I felt so awful
I hope you’re fab and well. Today, I want to share a personal story that might resonate with you. It’s something that happened to me last year, and it really highlighted to me just how challenging perimenopause can be. But I want you to know you’re not alone in this, and there are so many things that we can do to make things considerably better.
At the beginning of last year, my life felt very overwhelming. I was juggling so many things and it was making me feel very anxious and frazzled. My lovely husband, Neil, was still recovering from a heart attack from the year before, we were navigating school applications for my daughters secondary school, and I was pushing myself too much physically with my exercise; I was over working even when my body was screaming for rest. Sleep wasn’t happening, anxiety crept in and I was feeling frazzled and burnt out.
One morning, despite feeling utterly exhausted, I insisted on going for a run first thing before the day started. I thought I could power through because this had been my M.O. for years.
After that I walked my daughter to school, then halfway home from dropping my daughter off I suddenly felt a wave of panic wash over me. My heart raced big time, and I found myself on the side of the road, convinced I was having a heart attack. The fear was paralysing and something I had not ever experienced before.
I decided I had to rely on my breath to calm me down. After about 20 mins of sitting on the pavement and calming myself down, I managed to find a way to walk home, but I knew I had to cancel my clients for the day. In fact, I ended up taking the rest of the week off, feeling lost and scared.
In the midst of preparing for an upcoming holiday, I grappled with anxiety, racing thoughts, and physical symptoms I couldn’t quite place. I was very worried about how I would manage a flight, but somehow, I boarded that plane. Although I really didn’t think I would get on the plane!
PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT
That week I turned to breath-work, meditation, gentle walks in nature, resting and vogel stress drops to help ground me. During my time away, I began to reflect deeply and realised that many of my symptoms – insomnia, low moods, feeling angry and lost, brain fog, weight gain, and vaginal and eye dryness – were linked to perimenopause.
This realisation sparked a journey of research and self-discovery. I learned that over 100 symptoms could signify perimenopause, including those I had been experiencing: anxiety, exhaustion, forgetfulness, and more. It was a relief to understand that these feelings weren’t imaginary. They were, or sometimes can be for some, a part of this phase in life, driven by hormonal shifts.
ADJUSTMENTS
By making a few key lifestyle adjustments over the forthcoming months, I began to see improvements. I prioritised self-care, embraced mindfulness, rested more, focused on a work life balance, stopped people pleasing as much, focused on lower intensity cardio, increased my walking, increases protein levels, and worked hugely on my nutrition, and so on. The changes have been transformative, both in how I feel and how I view this stage of life. This lead me to then train as a Menopause Coach too, so I can help so many more women at this stage of life.
SYMPTOMS
As I said, there are other 100 symptoms of perimenopause. Including:
• Low moods
• Anxiety
• Exhaustion
• Insomnia
• Aches and pains
• Anger
• Brain fog
• Forgetfulness
• Hair loss
• Itchy skin
• Weight gain
• Irregular cycles
• Shorter, longer, lighter or heavier periods
• Headaches or migraines
• Sleep disruption
• Brain fog
• Loss of focus
• Low libido
• Night sweats
• Weepiness
• Tender breasts
• Low motivation
And so on…
If you’re experiencing any of these, you’re not imagining it; Your hormones are shifting.
But there are ways to change and improve these symptoms with lifestyle changes. Using HRT could also be an option for you.
I want you to know, you are not alone and there are ways to manage and navigate this time of life. Reach out to me if you need/want my help
Love Davinia
