Hormone Imbalance Symptoms in Women: What They Mean and How to Feel Like Yourself Again

Understanding Progesterone: Your Secret Weapon for a Joyful Menopause

In this episode of Joyful Menopause, host Lynda Enright discusses the often-overlooked hormone progesterone, which plays a crucial role in managing menopause symptoms. 

Using the story of a woman named Sue, Lynda illustrates the common struggles women face during perimenopause and menopause, such as mood swings, sleep issues, and exhaustion. 

The episode covers the importance of progesterone balance, how stress affects hormone production, and provides practical tips on diet, lifestyle, and stress management to help women feel more like themselves. 

Lynda also emphasizes the significance of understanding hormone shifts and offers actionable advice for navigating menopause with wisdom and energy.

00:00 Sue's Story: The Unseen Struggle of Perimenopause

00:18 Introduction to Joyful Menopause

00:35 Understanding Progesterone: The Unsung Hero

01:27 The Role of Progesterone in Your Cycle

02:20 Perimenopause: The Hormonal Rollercoaster

03:16 Navigating Menopause: What to Expect

04:10 Supporting Your Adrenal Glands

04:33 Managing Stress for Hormonal Balance

05:21 Diet and Lifestyle Tips for Hormone Health

07:05 Creating a Sleep Routine for Better Rest

08:03 Combating Inflammation with Nutrition

09:05 Sue's Transformation: A Success Story

11:06 Conclusion: Empowering Your Menopause Journey

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to feel your best during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Want more science-backed health tips? Click here to sign up for my free weekly newsletter for practical advice on navigating menopause with confidence:

2. Click here to get the free guide: 5 Natural Ways To Reduce Menopause Symptoms.

2. For more information about Lynda and how she supports women on their health journey, click here to learn more.

3. Interested in seeing if nutrition coaching with Lynda is right for you? Click here to book a free discovery call with Lynda.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Sue was only 42 when she startedwaking up at 3:00 AM every
night.
Her heart racing, her mindspinning, her mood was
unpredictable.
Her brain fog made work harderand she felt exhausted every
single day, but no one had toldher that this could be
perimenopause.
Sound familiar?
Hello and welcome back tocreating a Joyful Menopause.

(00:21):
I am so glad you're here today.
We're talking about a hormonethat doesn't get talked about
enough progesterone stick aroundand I'll tell you Sue's story,
more details and how the changesthat she made turned everything
around for her.
You've probably heard a lotabout estrogen when it comes to
menopause, but estrogen has thispartner, progesterone, and when
it starts to drop duringperimenopause and menopause, a

(00:44):
lot of the symptoms that weblame on estrogen are actually
tied to this missing piece ofthe puzzle.
If you're in perimenopause, itmight feel like your hormones
are all over the place, kind oflike puberty in reverse.
It's not your imagination.
Today I wanna help youunderstand what's happening with
progesterone, why it matters,and what you can do with your

(01:04):
diet and lifestyle to feelbetter as your body changes.
Let's get started.
Menopause doesn't have to feellike you are living in someone
else's body.
Your host, Lynda Enright, hasspent the last 25 years helping
women to thrive in midlife.
Here you'll find science-basedpractical advice that you can
start using today to get realresults for your health.
Welcome to Joyful Menopause.

(01:27):
Progesterone is one of the mainfemale hormones like estrogen,
but while estrogen often getsall the attention progesterone
quietly does a lot behind thescenes, especially when it comes
to how we feel on a day-to-daybasis.
During the first half of yourmonthly cycle, estrogen goes up.
That's part of the cycle thatprepares your body for

(01:48):
ovulation.
But after ovulation, thenprogesterone kicks in, and
that's when we often feelcalmer.
We sleep better and just kind offeel more balanced overall.
Progesterone also helps toreduce inflammation, support
mood regulation, improve sleepquality, and even protect your
bones and your brain.
So it's a pretty big deal.

(02:09):
The tricky part, we only make agood amount of progesterone if
we ovulate, and as we get older,that starts to happen less
often, which leads us into whathappens next.
As you move into, for mostwomen, forties and beyond, your
cycles can start to get moreunpredictable.
One month, you might have anormal period the next month.
It's heavier or comes earlier,or it doesn't come at all.

(02:32):
That's because you're startingto have cycles where you don't
ovulate, and when you don'tovulate, your body doesn't make
progesterone or make very muchprogesterone.
So estrogen is still theresometimes in high amounts, but
there's not enough progesteroneto keep it in check.
So this is when a lot of womenstart noticing things like
heavier periods, more moodswings and irritability, trouble

(02:54):
sleeping, feeling edgy,overwhelmed, or just plain
exhausted.
That frustrating brain fog inmenopause when you can't focus
or remember what you walked intothe room for.
So what can be happening here isestrogen dominance, not because
you have too much estrogen,because you don't have enough
progesterone to balance it out.

(03:16):
So then once you reachmenopause, which for a reminder,
that means you haven't had aperiod for a full year, then
ovulation stops altogether.
So that means progesteroneproduction mostly stops too.
Your adrenal glands.
Those glands that help withstress make a little bit of
progesterone, but it's not verymuch.
So your body now has to adjustto this new lower level of

(03:39):
hormones and that period ofadjustment is what can cause so
many of the hot flashessymptoms, perimenopause, fatigue
and brain fog, menopauseexperiences that women talk
about.
The good news, there are thingsyou can do to support your body
through it.
Today we are talking about yourhormone progesterone and how it

(04:00):
changes throughout perimenopauseand into menopause.
What you can do to support yourhormone balance so you can feel
like yourself again.
So let's get into what you cando about it.
Let's start with your adrenalglands.
These little glands, they sit onthe top of your kidneys and
they're best known for pumpingout stress hormones like
cortisol.
But what many women don'trealize is that after menopause,

(04:22):
your adrenals actually step inand take over some of the
hormone production.
Especially when you're ovaries,stop doing it.
So that means that your stresslevel really matters.
If your adrenal glands areconstantly working over time
because you're stressed, you'retired, you're skipping meals,
maybe you're running oncaffeine, they can't do their
best job of helping with hormonebalance.

(04:45):
So this is why working onbalancing your nervous system is
the first thing we work on in myJoyful Menopause coaching
program.
If we don't get the nervoussystem in balance, it's harder
to get the benefit of the otherthings like diet and exercise.
So what can help your adrenals?
First, managing stress in waysthat feel doable, like deep
breathing, just even a littlebit.

(05:07):
Take a few deep breaths beforeyou're eating or when you're
washing your hands.
Those little bits can really addup.
Going for a walk, just a shortwalk.
Getting outside in nature orsimply saying no more often
would be helpful too.
Second thing you can do is eatenough protein and get nutrients
like vitamin C and B vitamins.

(05:28):
B vitamins play a reallyimportant role in hormone
production, your stressresponse, and overall health of
your adrenal glands.
And third, avoiding long periodswithout food.
Intermittent fasting issomething I talk about in
another episode, and a lot ofwomen are trying it because they
think it might be helpful tolose weight it, and it can be

(05:48):
for sure, but it's not foreveryone.
So if you're having symptomslike you're feeling shaky,
anxious, or tired because youhaven't eaten, that's your body
telling you that something isnot working quite right.
Another big support is keeping aregular rhythm in your day.
So all your body's hormones,they're all connected and they
follow a natural daily cycle.

(06:10):
So one of the simplest thingsyou can do is go to bed and wake
up around the same time everyday, even on the weekends.
Also, just eating your meals atconsistent times.
This helps your blood sugar andyour hormones stay better
balanced.
Think of it like giving yourbody a routine that it can count
on your hormones love that kindof predictability.

(06:32):
Now let's talk about two bigareas that affect how you feel
also.
Huge areas of sleep andinflammation.
So first up, menopause sleepproblems.
One of progesterone'ssuperpowers is helping you get
good restful sleep.
So when progesterone drops, it'scommon to wake up in the middle
of the night, have troublefalling asleep, feeling maybe

(06:54):
wide awake at 3:00 AM.
Sound familiar?
Something I find so many of thewomen I work with are struggling
with, and I can really do.
I get it.
I've experienced the same thing.
Creating a great sleep routineis a good place to start.
This is something we work on inmy Joyful Menopause Coaching
program like my client, Sharon,I have seen so many women find a

(07:16):
dramatic change in theirwellbeing when their sleep is
supported well, I have a fewthings you can do to support
your sleep.
Turn off screens an hour or eventwo before you go to bed.
Blue light confuses your brainto think that you should be
awake longer.
Keep your bedroom cool and dark,and get sunlight in the morning
to reset your body clock.

(07:36):
It really works.
The recommendation is 10 to 30minutes in the morning to get
outside and absorb somesunlight.
I get it.
It's easier said than done.
Sleep can be elusive for womenin peri menopause and menopause
for sure.
The first place to start iscreating the best environment
you can, but there are otherthings that are important too,

(07:56):
including nutrition, exercise,and stress management.
All things I work on with myprivate clients.
Then there's inflammation.
As estrogen and progesterone godown, inflammation tends to go
up.
Both hormones can help tosuppress inflammation.
So when you have increasedinflammation, your symptoms can
be worse.

(08:17):
Things like joint pain, brainfog, menopause mood changes and
fatigue in menopause can feel somuch worse.
So what can you do to calminflammation?
Number one, eat a variety ofcolorful vegetables, leafy
greens like kale, spinach, andcollard greens, berries
including blueberries,raspberries, black berries,

(08:37):
sweet potatoes, colorfulpeppers.
Second thing you can do, you caninclude nourishing fats like
olive oil, avocados, wildsalmon.
And third herbs and spices.
Things like turmeric, rosemary,and ginger.
These are underrated for sureand can be really powerful,
natural anti-inflammatories.

(08:57):
And number four, make sureyou're getting enough protein
and eating regularly to avoidblood sugar crashes.
Before we go, I wanna share aquick story about Sue.
Sue came to me in her earlyforties feeling completely out
of sorts.
She said things like, I justdon't feel like myself anymore.
And I, I hear that exactsentence often.

(09:18):
She was exhausted.
She couldn't sleep well.
Her mood was up and down.
She was gaining weight eventhough nothing had changed with
her diet.
And her brain just felt foggy.
But because she was only 42, shewasn't thinking about
perimenopause yet.
In fact it hadn't even crossedher mind when we started working
together.
I asked about her family historywhen her mom or her sisters had

(09:39):
gone through menopause, and thatopened up a really important
door.
She found out that her mom andher older sister had also
started experiencing symptoms intheir forties, just hadn't come
up.
They hadn't talked about it, andthat's so common.
So many women go through thisalone, not realizing what's
going on.
So once Sue understood that hersymptoms were tied to hormonal

(10:00):
shifts, especially decliningprogesterone something shifted
for her.
She said, I finally feel likeI'm not crazy.
There's a reason, an explanationfor how I've been feeling.
So we began with nutrienttesting to see what her body was
really needing at this stage inlife.
We found what nutrients she waslacking in her diet and where
her levels were low, and Ihelped her create an eating plan

(10:21):
and supplement regimen thatbrought her back up to normal
levels.
And one of the first things wefocused on was supporting her
adrenal glands.
Sue had been under a lot ofstress for years, growing her
career, raising her kids, alwayspushing through.
Her body needed nourishment andrecovery.
She worked on stress managementtechniques.
I helped her to figure outthings that would actually work

(10:43):
in her busy life.
So again, all these things like,sounds good, but when am I gonna
fit that in?
And that's what I helped her todo, is like really figure out
how it was gonna getincorporated into her life.
She really started noticingdifferences pretty quickly.
She started sleeping better.
Her mood evened out.
The weight started to come offnaturally, and maybe most
importantly, she felt calm,clear, and back in control of

(11:05):
her body.
So if you've been feeling offand wondering if it's just you,
it's not, you're not alone andyou're not powerless.
If this episode gave you someclarity or a sense of, oh, that
might be what's going on withme, I'd love for you to share it
with a friend.
Chances are she's wondering thesame thing.
And if you wanna go a littledeeper, go to the show notes to

(11:26):
download my free guide.
Five Natural Ways To ReduceMenopause Symptoms.
It's a great starting point tobetter understand your symptoms
like brain fog, fatigue, moodswings, hot flashes.
And to take some simple stepstoward feeling like yourself
again.
Thanks for spending some timewith me today.
I will see you next time oncreating a Joyful Menopause

(11:47):
because this chapter in yourlife can be one of wisdom,
energy, and joy.
You just need the right support.