The Caveat to Using Ayurveda for Perimenopause & Menopause Symptom Relief
Let's open the conversation about perimenopause symptoms and how to start tackling them. This also applies if you’re post-menopause and having lingering symptoms.
Click here for a refresher on the difference between perimenopause and menopause.
As a quick reminder, here are those possible perimenopause symptoms which can start as early as your mid-30s:
Irregular periods
Hot flushes/flashes
Changes in menstrual blood, including quality and quantity
Skin dryness, vaginal dryness (connected in Ayurveda)
Thinning hair, loss of bone density (connected in Ayurveda)
Muscle weakness
Anxiety
Headaches (including new onset migraines)
General fatigue
Insomnia
Libido changes
Weight changes
Moodiness
Forgetfulness, issues "multitasking"
Changes in fat distribution/body composition
Errant facial hair
Graying pubic hair
Breast changes- they can change size and/or shape
Vulvar and vaginal changes (dryness, itching, rash, UTIs)
Changes in how easily it is to get turned on (you, and your partner, may need to relearn your body)
You could have all or none of these as you move through your transition. You are your own special constellation.
We aren’t necessarily taught about what’s happening, so we may not even recognize these things as being perimenopause; we might just blame them on aging (and, unfortunately, so might your clinician).
In the allopathic/Western medicine model, and in our consumer driven society, much of what is sold to us is based on “acute pain point” or “symptom,” and “solution,” or “drug/supplement.”
To put it another way, the model is: you have gastric reflux? Take this pill. It will take care of the symptom. You don’t need to search for or treat the root cause, which could stem from eating food that aggravates you, being too stressed out, or having unprocessed anger (Ayurveda would call this imbalanced vata + pitta)
The vastness of how Ayurveda can help with hormone-relates symptoms. Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Photo by Ron Michael Photography.
So here’s what's hard about me taking a symptom and giving you some pointers: it’s ALL connected. Ayurveda is holistic. It’s not here’s the symptom ▶️ here’s the practice/ direct linear correlation.
Even when it comes to herbs, they need to be used in a greater context. It's not as simple as symptom= Ayurveda herb.
There’s a huge beauty in that. You can start with the area you’re ready to tackle. In Ayurveda, the three big buckets are sleep, food, and energy/sex.
As I keep harping on:
1- Awareness is always the FIRST step and
2- Small shifts ADD UP
And so, I’m going to attempt to take symptoms and give you some ideas about what they’re related to, and how you might start making small shifts. Just know: it’s all tip of the iceberg.
As an aside and to be honest, this is the problem I have with solutions for any of this stuff on social media. Sure, we can give some soundbites, but each person has work to do for themselves that goes much deeper.
At the core, it IS simple— it’s just not always easy. And I don’t trust anyone who tells me finding vibrant health is as easy as popping a supplement or following their method for a few weeks. At this point, I know better.
It’s doable AND it’s a process. Remember, you didn’t get to your symptom overnight. The symptoms of perimenopause are your body’s way of saying “what you did the last two decades is now weighing on me as I can’t rely on that big store of estrogen any more for support… now we need to address this <other thing> over here.”
Stay tuned for next week: hot flushes and hot/restless sleep.