27 Oct Educate before you Medicate
Brain fog, anxiety, low mood and depression are the three most common symptoms of the perimenopause, followed by aching joints and disturbed sleep. It is the onset of these symptoms that make many women seek the help and advice of their GP, and the majority will leave their appointment with a prescription for anti-depressants, anti-anxiety or anti-inflammatory drugs that they don’t necessarily need.
What women need is a conversation, a conversation explaining what the perimenopause is and that it starts before your periods stop.
Until the medical profession widely recognises the perimenopause, the age it starts – late 30s to early/mid 40s – and the symptoms associated with it, we need to educate ourselves.
How do we educate ourselves? Cycle tracking is key to recognising the start of your perimenopause and the key to tracking your symptoms as you go further into your menopause transition. If you can sit down with your GP and present 3 months worth of cycle tracking data you are more likely to get a proper diagnosis, advice, medication or referral if needed, on how to manage your menopause symptoms or any other underlying condition that tracking may bring to light.
Social media is a great source to find recommendations for articles, books, podcasts and people to follow that will keep you well informed.
Women’s health is becoming a women’s’ right issue. We owe it to ourselves to be informed and educated on how our mind and body work and how we can recognise when things start to change. Our culture is conditioned to medicate rather than to look at and assess the causes of symptoms and how they can be managed. Start reading, start listening, start following and start tracking 🙏🏻
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How do you feel about this? Were you prescribed anti-depressants or other medication for your perimenopause symptoms?