to focus on prevention, particularly for your heart health, oestoporosis, and alzheimers.

By treating perimenopause as a time to invest in your long-term wellness—through lifestyle changes, nutritional support, and targeting medicines—you can set yourself up for a healthier and happier future.