June 2, 2024 • 48 mins
Ladies, did you know that alcohol can wreak havoc on your hormones during menopause and perimenopause? From night sweats to mood swings, that glass of wine might be making things worse! Hormone health is crucial during this stage of life. In this episode we dive into the surprising ways alcohol impacts menopause and why going alcohol-free could be a game-changer for your well-being.
Recommended Resources for this Episode:
Dr Mary Claire Haver MD, author The New Menopause
https://www.instagram.com/drmaryclaire/
Articles
Gill J. The effects of moderate alcohol consumption on female hormone levels and reproductive function. Alcohol Alcohol. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11022013/
Grodstein, F., Goldman, M. B. and Cramer, D. W. (1994) Infertility in women and moderate alcohol use. American Journal of Public Health https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8092366/
Girls Gone Strong Coaching
Girls Gone Strong Menopause Coaching
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/academy/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=reels&v=1356618611691295
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegirlsgonestrong/reel/CiaQOpoOBhK/
YouTube Videos
https://youtu.be/9cueLwtVQS0?si=69x14XB-Rob25f6C
https://youtu.be/ReFZ__ZeSEQ?si=nFPZgzacaQbFl9Vt
https://youtu.be/6tXoJN8-H6k?si=OnO2Hz35YvPArVqB
https://youtu.be/P3Bzp2BeXR4?si=Ey6Tp-qafgSG0_zU
https://youtu.be/MeD-XThlpXU?si=dPAvkTDt6gFv1oZm
DNA Testing in Canada
The Benefit Code https://core-health.ca/collections/all
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelly (00:02):
Welcome to the LAF life podcast, a lifestyle podcast
based on living alcohol free anda booze soaked world.
My name is Kelly Evans andtogether with my friends, Tracey
Djordjevic, and Lindsey Harik.
We share uncensored.
Unscripted real conversationsabout what our lives have been
like since we ditched alcoholand how we got here by sharing
(00:24):
our individual stories.
We'll show you that there isn'tjust one way to do this, no
matter where you are on yourjourney from sober, curious to
years in recovery and everyonein between, you are welcome
here, no judgment and a ton ofsupport.
Tracey (00:40):
Hello, everyone welcome back to the LAF life podcast.
This is season three and episode27.
We're getting Yeah, we'regetting to the end of the season
here.
We have a really exciting andinteresting topic tonight.
We're going to stick withalcohol, but veer, of course,
and hopefully talk aboutsomething that I think is really
(01:02):
relatable to definitely thethree of us in this season.
And I think to a lot of ourfemale listeners if you're one
of our male listeners, you mightwant to tune out, but you might
want to tune in there and careabout some lovely lady in your
life and want to have a betterunderstanding of, what we have
to go through.
We are actually going to talkabout menopause and alcohol the
(01:24):
effects alcohol can have on awoman when she is going through
perimenopause, menopause, andpost menopausal stage of life.
To start off, I think we need totalk a little bit about what is
menopause for anybody out there.
Lindsey (01:40):
I was like, what the hell happens to us during
menopause?
I'm like, what happens with ourhormones?
They go up and they go down,which hormones are involved?
I had to Google it just nowbefore we hit record because I
didn't even know.
Tracey (01:52):
I want to start off too by saying we are by no means
doctors or experts here, people.
Okay.
We are only going to speak basedon things we've learned or
researched or our personalexperiences and just things
we've heard by doing our ownresearch or listening to other
experts in the field about thesubject.
(02:13):
It's more like a hot topic rightnow that we wanted to explore.
I'm glad that it's such a hottopic.
I'm really glad that people aretalking about it in our age
group.
There's such an awareness ofwhat is going on?
And Trace, you're taking acourse.
Tell us about that.
Speaker (02:30):
Yeah.
So I am taking a menopausecoaching course, which I'm very
excited about I'm taking it atmy own pace, but it was
something that I decided acouple months back.
I wanted to start because I'mactually post menopausal at a
very young age younger than theaverage anyways, I've been in
menopause for two years now,actually.
I wanted to learn about thisphase of life so I can go
(02:53):
through it as healthily aspossible and really understand
what my body's going through.
I know my mom, and I thinkgenetics is a big factor really
struggled with a lot of things.
And unfortunately, when she wentthrough it, not all this
knowledge was out there.
So I agree, Kel, I think it'samazing that we're getting this
awareness and we're getting allthis information and it's being
(03:15):
highlighted because it's such ahuge Part of a woman's life, and
it's a good portion of ourlives, something that we don't
realize that this is somethingthat we're going to be going
through for most the later halfof our life.
To go back to what menopause is,there's really three phases,
perimenopause, which can startas early as in your thirties,
(03:37):
but is typically in the fortiesfor women.
And that's when, like you weresaying, Linz, hormones basically
start to decrease your sexhormones.
So estrogen and progesterone,Okay.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Progesterone?
Progesterone.
Progesterone.
Tracey (03:53):
I know.
That one's a tough one, isn'tit?
I've had a hard time with thatone.
Lindsey (04:00):
I love it.
Speaker (04:02):
So yes, the production of your sex hormones starts to
decrease.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Those hormones.
Yeah.
Speaker (04:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah.
Tracey (04:11):
I believe testosterone is included in that too.
Lindsey (04:14):
I think you're right.
affected as well.
The interesting thing though inperimenopause, they can also
spike, like estrogen can spike.
So there's a lot of fluctuationbasically during perimenopause.
And that's basically your bodypreparing itself for menopause.
What menopause is actually whenyou have gone a complete year
(04:34):
without your period.
Oh,
Speaker (04:36):
during that time is menopause.
And you have to have a completeyear without your period.
Then once you have completedthat year, your body's pretty
much depleted of those hormones.
And then you're post metaposal.
Lindsey (04:54):
Oh,
Tracey (04:54):
That's what I am now.
Because two years ago, Ifinished my period and I haven't
had one for two years.
Oh, I've been post metaposal nowfor two years.
And I'm not even 50
Kelly (05:05):
age range for those last two years trace.
The average age for menopausefor most women is 51.
Oh, really?
But it can range between 48 and52.
is the median.
Interesting.
So
Lindsey (05:18):
look forward to, right?
Yeah.
Going to relate this all toalcohol.
So don't think oh my God, whatare these girls doing?
What are they talking about?
But yeah, this is going to beinteresting.
Tracey (05:30):
So I just want to show you girls something and I can
maybe put this up as part ofour, marketing for this episode,
but see this diagram here.
Lindsey (05:38):
Yeah.
Speaker (05:39):
This is all the areas of the woman's body that is
affected by the decrease inthose hormones.
Estrogen, especially.
Lindsey (05:47):
Oh my gosh, it's like the whole, basically you just
took your whole body, the wholebody basically, just highlight
the whole thing.
Tracey (05:53):
So when my child and my partner are harassing me about
certain things, just show themthat picture, I just throw this
picture in their face and say,see this is what's happening to
me, leave me alone.
Yes, that's why I'm peeing allthe time.
Kelly (06:10):
But there's such a there's such a, I would say fear
around it and like that sense ofdread there's a negative feeling
around it.
But I feel like with all of thistalk and educating ourselves and
the fact that it is so much moreawareness around it that
hopefully it's going to takeaway all of that and be like,
okay, yeah, this is what'shappening with my body.
I understand, we can all educateourselves.
Tracey (06:32):
It's like alcohol, right?
There's a lot of stigmas aroundit.
Right.
Speaker (06:36):
But basically during this whole phase of our life,
because of the decrease inestrogen, estrogen is very
dominant in us as women.
Yeah.
And it contributes to thefunctioning of so many things in
our bodies.
So because it's decreasing andwe're losing that over time,
that's what causes all thesesymptoms that we start to have
(06:57):
during perimetopause and theninto metapause.
And this is a long stage oflife.
Post menopause is for the restof your life.
That doesn't mean you're goingto have symptoms for the rest of
your life.
They say symptoms usually last.
About 10 years.
So 10 years, 10 years after, No,if you include perimenopause
(07:19):
Okay kay, so 10 years total,usually about 10 years that you
can have symptoms is theaverage.
And certain things will stopafter.
A certain amount of time, intopost menopause, hot flashes and
stuff can stop those don't tendto continue.
But there's other things thatcontinue to deteriorate more
rapidly because you're inmenopause and because you've
(07:42):
lost estrogen, like your bonedensity.
That's why we're moresusceptible to ortho arthritis
and stuff like that.
If you can imagine all thosesymptoms that we're having.
Alcohol, if you're drinkingduring perimenopause, menopause,
postmenopause, and you're havingsymptoms, alcohol is going to
(08:02):
exasperate all those symptoms,because a lot of those symptoms
that we have are You alreadyhave when you're drinking
alcohol as well.
So you're going to have them.
Lindsey (08:11):
Alcohol affects hormones.
There's a lot of researchonline, PubMed articles and
studies that show that there's adirect link to the consumption
of alcohol and hormone levels inthe female body.
This is crazy, but I read today.
One study actually suggested,and this is a 2022 study the
(08:34):
author is Gil Jay, and it'scalled The Effects of Moderate
Alcohol Consumption on FemaleHormone Levels and Reproductive
Function.
It suggests that moderatedrinking could lead to early
menopause.
What the hell?
Tracey (08:47):
Again, I think alcohol is creating some of those
symptoms as it is.
So I think as our hormoneschange, definitely we probably
start feeling those feelingsmore intensely and we don't even
know what's happening.
Like I didn't know I was inperimetopause.
When I was going through it butlooking back now and I was
saying to you girls before wepress play here that looking
(09:10):
back now I was at the peak of mydrinking during perimenopause,
right before I startedmenopause.
Lindsey (09:17):
Yeah,
Tracey (09:18):
so I quit drinking at 46 and I stopped getting my period
at 47.
Lindsey (09:23):
Oh, okay.
That time period completely andI would say definitely I could
see how the effects of alcoholwere increasing my symptoms.
That's what it does.
Yeah.
Some of the things they say thathappen with alcohol, like
tolerance.
Definitely.
My tolerance was changing andjust similar to what you guys
(09:46):
have experienced too.
And maybe now you would thinkthe same.
It might have been more hormonerelated, just having less
tolerance.
Also.
For a long time, I was a redwine drinker and then I couldn't
drink red wine anymore becauseit was disrupting my sleep.
It was giving me like dullheadaches and stuff like that.
And it seemed like it came outof nowhere, but it was probably
(10:07):
hormone related because it wasright along that same time
period in my life.
But yeah, basically alcohol.
Is going to disrupt your sleep.
It does anyways, and as we gothrough menopause, that is one
of the biggest issues that womenhave and complain about is
having trouble with sleep.
(10:27):
Right?
Tracey (10:28):
And we all know how important sleep is to our
health.
Lindsey (10:31):
So important
Tracey (10:32):
and the recovery of our body, right?
Your challenge with sleeping andthat becomes an issue during
perimenopause.
And then you're drinking on topof that?
Yeah.
It's like double whammy.
Lindsey (10:42):
Well, a lot of women say they need to have a drink in
order to fall asleep.
Yeah.
Wine.
Kelly (10:47):
For relief, from all these symptoms, the symptoms are
draining on them that they'returning to alcohol for some
relief without knowing all ofwhat you just mentioned, what it
does to us.
And our hormones.
Tracey (11:01):
What were you reading about there, Linz, about women
and utilizing it for relief?
Okay.
Lindsey (11:08):
Yeah, I was looking online today.
So there was a survey done andmind you, this was in the UK,
but it was quite recent.
1200 perimenopausal andmenopausal women participated in
it, and it was conducted byNewsome Health Group.
It indicates.
That 1 in 3 women, so that's 33percent drink more since
(11:30):
becoming perimenopausal ormenopausal.
And on top of that, 1 in 8 areconsuming more alcohol than is
recommended.
And the intake is increasing.
To alleviate the symptoms ofmenopause.
So what respondents toldsurveyors for example, this one
woman was saying she usedalcohol to cheer herself up
(11:51):
during this time.
But then she found out that thewine was keeping her awake and
she was getting palpitations andnight sweats and she goes, I
don't get these if I don't havethe wine.
So it's like you think it's themenopause or the perimenopause,
you feel like you're starting itand now you're adding wine into
(12:11):
that.
Another woman was saying, I selfmedicated to the point of
addiction.
I've suffered many symptoms at43 years old, night sweats,
anxiety, and depression.
I couldn't cope.
So I drank.
I drank.
And then
Kelly (12:25):
heartbreaking,
Lindsey (12:26):
it's heartbreaking and several women are describing
alcohol as an escape.
It's a way to manage thesymptoms of menopause because of
the lack of access to menopausetreatments.
And Just feeling like theyneeded relief.
Menopause and perimenopause isdriving women to drink, which is
really scary.
Kelly (12:46):
Because I'm going to go back to what we always talk
about on here is I feel likeit's such a societal norm that
anything difficult that you'recoming across in your life, you
turn to wine.
Or you turn to alcohol.
Sorry, why that was the old me,but you turn to alcohol for
relief.
I really think it's importantthat we talk about these things
(13:07):
and learn as women, what do wedo for relief?
What's a healthy way.
And I know we're going to talkabout that in a couple episodes
from now, but it's just such anormal thing to reach for the
alcohol and we're struggling.
Tracey (13:22):
You know what I think is the most interesting thing about
you saying that Linds is thatnow looking back or if I look at
my friends in this age group,
Lindsey (13:32):
right?
Speaker (13:32):
all of them.
Their drinking started toincrease in their late thirties,
early forties.
Yeah, I can So did mine.
Kelly (13:39):
Can think some people, yeah, I can think of a handful
of people.
Lindsey (13:42):
Not crazy.
And I think if anybody had aquestion, does alcohol affect
hormones, the absolute factualanswer supported by research is
yes, it does.
And we have to really be mindfulof this.
Studies are showing and theseare from articles that you can
find online or in PubMed.
There's a direct relationship.
(14:03):
It's not may cause directrelationship between alcohol and
an increase in testosteronelevels in women.
And that like the testosteronelevel increase that leads to
changes in mood and libido.
So irritability lack of a sexdrive you're just not interested
in it anymore.
We know it affects cortisol.
(14:24):
That's a fact.
It's the stress hormone.
So people who drink regularlyhave higher cortisol levels,
Kelly (14:30):
which does what does cortisol do for us?
Lindsey (14:32):
That's the stress hormone.
So it makes you feeloverwhelmed, stressed, anxiety
anxious.
It's that very overwhelmed,irritable.
I just can't deal.
Kelly (14:42):
Yeah.
Yep.
Alcohol gives you that.
Lindsey (14:45):
Exactly.
And on top of that, alcoholconsumption is also directly
linked to lower estrogen levels.
So the decrease in estrogen isassociated with Depression and
anxiety, and it also causes anincreased risk for osteoporosis.
So if anybody's Oh, I don'treally buy this.
(15:06):
No, this is backed by research.
I was looking at an article thatwas from 1994.
94 you guys.
Wow.
And this article, get this isstating women who moderately
drink, and I'd have to go backto that article and see what
their definition of moderatedrinking was.
(15:27):
It is associated with asignificant increase in the risk
of ovulatory infertility.
And an increased risk ofendometriosis.
Oh, and I did go back.
They defined moderate drinkingas six glasses of wine a week.
I would have six glasses of wineon a weekend.
What?
(15:48):
So hormone health, if anybody'slistening, women, our female
listeners men, girlfriends,wives, your sisters, your moms,
anybody's listening, reducingalcohol should be a part of your
hormone health.
Yeah.
During this time.
Tracey (16:04):
Going back to the hormones Linz, and the sleeping.
Something I was reading aboutwas that the sleeping gets
affected because alcohol lowersour serotonin, which then in
turn lowers melatonin.
And if anybody I'm sure knowsmelatonin is the sleep hormone,
right?
That's why our sleep gets moredisrupted as well.
(16:27):
Again, hormone related and I'velistened to experts in this
category of medicine, experts inmenopause on podcasts.
I've heard doctors that areexperts in this area say that
when they went throughmenopause, it was basically, I'm
choosing wine tonight orsleeping.
Like I'm either going to have aglass of wine or I'm going to
(16:48):
sleep.
That's what it came down to.
I think that it is actuallycausing women to pause and
consider drinking less or givingup alcohol because of the way it
is affecting them or how they'refeeling drinking it during
menopause.
I think that is really goodnews.
But if you think abouteverything that it affects, even
(17:10):
so we talk about sleeping and wealready knew alcohol disrupts
our sleep without even being inmenopause or exactly.
Speaker (17:18):
But it's same with alcohol affecting our eating.
So a big complaint duringmenopause and these hormone
changes is that women gainweight all the time, right?
All the time without changinganything.
It's just that they startgaining weight and they can't
lose it.
Do you think drinking ishelping?
No, because when we drink, thenour inhibitions go down and we
(17:39):
make poor choices with ournutrition and it also affects
our activity levels and ourexercise.
That's one thing in the courseI'm taking that they talk about,
that it affects yourperformance, right?
If you're trying to exercisethen obviously if you've had a
poor night's sleep and yournutrition has been crap and then
you're trying to go to the gymthe next day and you're trying
(18:02):
to battle this hormonal weight,all those things are going to
work against you.
Lindsey (18:06):
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (18:07):
scary.
Tracey (18:08):
And the other thing is, too, if you're someone who's
going through menopause, likemyself, I'm post menopausal now
if you're considering doing HRT,hormone replacement.
Lindsey (18:20):
Right.
Tracey (18:21):
Hormone replacement does have a risk of breast cancer.
Now, not to the point that somestudies have shown and they've
actually come back and done alot of research to re neg on
those studies.
But if you're someone who ishigh risk, then you have to take
that into consideration.
But we also know that alcoholcauses breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
It's a direct cause.
Yeah.
So if
Tracey (18:44):
you're drinking and taking HRT, you could be putting
yourself at higher risk.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That's the thing.
Speaker (18:50):
So that's something to consider as well.
Lindsey (18:53):
I wonder too how many women are drinking regularly
during this stage of life.
And instead of evaluating thepossibility that it could be the
effects of alcohol are justblaming all their symptoms on
menopause.
Kelly (19:06):
That's what I'm feeling.
Yeah.
That's what I'm feeling.
If alcohol was already part oftheir life,
Lindsey (19:11):
right.
Kelly (19:13):
I feel like it could go unnoticed if they didn't know
all of this stuff.
It could go unnoticed and itcould be, Blaming it on
perimenopause or the menopause.
Lindsey (19:24):
Exactly.
Kelly (19:25):
Where it's like they could get so much relief from
the menopause symptoms if theydidn't have alcohol in their
life.
Tracey (19:32):
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lindsey (19:35):
I need to have an expert on it.
Anybody's listening.
Yeah.
For it to come on that we could.
Interview or ask questions.
Geez.
I feel like I'm going to be, Ohmy God.
It's such a big topic.
Yeah.
42 this year.
And it's Oh my God.
I really know nothing aboutthis.
(19:55):
topic and it's super trendyright now.
Like I'm seeing it.
I don't know if it's because,which is great.
I've been paying more attentionto these topics and like
interacting with things onsocial media, then it's just
feeding it to me, but I'm seeingit.
A lot of them says the topic ofmenopause
Speaker (20:11):
no, it is good that we're getting so much
information.
It would be amazing to have anexpert on.
Like I said, I took this coursein the hopes of just educating
myself so I can go through thisstage of life as healthily as
possible.
But I also took it in the hopesthat I can help other people and
not necessarily, I'm not surewhat I'm going to do with it
(20:32):
yet, if I'm going to make somesort of business or something
out of it.
But Just in general conversationwith my friends that are going
through it with you, ladies,with my sister in laws who are a
little bit younger than me andare starting to go through it,
that I can at least give themsome insight or some direction
and, know something about it.
(20:52):
Because I look at my mom and mymom is an incredible inspiration
for me.
And she's very good at sharingknowledge with me now at this
phase in her life, but shedidn't have The information
going through that phase of herlife to share with me.
So it's like now I'm sharingthings with her and she's damn
it.
I wish I knew.
I wish I knew.
(21:13):
I was going through menopause.
Kelly (21:14):
Back to you saying that you don't know what you're going
to do with this.
I think you should have aspinoff podcast and have friends
on talking about theirexperience and asking questions.
Lindsey (21:24):
Oh, I love that.
Kelly (21:25):
Since you're so good at podcasting and editing and all
that, Trace, it'd just be soeasy this time.
Speaker (21:30):
I have thought about definitely doing one, geared
around that.
I just don't, have the conceptin my mind yet and I have to
finish my course first.
Yeah.
Feel like I can add more valueas far as the topic goes.
I am definitely learning a lotand, making different choices
for myself, really payingattention to my body.
(21:51):
And I have to say, I justrecently had a conversation with
some friends saying, I am sothankful.
I'm not drinking going throughthat.
Exactly.
Lindsey (21:59):
Exactly.
And I think to talk about maybesome ways that if someone's
going to say, okay, if I'm notgoing to drink alcohol then, and
I'm feeling all these crazysymptoms and I'm really
struggling what do I do then tohelp myself?
I don't even know the answer tothat.
I think working out andespecially strength training.
Healthy life.
Kelly (22:19):
Yeah.
Healthy lifestyle.
Yeah, because Trace mentionedthe bone density or did you
somebody mentioned the bonedensity and that yeah, the
strength training and movingyour body and being strong.
Tracey (22:28):
Yeah so I want to read something interesting on that as
well that I read that.
As we age, as you guys know, andmost people know, we start to
lose muscle mass.
And apparently, alcohol too isbetter absorbed through our
muscles than it is absorbedthrough fat.
So if we have more fat and lessmuscle, then our bodies are not
Lindsey (22:53):
probably not eliminating that they're not
absorbing alcohol.
Alcohol in the same way.
Oh.
Tracey (22:58):
And that's part of the effects of us having a different
tolerance for alcohol as well.
Also, we don't have as muchwater in our body as we age, so
the alcohol isn't being diluted.
As well as it would be when wehave more water in our body.
So it puts a strain also on ourliver.
(23:18):
Our liver is going to processalcohol first because it's a
toxin.
And then that affects in turnour digestion because our
digestion is getting processedsecondary.
Lindsey (23:30):
And fat loss also, because the liver has a lot to
do with that as well but you'reright the body's number one
priority when poison enters, andthat includes alcohol, is
elimination.
That is a direct threat.
Like your body is going to stopall processes cleansing,
digestion, everything and belike intruder, we need to get
the alcohol out.
Tracey (23:51):
And it says here, alcohol interferes with the
ability to build muscle.
And it's very important as weage to keep our muscle mass
going back to exactly what Kellysaid, the bone density.
Women are at high risk forosteoarthritis going through
menopause because of the lack ofestrogen in our body.
(24:13):
So for me, I just want to speakto this for one second again,
not that I'm an expert.
I can only speak from myexperience, but for me, I just
recently made the decisionmyself to go on HRT and I made
that decision.
I don't have any breast cancerin my family, so I'm not high
risk.
A key to that is being onestrogen as well as
(24:34):
progesterone.
I'm on both.
And I made the decision to dothat for preventative reasons.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Right.
Tracey (24:40):
Because osteoarthritis runs in my family.
Joints and bones are not good inmy family genetically.
I just had a bunch of genetictesting done as well.
DNA testing.
Lindsey (24:52):
How did you get that done?
Through your family doctor orwas it something special?
Tracey (24:56):
No, I got it done through an organization that my
company backs with our healthbenefits.
I can give you the name of it.
Linds.
Yes.
But yeah, so I got that done andthat confirmed for me what I
already knew, that I don't havegood joints and bones.
Oh.
So for me, I did itpreventatively for long-term
(25:19):
care of my body so that I don'thave accelerated deterioration
of those things because I haveno estrogen left in my body.
I know that based on my bloodwork.
I just would recommend thatpeople be open to it or visit
that subject with their doctor.
For me, it did make a bigdifference in my symptoms.
It has really helped with a lotof the symptomatic stuff I was
(25:42):
having.
I'm not having hot flashes ornight sweats.
It's helped with some otherareas.
My sleep has been good.
From my experience, I wouldrecommend it, but you need to
talk to your doctor and figureout what's best for you or
naturopath or whoever yeah.
Yeah.
And you know what?
Speaking to that and what youmentioned earlier, though,
(26:03):
Linds, there are a lot ofhealthcare providers in Ontario.
I'm not sure what it's like inWinnipeg, or Manitoba, but in
Ontario, there's not a lot ofhealth practitioners that do
HRT.
There's people going to specialclinics that specialize in
hormones and having to pay forit.
Paying thousands of dollars toget it because they can't get it
(26:25):
through their family doctor.
Lindsey (26:26):
Wow.
Tracey (26:28):
So I was very fortunate that my family doctor has a
nurse practitioner that actuallyworked with a hormone doctor.
Lindsey (26:35):
Wow.
Tracey (26:36):
Before she started working with my doctor.
She was well versed in it.
So I got a lot of good guidancethere.
But what I know from my ownresearch and what I learned from
her.
Was that the benefits far away.
the risks, the risks,
Lindsey (26:51):
the risks.
I've heard that a lot too.
I think there's a lot ofdebunking happening right now
around HRT, at the end of theday, yeah, you got to make that
appointment with your doctor andyou've got to do what's right
for you and your body.
You have to weigh the risk andbenefits
Kelly (27:08):
and use your intuition.
And if you don't like what yourdoctor says, go and see another
doctor.
Lindsey (27:13):
That's a really good point.
Kelly (27:14):
Yeah,
Speaker (27:15):
I wanted to bring that up too, because we're speaking
of relief.
That can be a relief of a lot ofthe symptoms without utilizing
something like alcohol.
And I am not an advocate forprescription medication, okay?
I would not go on it if I didn'thave to.
That's just my personalpreference.
The only reason why I'm on HRTis because it is something
(27:37):
naturally that our bodyproduces.
That we are lacking that we needto put back into our body if
possible, because it issomething that naturally our
body needs and should have.
And that is one of the reasonswhy I'm doing it.
Kelly (27:52):
Just going back to the intuition, we know our bodies,
even though it's all a mystery,we're not really sure what's
going on.
And if something doesn't feelright, I know somebody that is
taking HRT right now.
It's not a woman.
So it's somebody takingtestosterone and their doctor
would not listen to them.
I don't feel right.
And the range, like if you lookinto the blood work of how they
(28:15):
test these things, the rangesare huge.
Lindsey (28:18):
Of course.
Yeah.
Kelly (28:19):
So we have to be advocates for ourselves.
Talk to our friends, read thestudies that you looked up,
Linz, and things like that.
We really have to be our ownadvocates and not just walk into
a doctor's office blindly andsay help me I don't feel good,
we got to really advocate forourselves too, I feel like when
we started talking about thisand some of the symptoms, I feel
(28:39):
like I went through a stage andit wasn't hormonal.
But I knew there was somethingwrong with me and I was
experiencing anxiety because Ihad a autoimmune disease and I
can't tell you how many doctorsjust wanted to write me a
prescription for antidepressant.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Right.
Kelly (28:56):
Yeah, they didn't want to look into it.
So just be careful and advocatefor yourself.
Yeah,
Tracey (29:03):
absolutely.
Yeah.
Kelly (29:04):
There's doctors that don't even breed up on this
stuff and don't know what's new.
Lindsey (29:08):
That's the thing,
Kelly (29:09):
right?
And then there's some like yournurse practitioner, Trace that's
wonderful that you found her,that she's up on everything and
knows what's going on.
Tracey (29:17):
But she's also, and so is my doctor.
They work very well inconjunction with each other
because they're both aligned inhow they see things, but they're
both very open to naturalproducts.
They're both very open to,absolutely do more research on
it.
If they recommend something,they'll say.
Do your own research on it.
Kelly (29:37):
That's good.
Yeah.
Tracey (29:38):
You know so they're not saying they're the experts and
the buck stops with them type ofthing.
Which I think is important aswell.
Exactly what you're saying, Kel,cause you can get misguided if
somebody really is stuck in theidea of that.
They're the expert and you needto listen to them.
Yeah.
You need to do what's right foryou.
(29:58):
You're right, Kel.
Exactly.
And to me, this was a decisionthat felt right for me, like I
said, more so preventatively forfuture.
That's really good that you'reable to do that testing.
For sure.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
And that's something I wouldrecommend too.
If you have the ability, you'regoing to have to pay for it in
most cases, but if you have themeans, it's definitely
(30:19):
worthwhile because it gives youan opportunity to look at
things.
From the perspective of you canbe preventative with your
health.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really good.
Yeah.
Very empowering.
Self empowering.
As far as relief goes, goingback to that and not utilizing
alcohol, again, you have to makethose adjustments.
(30:40):
Just like we say with anything,when you're giving up alcohol,
you have to make those lifestyleadjustments, right?
You need to look at, startpaying attention to your body.
For me, I didn't just stopdrinking alcohol.
I've really adjusted my diet,especially in the last, since I
had the DNA testing for sure.
But especially in the last, saysix months, because I realized
(31:03):
and I noticed things aren'tagreeing with my body.
Because the other thing is thatyou're going to have an increase
of inflammation based on what'shappening with your hormones.
If you're drinking, theinflammation is going to be
worse.
Way worse.
Yes.
Inflammation.
So inflammation.
Let's talk about that.
One thing I want to mention thatpeople may not realize because I
(31:25):
didn't realize it.
Okay.
But one of the biggest symptomsI had was joints.
Yeah.
Speaker (31:31):
So I literally was feeling great turned 47 and all
of a sudden, like my body justfelt like my joints were achy
all the time out of nowhere.
It's like my body just turned apage, right?
So for me, and I'm someone who'sreally active, that feels really
challenging That could bedepressing in itself.
(31:51):
Exactly.
Exactly.
If you are feeling like you'rehaving joint issues, or if you
don't have good joints to beginwith, then that may be affected.
There's something called frozenshoulder.
Kelly (32:04):
Yes.
Tracey (32:05):
That I didn't know about.
Okay.
I 100 percent had that.
Something was happening with myshoulder.
I was going to The chiropractorgetting all this work done on my
shoulder had no idea about thiswhole frozen shoulder thing.
It's an actual thing and asymptom of perimenopause or
menopause.
Wait, okay, what, okay, tell meabout it.
(32:25):
Maybe I have to Basically you'reYour joint like locks up almost
on you.
You lose movement.
in your shoulder, basically.
That's crazy.
That's interesting though.
I didn't know that the frozenshoulder is part of this
menopause.
Sheesh.
Yeah, you can look it up, butsomebody I follow and who is an
amazing expert on menopause, andI highly recommend check her
(32:49):
out.
Her name's Dr.
Mary Claire Haver.
you can follow her anywhere,Instagram, TikTok she has her
own website.
She created the Galveston Diet.
She has a book too.
Mary, what?
Mary Claire vaber.
She was a OBGYN.
It's just Dr.
Mary Claire on Instagram, buther profile says, yeah, she's
(33:13):
cute.
She's got like a.
A sweatshirt and glasses.
1.
5 million followers.
Speaker (33:19):
Yeah, I'll put all her info in our show notes, but she
just came out with a new bookcalled The New Menopause.
Kelly (33:27):
That's what I feel like I need.
It's just like a book, like agood book, that's gonna
Speaker (33:31):
Yeah, and she created the Galveston diet, which is a
nutritional program you canfollow during menopause.
So it's just really dialing inyour nutrition.
There's certain supplements thatare really key to us when we're
going through menopause that sherecommends.
She's got her own line ofsupplements, but fiber is very
important.
So again, if you want to treatsymptoms and not use alcohol.
(33:55):
Make sure you're takingsupplements that are going to be
key to making your body feelgood and that you're making sure
that you're recouping what we'regetting depleted of.
Omega 3, that's very importantas well.
Vitamin D3.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yes.
Vitamin B12.
That's very good for mood,right, Linz?
Magnesium.
Apparently I take the liquidionic magnesium and take it
before bedtime.
That's supposed to actually helpyou with sleep as well.
Yeah.
Magnesium.
I think women tend to bedeficient.
Kelly (34:28):
Yes, I think everybody is actually because of the soil
that our food is grown in.
I believe that's one of theminerals that we're.
Yeah.
Tracey (34:35):
There's other supplements.
Definitely.
You can look into that supporthormones, I hear a lot about a
product called DIM.
That's what I take.
I take that too.
Yeah.
Dim 200.
That's supposed to help.
I don't know.
I have never taken it.
The other thing my doctorrecommended was a supplement
called adrenal chill.
(34:56):
Okay.
Yes.
because of cortisol our adrenalscan get really fatigued.
That's another one.
But yeah
Kelly (35:03):
I look at all the supplements I take and I'm like,
okay, why am I taking this oneagain?
I have to do like a rehaul.
Lindsey (35:11):
I have so many supplements that I take every
day.
Richard's I don't think you evenneed to eat today, babe.
You got all the nutrients.
I'm like,
Kelly (35:19):
the amount of supplements and then the amount of stuff
that I put in our smoothie inthe morning, all these like
wheatgrass and like dandelion,
Lindsey (35:26):
all the things like, I don't know,
Kelly (35:31):
but I still want to learn more.
Yeah, I'm always interestedbecause it always changes,
right?
Like always find out somethingnew, something that could help
us with this or that, or, butspecifically for menopause, that
can be really helpful.
Tracey (35:44):
I think you have to change your supplements and gear
your supplements to whateveryou're challenged with and what
phase you are in life, right?
Lindsey (35:53):
That's really true about supplements.
It's not just a one and done foreverybody.
You have to really pay attentionto how you're feeling.
Speaker (36:00):
And of course there's some staples like, Omega 3,
Vitamin D.
Everybody should be taking that.
That's a given.
The other thing to rememberabout supplements is they take a
bit to get in your system,right?
So give them a chance.
Lindsey (36:14):
Yeah.
Tracey (36:15):
Another one that's good for anxiety and sleeping if you
take it before bed is GABA.
Okay.
Ooh.
I'm telling you, I don't know ifI've told you guys this before,
but my magic thing that I love,and I tell anybody who will
listen, is my 20 milligrams ofCBD that I take every day.
Lindsey (36:34):
Wow.
Kelly (36:35):
It is, I'm telling you, I take it in the morning and I do
have the achiness.
Sometimes I think it's more myage and what I do with my body.
But yes, I get the muscle achesand things like that.
A little bit of joint pain.
Mood.
I do still get my period so likecramps and stuff like that.
And 20 milligrams is not a lotat all.
So some people might need totake a little bit more.
(36:57):
If I've got like crampy periodstuff, I'll take another 20
milligrams before I go to bed.
But.
I'm telling you, it's goodstuff.
I don't know about in the US.
I don't know if it's easy to buyin Canada here.
We can buy it on any corner, butI'm really grateful that I found
that.
If anybody's looking forsomething like that, if like
he's a little bit of anxiety,things like that,
Lindsey (37:19):
it's worth a try for sure.
It's worth it.
Kelly (37:21):
Yeah, it's natural.
And we have a system in our bodythat works with it.
Tracey (37:25):
And you said, Kel, that you hadn't experienced a lot of
symptoms, so maybe that's why.
Maybe, based on some of yourchoices already,
Kelly (37:33):
like I'm not going to change anything.
Lindsey (37:35):
No, don't.
Tracey (37:35):
Yeah.
Lindsey (37:35):
Don't change it.
Kelly (37:36):
Okay, my question, I have a question.
Can anybody get through thisunscathed?
Lindsey (37:41):
I'm scared.
I'm shit scared.
I'm not going to lie.
Kelly (37:44):
But I'm good.
I'm saying so Trace, you said.
Menopause from 48 to 52.
I'm almost 50.
I'm almost 50.
I did, I had some pretty nastyhot flashes in my early forties
and I do believe, I was tryingto remember, I believe it was
after I quit drinking at 43.
Oh.
But anyway, I went foracupuncture for that, and that
was really helpful for me.
(38:05):
I had terible Night Sweats and Iwent for regular acupuncture in
that.
Lindsey (38:08):
I get night sweats and I'm like, just try acupuncture
or as it, I'm like every fourmonths weird fucking little
symptoms.
I'm like.
Kelly (38:19):
But anyway, so yeah, my question is is it possible that
I could get through that otherthan my forgetfulness, which I
can't remember.
Oh, that's a brain fog.
It's a, I don't feel like Ibrain fog cause I've gone
through that before, but yeah,but I don't remember.
Lindsey (38:35):
I'm going to watch whatever you do and I'm just
like, you're taking this and
Kelly (38:41):
we both take the dim.
Lindsey (38:42):
Yeah, DIM is amazing.
Kelly (38:44):
I'm just gonna keep taking that.
Lindsey (38:45):
It works with hormones.
Yes.
I think specifically estrogenand it's a supplement that you
can buy over the counter if ourlisteners are like, what's dim?
Kelly (38:54):
Yeah.
Mine's dim 200.
I get it on Amazon.
Tracey (38:58):
Do your research.
Do your research.
We are not experts.
Not experts.
Do your research on CBD.
I'm not prescribing you all CBD.
Lindsey (39:07):
No, yeah.
Definitely make sure if you'retaking any medications that
there's no contractions.
Talk to your doctor.
We're not doctors.
Kelly (39:14):
This is all our disclaimer.
Lindsey (39:16):
As we were chatting here, I got really quiet because
I was looking at Dr.
Marie Claire's Instagram, butokay, listen to this post.
Can I read this?
This freaks me out.
Okay.
There are estrogen receptorsthroughout almost every organ
system in your body.
And as your levels drop, thesecells begin to lose their
ability to assist in maintainingyour health in other areas,
(39:39):
including your heart, cognitivefunction, bone integrity, and
blood sugar balance.
Ugh.
Speaker (39:46):
Yeah sorry, that was something I wanted to say that I
had as a point here too whenKelly was talking about brain
fog, ladies.
Decline in cognitive function asour brains are more vulnerable
with less estrogen in ourbodies.
Lindsey (40:01):
I feel like that is happening to me as we speak.
I always joke that I haveAlzheimer's and I'm like, this
isn't funny anymore.
Oh my god.
Tracey (40:11):
And you know what We already know that alcohol also
affects the brain, so again,double whammy if you're, feeling
like you're forgetful and yourbrain's being affected by you're
lowering estrogen and thenyou're drinking alcohol on top
of that, not good.
What I find is thatenergetically, I find I'm
(40:33):
challenged.
My energy levels aren't the sameas what they used to be.
I can get tired out.
Like I have a hard timephysically pushing myself in
exercise.
Mind you, they say that youshould also change your
exercise, right?
Because we don't want to pushourselves at this stage of life
with exercise because that canincrease our cortisol.
(40:55):
You want to do your research andlook into, if you are constantly
pushing yourself at the gym, ifyou're a gym goer, an exerciser,
and you're not feeling good, allof a sudden, that might be a
sign that you need to adjustyour workout because you might
be actually affecting otherthings in your body that you
don't realize that are moresensitive as you go through
perimetopause and menopause.
Kelly (41:17):
Yeah, intuitively, I've been really trying to tune into
my body, rather than everysingle day, go and do the hot
flow yoga, like some days I'llgo to a hot flow class, but I'll
just roll around on my mat andstretch out my hips and my
shoulders.
Yeah, like I'm really trying totune into that.
I'm feeling a real call to slowdown.
Speaker (41:36):
That's like me too, Kel, and I would say that's
probably one of the best piecesof advice I could give anybody
is start really listening toyour body when you're eating
stuff, pay attention to how youfeel after you eat, like that
was a big thing for me withadjusting my diet.
I'm gluten sensitive.
I knew that basically just basedon how I feel when I eat gluten,
(41:57):
but I was confirmed that againthrough my DNA testing.
Kelly (42:01):
You're like damn it Yeah, I'm like, okay.
Yeah.
That's why I want to take a napif I friggin eat pasta bread in
the afternoon like that's why Ifeel tired and lethargic or
bloated or whatever, right?
You bake trace I'm not much of abaker.
Okay.
I was going to say try spelt,try spelt flour.
I was always scared.
(42:21):
I've been gluten free.
I'm allergic to wheat.
So I've been gluten free for 17years.
And, I've heard that in thepast, like you could maybe
tolerate spelt, but I was justtoo scared because I know how it
used to be.
But I just recently tried speltflour and I'm okay with it.
So it makes me very happy.
Tracey (42:39):
Yeah.
I've had store bought speltbefore.
In the past, when I've beendoing a cleanse or something,
yeah, where you couldn't havegluten, I've had it, but I've
never tried to make it myself.
Yeah, it's good.
Yeah, it's good.
That's good to know.
Yeah, so I'd say just reallylisten to your body, but I think
all in all.
(42:59):
You are not doing yourself anyfavors if you're going through
this stage of life and you'resuffering with symptoms if
you're continuing to consumealcohol.
Yeah.
Speaker (43:08):
I think there's a lot of evidence to that.
And again, that's a payattention to your body.
Have a drink and see how youfeel opposed to how you feel
when you're not drinking.
Kelly (43:18):
Yeah.
Take a couple of weeks off andjust those symptoms are like, we
write it down have a littlediary for two weeks before you
get up and two weeks after andsee what it says.
Yeah, I'm sure it will be verytelling.
Tracey (43:32):
And I think like, all other things.
There can be a lot of relief andpower and, doing some breathing
techniques getting out in thefresh air, go for a walk, if you
are feeling fatigued or not veryenergized, like I do some days,
just go for a walk.
If you don't muster the energyto go for a workout or go to the
(43:52):
gym just go for a walk in thefresh air being out in nature
and then at least you feel likeyou're moving your body and I do
feel like it re energizes me.
Kelly (44:01):
Yeah, I feel like, yeah, tuning into our bodies and
educating ourselves on all ofthis and learning more about it.
I think we'll take away thatsense of dread because it sounds
like to me, when some peopletalk about it, it's like a
victim mentality.
Lindsey (44:13):
Yes.
Kelly (44:14):
Oh my God, this is happening to me.
You have no control over it.
I know.
And I don't think it has to belike, I
Lindsey (44:21):
don't buy it.
I think
Kelly (44:22):
we can do things.
Lindsey (44:24):
I feel like that for a lot of things in life.
There's a lot of victimmentality.
Kelly (44:29):
What are you putting in your body?
What are you putting in yourbody?
Lindsey (44:32):
What are you putting in garbage out?
I really just think we can dobetter and we're going to get
through this.
I feel the best I've ever feltin my entire life in my early
40s.
I think it has a lot to do withnot drinking alcohol.
This December is going to be 5years for me.
And I'm like, what the hell?
Like, How can that even be?
I think it has a lot to do withnot drinking alcohol, that was
(44:55):
just the springboard for a lotof these habits that I've
developed and things that I'veditched and just feeling good
and I honestly just can'timagine going back and
especially going into menopause,like that's the next big thing
in life for me, right?
And I'm just like, I don't know.
Oh really scared of it.
And I don't really know what toexpect.
Kelly (45:15):
I don't think you need to be Linds.
Lindsey (45:18):
I don't know.
I don't think you need to be
Kelly (45:20):
scared.
I
Lindsey (45:21):
think for me, hormone stuff has always triggered major
anxiety, not depression, justanxiety, like crazy and not
drinking.
I've noticed a huge change.
In that feeling.
Yeah, just knowing that, duringmenopause, sometimes anxiety and
depression can be a result ofchanging hormone levels,
decreasing I'm definitely notgoing to drink through it and I
(45:43):
feel sad that women Feel theneed to reach for alcohol to try
to get relief from the symptomsthat we have.
There's a better way, Yeah.
we have to all rally around eachother and we're gonna get
through this together.
Kelly (45:56):
Yes.
Yeah.
And it doesn't have to be likethis terrible, dreadful, awful
thing.
Let's let it be a reason why weall bond together even more.
Yeah.
And have these conversations andempower ourselves with all this.
Tracey (46:09):
I did want to state one other stat that I was reading,
that in 2023, it was reported 85percent of women were
complaining about perimenopauseand menopause symptoms.
Kelly (46:21):
Complaining.
Okay, so there's a culture.
85%.
Yeah, you can understand whythere's been so much awareness
and traction gained on thissubject because pretty much the
bulk of our population is at theage that they're going through
this phase of life andexperiencing these things.
(46:41):
But do we need to go through itcomplaining, or do we need to
support each other and yeah.
Speaker (46:47):
As a woman, empower yourself.
By learning, by doing yourresearch, understanding the
phase of life that your body isgoing through, and you're going
to go through it so much better.
Kelly (46:59):
Alcohol free.
Tracey (47:00):
Yes.
Start with that.
Start with that.
Anyways, I think that was apretty good conversation.
Kelly (47:07):
It helped me a lot.
I hope it helped some listeners.
I feel better.
I feel empowered.
I feel less nervous about thewhole thing.
Yeah.
Tracey (47:17):
As I learn more, I'll share more.
We'll have to do another episodeas I.
Yes.
And then we will tune into moreinformation.
I love it.
Thanks girls.
Kelly (47:29):
You're welcome.
Thank you guys.
Lindsey (47:32):
Thank you so much everybody, for listening today.
Don't forget to check us out onInstagram at LAF Life Podcast
and also on our website,laflifepodcast.com.
PS if you are.
Are a menopause expert.
We would love to have you on ourshow.
So fill out our guest form.
(47:52):
You can head on over to ourwebsite laflifepodcast.com we'd
love to hear from you.
If you think this would helpsomebody do us a favor, share
it, you never know whose lifeyou might be changing.
We're going to see you back herenext Tuesday with a brand new
episode.
So until then.
You guys know what to do.
Keep laughing.
Kelly (48:12):
Thank you for listening.
Please give us a five starrating like and subscribe, share
on social media and tell yourfriends.
We love getting your feedbackand ideas of what you'd like to
hear on upcoming episodes of theLAF life podcast.
If you yourself are livingalcohol free and want to share
your story here, please reachout.
Welcome to the LAF life podcast, a lifestyle podcast
based on living alcohol free anda booze soaked world.
My name is Kelly Evans andtogether with my friends, Tracey
Djordjevic, and Lindsey Harik.
We share uncensored.
Unscripted real conversationsabout what our lives have been
like since we ditched alcoholand how we got here by sharing
(00:24):
our individual stories.
We'll show you that there isn'tjust one way to do this, no
matter where you are on yourjourney from sober, curious to
years in recovery and everyonein between, you are welcome
here, no judgment and a ton ofsupport.
Tracey (00:40):
Hello, everyone welcome back to the LAF life podcast.
This is season three and episode27.
We're getting Yeah, we'regetting to the end of the season
here.
We have a really exciting andinteresting topic tonight.
We're going to stick withalcohol, but veer, of course,
and hopefully talk aboutsomething that I think is really
(01:02):
relatable to definitely thethree of us in this season.
And I think to a lot of ourfemale listeners if you're one
of our male listeners, you mightwant to tune out, but you might
want to tune in there and careabout some lovely lady in your
life and want to have a betterunderstanding of, what we have
to go through.
We are actually going to talkabout menopause and alcohol the
(01:24):
effects alcohol can have on awoman when she is going through
perimenopause, menopause, andpost menopausal stage of life.
To start off, I think we need totalk a little bit about what is
menopause for anybody out there.
Lindsey (01:40):
I was like, what the hell happens to us during
menopause?
I'm like, what happens with ourhormones?
They go up and they go down,which hormones are involved?
I had to Google it just nowbefore we hit record because I
didn't even know.
Tracey (01:52):
I want to start off too by saying we are by no means
doctors or experts here, people.
Okay.
We are only going to speak basedon things we've learned or
researched or our personalexperiences and just things
we've heard by doing our ownresearch or listening to other
experts in the field about thesubject.
(02:13):
It's more like a hot topic rightnow that we wanted to explore.
I'm glad that it's such a hottopic.
I'm really glad that people aretalking about it in our age
group.
There's such an awareness ofwhat is going on?
And Trace, you're taking acourse.
Tell us about that.
Speaker (02:30):
Yeah.
So I am taking a menopausecoaching course, which I'm very
excited about I'm taking it atmy own pace, but it was
something that I decided acouple months back.
I wanted to start because I'mactually post menopausal at a
very young age younger than theaverage anyways, I've been in
menopause for two years now,actually.
I wanted to learn about thisphase of life so I can go
(02:53):
through it as healthily aspossible and really understand
what my body's going through.
I know my mom, and I thinkgenetics is a big factor really
struggled with a lot of things.
And unfortunately, when she wentthrough it, not all this
knowledge was out there.
So I agree, Kel, I think it'samazing that we're getting this
awareness and we're getting allthis information and it's being
(03:15):
highlighted because it's such ahuge Part of a woman's life, and
it's a good portion of ourlives, something that we don't
realize that this is somethingthat we're going to be going
through for most the later halfof our life.
To go back to what menopause is,there's really three phases,
perimenopause, which can startas early as in your thirties,
(03:37):
but is typically in the fortiesfor women.
And that's when, like you weresaying, Linz, hormones basically
start to decrease your sexhormones.
So estrogen and progesterone,Okay.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Progesterone?
Progesterone.
Progesterone.
Tracey (03:53):
I know.
That one's a tough one, isn'tit?
I've had a hard time with thatone.
Lindsey (04:00):
I love it.
Speaker (04:02):
So yes, the production of your sex hormones starts to
decrease.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Those hormones.
Yeah.
Speaker (04:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah.
Tracey (04:11):
I believe testosterone is included in that too.
Lindsey (04:14):
I think you're right.
affected as well.
The interesting thing though inperimenopause, they can also
spike, like estrogen can spike.
So there's a lot of fluctuationbasically during perimenopause.
And that's basically your bodypreparing itself for menopause.
What menopause is actually whenyou have gone a complete year
(04:34):
without your period.
Oh,
Speaker (04:36):
during that time is menopause.
And you have to have a completeyear without your period.
Then once you have completedthat year, your body's pretty
much depleted of those hormones.
And then you're post metaposal.
Lindsey (04:54):
Oh,
Tracey (04:54):
That's what I am now.
Because two years ago, Ifinished my period and I haven't
had one for two years.
Oh, I've been post metaposal nowfor two years.
And I'm not even 50
Kelly (05:05):
age range for those last two years trace.
The average age for menopausefor most women is 51.
Oh, really?
But it can range between 48 and52.
is the median.
Interesting.
So
Lindsey (05:18):
look forward to, right?
Yeah.
Going to relate this all toalcohol.
So don't think oh my God, whatare these girls doing?
What are they talking about?
But yeah, this is going to beinteresting.
Tracey (05:30):
So I just want to show you girls something and I can
maybe put this up as part ofour, marketing for this episode,
but see this diagram here.
Lindsey (05:38):
Yeah.
Speaker (05:39):
This is all the areas of the woman's body that is
affected by the decrease inthose hormones.
Estrogen, especially.
Lindsey (05:47):
Oh my gosh, it's like the whole, basically you just
took your whole body, the wholebody basically, just highlight
the whole thing.
Tracey (05:53):
So when my child and my partner are harassing me about
certain things, just show themthat picture, I just throw this
picture in their face and say,see this is what's happening to
me, leave me alone.
Yes, that's why I'm peeing allthe time.
Kelly (06:10):
But there's such a there's such a, I would say fear
around it and like that sense ofdread there's a negative feeling
around it.
But I feel like with all of thistalk and educating ourselves and
the fact that it is so much moreawareness around it that
hopefully it's going to takeaway all of that and be like,
okay, yeah, this is what'shappening with my body.
I understand, we can all educateourselves.
Tracey (06:32):
It's like alcohol, right?
There's a lot of stigmas aroundit.
Right.
Speaker (06:36):
But basically during this whole phase of our life,
because of the decrease inestrogen, estrogen is very
dominant in us as women.
Yeah.
And it contributes to thefunctioning of so many things in
our bodies.
So because it's decreasing andwe're losing that over time,
that's what causes all thesesymptoms that we start to have
(06:57):
during perimetopause and theninto metapause.
And this is a long stage oflife.
Post menopause is for the restof your life.
That doesn't mean you're goingto have symptoms for the rest of
your life.
They say symptoms usually last.
About 10 years.
So 10 years, 10 years after, No,if you include perimenopause
(07:19):
Okay kay, so 10 years total,usually about 10 years that you
can have symptoms is theaverage.
And certain things will stopafter.
A certain amount of time, intopost menopause, hot flashes and
stuff can stop those don't tendto continue.
But there's other things thatcontinue to deteriorate more
rapidly because you're inmenopause and because you've
(07:42):
lost estrogen, like your bonedensity.
That's why we're moresusceptible to ortho arthritis
and stuff like that.
If you can imagine all thosesymptoms that we're having.
Alcohol, if you're drinkingduring perimenopause, menopause,
postmenopause, and you're havingsymptoms, alcohol is going to
(08:02):
exasperate all those symptoms,because a lot of those symptoms
that we have are You alreadyhave when you're drinking
alcohol as well.
So you're going to have them.
Lindsey (08:11):
Alcohol affects hormones.
There's a lot of researchonline, PubMed articles and
studies that show that there's adirect link to the consumption
of alcohol and hormone levels inthe female body.
This is crazy, but I read today.
One study actually suggested,and this is a 2022 study the
(08:34):
author is Gil Jay, and it'scalled The Effects of Moderate
Alcohol Consumption on FemaleHormone Levels and Reproductive
Function.
It suggests that moderatedrinking could lead to early
menopause.
What the hell?
Tracey (08:47):
Again, I think alcohol is creating some of those
symptoms as it is.
So I think as our hormoneschange, definitely we probably
start feeling those feelingsmore intensely and we don't even
know what's happening.
Like I didn't know I was inperimetopause.
When I was going through it butlooking back now and I was
saying to you girls before wepress play here that looking
(09:10):
back now I was at the peak of mydrinking during perimenopause,
right before I startedmenopause.
Lindsey (09:17):
Yeah,
Tracey (09:18):
so I quit drinking at 46 and I stopped getting my period
at 47.
Lindsey (09:23):
Oh, okay.
That time period completely andI would say definitely I could
see how the effects of alcoholwere increasing my symptoms.
That's what it does.
Yeah.
Some of the things they say thathappen with alcohol, like
tolerance.
Definitely.
My tolerance was changing andjust similar to what you guys
(09:46):
have experienced too.
And maybe now you would thinkthe same.
It might have been more hormonerelated, just having less
tolerance.
Also.
For a long time, I was a redwine drinker and then I couldn't
drink red wine anymore becauseit was disrupting my sleep.
It was giving me like dullheadaches and stuff like that.
And it seemed like it came outof nowhere, but it was probably
(10:07):
hormone related because it wasright along that same time
period in my life.
But yeah, basically alcohol.
Is going to disrupt your sleep.
It does anyways, and as we gothrough menopause, that is one
of the biggest issues that womenhave and complain about is
having trouble with sleep.
(10:27):
Right?
Tracey (10:28):
And we all know how important sleep is to our
health.
Lindsey (10:31):
So important
Tracey (10:32):
and the recovery of our body, right?
Your challenge with sleeping andthat becomes an issue during
perimenopause.
And then you're drinking on topof that?
Yeah.
It's like double whammy.
Lindsey (10:42):
Well, a lot of women say they need to have a drink in
order to fall asleep.
Yeah.
Wine.
Kelly (10:47):
For relief, from all these symptoms, the symptoms are
draining on them that they'returning to alcohol for some
relief without knowing all ofwhat you just mentioned, what it
does to us.
And our hormones.
Tracey (11:01):
What were you reading about there, Linz, about women
and utilizing it for relief?
Okay.
Lindsey (11:08):
Yeah, I was looking online today.
So there was a survey done andmind you, this was in the UK,
but it was quite recent.
1200 perimenopausal andmenopausal women participated in
it, and it was conducted byNewsome Health Group.
It indicates.
That 1 in 3 women, so that's 33percent drink more since
(11:30):
becoming perimenopausal ormenopausal.
And on top of that, 1 in 8 areconsuming more alcohol than is
recommended.
And the intake is increasing.
To alleviate the symptoms ofmenopause.
So what respondents toldsurveyors for example, this one
woman was saying she usedalcohol to cheer herself up
(11:51):
during this time.
But then she found out that thewine was keeping her awake and
she was getting palpitations andnight sweats and she goes, I
don't get these if I don't havethe wine.
So it's like you think it's themenopause or the perimenopause,
you feel like you're starting itand now you're adding wine into
(12:11):
that.
Another woman was saying, I selfmedicated to the point of
addiction.
I've suffered many symptoms at43 years old, night sweats,
anxiety, and depression.
I couldn't cope.
So I drank.
I drank.
And then
Kelly (12:25):
heartbreaking,
Lindsey (12:26):
it's heartbreaking and several women are describing
alcohol as an escape.
It's a way to manage thesymptoms of menopause because of
the lack of access to menopausetreatments.
And Just feeling like theyneeded relief.
Menopause and perimenopause isdriving women to drink, which is
really scary.
Kelly (12:46):
Because I'm going to go back to what we always talk
about on here is I feel likeit's such a societal norm that
anything difficult that you'recoming across in your life, you
turn to wine.
Or you turn to alcohol.
Sorry, why that was the old me,but you turn to alcohol for
relief.
I really think it's importantthat we talk about these things
(13:07):
and learn as women, what do wedo for relief?
What's a healthy way.
And I know we're going to talkabout that in a couple episodes
from now, but it's just such anormal thing to reach for the
alcohol and we're struggling.
Tracey (13:22):
You know what I think is the most interesting thing about
you saying that Linds is thatnow looking back or if I look at
my friends in this age group,
Lindsey (13:32):
right?
Speaker (13:32):
all of them.
Their drinking started toincrease in their late thirties,
early forties.
Yeah, I can So did mine.
Kelly (13:39):
Can think some people, yeah, I can think of a handful
of people.
Lindsey (13:42):
Not crazy.
And I think if anybody had aquestion, does alcohol affect
hormones, the absolute factualanswer supported by research is
yes, it does.
And we have to really be mindfulof this.
Studies are showing and theseare from articles that you can
find online or in PubMed.
There's a direct relationship.
(14:03):
It's not may cause directrelationship between alcohol and
an increase in testosteronelevels in women.
And that like the testosteronelevel increase that leads to
changes in mood and libido.
So irritability lack of a sexdrive you're just not interested
in it anymore.
We know it affects cortisol.
(14:24):
That's a fact.
It's the stress hormone.
So people who drink regularlyhave higher cortisol levels,
Kelly (14:30):
which does what does cortisol do for us?
Lindsey (14:32):
That's the stress hormone.
So it makes you feeloverwhelmed, stressed, anxiety
anxious.
It's that very overwhelmed,irritable.
I just can't deal.
Kelly (14:42):
Yeah.
Yep.
Alcohol gives you that.
Lindsey (14:45):
Exactly.
And on top of that, alcoholconsumption is also directly
linked to lower estrogen levels.
So the decrease in estrogen isassociated with Depression and
anxiety, and it also causes anincreased risk for osteoporosis.
So if anybody's Oh, I don'treally buy this.
(15:06):
No, this is backed by research.
I was looking at an article thatwas from 1994.
94 you guys.
Wow.
And this article, get this isstating women who moderately
drink, and I'd have to go backto that article and see what
their definition of moderatedrinking was.
(15:27):
It is associated with asignificant increase in the risk
of ovulatory infertility.
And an increased risk ofendometriosis.
Oh, and I did go back.
They defined moderate drinkingas six glasses of wine a week.
I would have six glasses of wineon a weekend.
What?
(15:48):
So hormone health, if anybody'slistening, women, our female
listeners men, girlfriends,wives, your sisters, your moms,
anybody's listening, reducingalcohol should be a part of your
hormone health.
Yeah.
During this time.
Tracey (16:04):
Going back to the hormones Linz, and the sleeping.
Something I was reading aboutwas that the sleeping gets
affected because alcohol lowersour serotonin, which then in
turn lowers melatonin.
And if anybody I'm sure knowsmelatonin is the sleep hormone,
right?
That's why our sleep gets moredisrupted as well.
(16:27):
Again, hormone related and I'velistened to experts in this
category of medicine, experts inmenopause on podcasts.
I've heard doctors that areexperts in this area say that
when they went throughmenopause, it was basically, I'm
choosing wine tonight orsleeping.
Like I'm either going to have aglass of wine or I'm going to
(16:48):
sleep.
That's what it came down to.
I think that it is actuallycausing women to pause and
consider drinking less or givingup alcohol because of the way it
is affecting them or how they'refeeling drinking it during
menopause.
I think that is really goodnews.
But if you think abouteverything that it affects, even
(17:10):
so we talk about sleeping and wealready knew alcohol disrupts
our sleep without even being inmenopause or exactly.
Speaker (17:18):
But it's same with alcohol affecting our eating.
So a big complaint duringmenopause and these hormone
changes is that women gainweight all the time, right?
All the time without changinganything.
It's just that they startgaining weight and they can't
lose it.
Do you think drinking ishelping?
No, because when we drink, thenour inhibitions go down and we
(17:39):
make poor choices with ournutrition and it also affects
our activity levels and ourexercise.
That's one thing in the courseI'm taking that they talk about,
that it affects yourperformance, right?
If you're trying to exercisethen obviously if you've had a
poor night's sleep and yournutrition has been crap and then
you're trying to go to the gymthe next day and you're trying
(18:02):
to battle this hormonal weight,all those things are going to
work against you.
Lindsey (18:06):
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (18:07):
scary.
Tracey (18:08):
And the other thing is, too, if you're someone who's
going through menopause, likemyself, I'm post menopausal now
if you're considering doing HRT,hormone replacement.
Lindsey (18:20):
Right.
Tracey (18:21):
Hormone replacement does have a risk of breast cancer.
Now, not to the point that somestudies have shown and they've
actually come back and done alot of research to re neg on
those studies.
But if you're someone who ishigh risk, then you have to take
that into consideration.
But we also know that alcoholcauses breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
It's a direct cause.
Yeah.
So if
Tracey (18:44):
you're drinking and taking HRT, you could be putting
yourself at higher risk.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That's the thing.
Speaker (18:50):
So that's something to consider as well.
Lindsey (18:53):
I wonder too how many women are drinking regularly
during this stage of life.
And instead of evaluating thepossibility that it could be the
effects of alcohol are justblaming all their symptoms on
menopause.
Kelly (19:06):
That's what I'm feeling.
Yeah.
That's what I'm feeling.
If alcohol was already part oftheir life,
Lindsey (19:11):
right.
Kelly (19:13):
I feel like it could go unnoticed if they didn't know
all of this stuff.
It could go unnoticed and itcould be, Blaming it on
perimenopause or the menopause.
Lindsey (19:24):
Exactly.
Kelly (19:25):
Where it's like they could get so much relief from
the menopause symptoms if theydidn't have alcohol in their
life.
Tracey (19:32):
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lindsey (19:35):
I need to have an expert on it.
Anybody's listening.
Yeah.
For it to come on that we could.
Interview or ask questions.
Geez.
I feel like I'm going to be, Ohmy God.
It's such a big topic.
Yeah.
42 this year.
And it's Oh my God.
I really know nothing aboutthis.
(19:55):
topic and it's super trendyright now.
Like I'm seeing it.
I don't know if it's because,which is great.
I've been paying more attentionto these topics and like
interacting with things onsocial media, then it's just
feeding it to me, but I'm seeingit.
A lot of them says the topic ofmenopause
Speaker (20:11):
no, it is good that we're getting so much
information.
It would be amazing to have anexpert on.
Like I said, I took this coursein the hopes of just educating
myself so I can go through thisstage of life as healthily as
possible.
But I also took it in the hopesthat I can help other people and
not necessarily, I'm not surewhat I'm going to do with it
(20:32):
yet, if I'm going to make somesort of business or something
out of it.
But Just in general conversationwith my friends that are going
through it with you, ladies,with my sister in laws who are a
little bit younger than me andare starting to go through it,
that I can at least give themsome insight or some direction
and, know something about it.
(20:52):
Because I look at my mom and mymom is an incredible inspiration
for me.
And she's very good at sharingknowledge with me now at this
phase in her life, but shedidn't have The information
going through that phase of herlife to share with me.
So it's like now I'm sharingthings with her and she's damn
it.
I wish I knew.
I wish I knew.
(21:13):
I was going through menopause.
Kelly (21:14):
Back to you saying that you don't know what you're going
to do with this.
I think you should have aspinoff podcast and have friends
on talking about theirexperience and asking questions.
Lindsey (21:24):
Oh, I love that.
Kelly (21:25):
Since you're so good at podcasting and editing and all
that, Trace, it'd just be soeasy this time.
Speaker (21:30):
I have thought about definitely doing one, geared
around that.
I just don't, have the conceptin my mind yet and I have to
finish my course first.
Yeah.
Feel like I can add more valueas far as the topic goes.
I am definitely learning a lotand, making different choices
for myself, really payingattention to my body.
(21:51):
And I have to say, I justrecently had a conversation with
some friends saying, I am sothankful.
I'm not drinking going throughthat.
Exactly.
Lindsey (21:59):
Exactly.
And I think to talk about maybesome ways that if someone's
going to say, okay, if I'm notgoing to drink alcohol then, and
I'm feeling all these crazysymptoms and I'm really
struggling what do I do then tohelp myself?
I don't even know the answer tothat.
I think working out andespecially strength training.
Healthy life.
Kelly (22:19):
Yeah.
Healthy lifestyle.
Yeah, because Trace mentionedthe bone density or did you
somebody mentioned the bonedensity and that yeah, the
strength training and movingyour body and being strong.
Tracey (22:28):
Yeah so I want to read something interesting on that as
well that I read that.
As we age, as you guys know, andmost people know, we start to
lose muscle mass.
And apparently, alcohol too isbetter absorbed through our
muscles than it is absorbedthrough fat.
So if we have more fat and lessmuscle, then our bodies are not
Lindsey (22:53):
probably not eliminating that they're not
absorbing alcohol.
Alcohol in the same way.
Oh.
Tracey (22:58):
And that's part of the effects of us having a different
tolerance for alcohol as well.
Also, we don't have as muchwater in our body as we age, so
the alcohol isn't being diluted.
As well as it would be when wehave more water in our body.
So it puts a strain also on ourliver.
(23:18):
Our liver is going to processalcohol first because it's a
toxin.
And then that affects in turnour digestion because our
digestion is getting processedsecondary.
Lindsey (23:30):
And fat loss also, because the liver has a lot to
do with that as well but you'reright the body's number one
priority when poison enters, andthat includes alcohol, is
elimination.
That is a direct threat.
Like your body is going to stopall processes cleansing,
digestion, everything and belike intruder, we need to get
the alcohol out.
Tracey (23:51):
And it says here, alcohol interferes with the
ability to build muscle.
And it's very important as weage to keep our muscle mass
going back to exactly what Kellysaid, the bone density.
Women are at high risk forosteoarthritis going through
menopause because of the lack ofestrogen in our body.
(24:13):
So for me, I just want to speakto this for one second again,
not that I'm an expert.
I can only speak from myexperience, but for me, I just
recently made the decisionmyself to go on HRT and I made
that decision.
I don't have any breast cancerin my family, so I'm not high
risk.
A key to that is being onestrogen as well as
(24:34):
progesterone.
I'm on both.
And I made the decision to dothat for preventative reasons.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Right.
Tracey (24:40):
Because osteoarthritis runs in my family.
Joints and bones are not good inmy family genetically.
I just had a bunch of genetictesting done as well.
DNA testing.
Lindsey (24:52):
How did you get that done?
Through your family doctor orwas it something special?
Tracey (24:56):
No, I got it done through an organization that my
company backs with our healthbenefits.
I can give you the name of it.
Linds.
Yes.
But yeah, so I got that done andthat confirmed for me what I
already knew, that I don't havegood joints and bones.
Oh.
So for me, I did itpreventatively for long-term
(25:19):
care of my body so that I don'thave accelerated deterioration
of those things because I haveno estrogen left in my body.
I know that based on my bloodwork.
I just would recommend thatpeople be open to it or visit
that subject with their doctor.
For me, it did make a bigdifference in my symptoms.
It has really helped with a lotof the symptomatic stuff I was
(25:42):
having.
I'm not having hot flashes ornight sweats.
It's helped with some otherareas.
My sleep has been good.
From my experience, I wouldrecommend it, but you need to
talk to your doctor and figureout what's best for you or
naturopath or whoever yeah.
Yeah.
And you know what?
Speaking to that and what youmentioned earlier, though,
(26:03):
Linds, there are a lot ofhealthcare providers in Ontario.
I'm not sure what it's like inWinnipeg, or Manitoba, but in
Ontario, there's not a lot ofhealth practitioners that do
HRT.
There's people going to specialclinics that specialize in
hormones and having to pay forit.
Paying thousands of dollars toget it because they can't get it
(26:25):
through their family doctor.
Lindsey (26:26):
Wow.
Tracey (26:28):
So I was very fortunate that my family doctor has a
nurse practitioner that actuallyworked with a hormone doctor.
Lindsey (26:35):
Wow.
Tracey (26:36):
Before she started working with my doctor.
She was well versed in it.
So I got a lot of good guidancethere.
But what I know from my ownresearch and what I learned from
her.
Was that the benefits far away.
the risks, the risks,
Lindsey (26:51):
the risks.
I've heard that a lot too.
I think there's a lot ofdebunking happening right now
around HRT, at the end of theday, yeah, you got to make that
appointment with your doctor andyou've got to do what's right
for you and your body.
You have to weigh the risk andbenefits
Kelly (27:08):
and use your intuition.
And if you don't like what yourdoctor says, go and see another
doctor.
Lindsey (27:13):
That's a really good point.
Kelly (27:14):
Yeah,
Speaker (27:15):
I wanted to bring that up too, because we're speaking
of relief.
That can be a relief of a lot ofthe symptoms without utilizing
something like alcohol.
And I am not an advocate forprescription medication, okay?
I would not go on it if I didn'thave to.
That's just my personalpreference.
The only reason why I'm on HRTis because it is something
(27:37):
naturally that our bodyproduces.
That we are lacking that we needto put back into our body if
possible, because it issomething that naturally our
body needs and should have.
And that is one of the reasonswhy I'm doing it.
Kelly (27:52):
Just going back to the intuition, we know our bodies,
even though it's all a mystery,we're not really sure what's
going on.
And if something doesn't feelright, I know somebody that is
taking HRT right now.
It's not a woman.
So it's somebody takingtestosterone and their doctor
would not listen to them.
I don't feel right.
And the range, like if you lookinto the blood work of how they
(28:15):
test these things, the rangesare huge.
Lindsey (28:18):
Of course.
Yeah.
Kelly (28:19):
So we have to be advocates for ourselves.
Talk to our friends, read thestudies that you looked up,
Linz, and things like that.
We really have to be our ownadvocates and not just walk into
a doctor's office blindly andsay help me I don't feel good,
we got to really advocate forourselves too, I feel like when
we started talking about thisand some of the symptoms, I feel
(28:39):
like I went through a stage andit wasn't hormonal.
But I knew there was somethingwrong with me and I was
experiencing anxiety because Ihad a autoimmune disease and I
can't tell you how many doctorsjust wanted to write me a
prescription for antidepressant.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Right.
Kelly (28:56):
Yeah, they didn't want to look into it.
So just be careful and advocatefor yourself.
Yeah,
Tracey (29:03):
absolutely.
Yeah.
Kelly (29:04):
There's doctors that don't even breed up on this
stuff and don't know what's new.
Lindsey (29:08):
That's the thing,
Kelly (29:09):
right?
And then there's some like yournurse practitioner, Trace that's
wonderful that you found her,that she's up on everything and
knows what's going on.
Tracey (29:17):
But she's also, and so is my doctor.
They work very well inconjunction with each other
because they're both aligned inhow they see things, but they're
both very open to naturalproducts.
They're both very open to,absolutely do more research on
it.
If they recommend something,they'll say.
Do your own research on it.
Kelly (29:37):
That's good.
Yeah.
Tracey (29:38):
You know so they're not saying they're the experts and
the buck stops with them type ofthing.
Which I think is important aswell.
Exactly what you're saying, Kel,cause you can get misguided if
somebody really is stuck in theidea of that.
They're the expert and you needto listen to them.
Yeah.
You need to do what's right foryou.
(29:58):
You're right, Kel.
Exactly.
And to me, this was a decisionthat felt right for me, like I
said, more so preventatively forfuture.
That's really good that you'reable to do that testing.
For sure.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
And that's something I wouldrecommend too.
If you have the ability, you'regoing to have to pay for it in
most cases, but if you have themeans, it's definitely
(30:19):
worthwhile because it gives youan opportunity to look at
things.
From the perspective of you canbe preventative with your
health.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really good.
Yeah.
Very empowering.
Self empowering.
As far as relief goes, goingback to that and not utilizing
alcohol, again, you have to makethose adjustments.
(30:40):
Just like we say with anything,when you're giving up alcohol,
you have to make those lifestyleadjustments, right?
You need to look at, startpaying attention to your body.
For me, I didn't just stopdrinking alcohol.
I've really adjusted my diet,especially in the last, since I
had the DNA testing for sure.
But especially in the last, saysix months, because I realized
(31:03):
and I noticed things aren'tagreeing with my body.
Because the other thing is thatyou're going to have an increase
of inflammation based on what'shappening with your hormones.
If you're drinking, theinflammation is going to be
worse.
Way worse.
Yes.
Inflammation.
So inflammation.
Let's talk about that.
One thing I want to mention thatpeople may not realize because I
(31:25):
didn't realize it.
Okay.
But one of the biggest symptomsI had was joints.
Yeah.
Speaker (31:31):
So I literally was feeling great turned 47 and all
of a sudden, like my body justfelt like my joints were achy
all the time out of nowhere.
It's like my body just turned apage, right?
So for me, and I'm someone who'sreally active, that feels really
challenging That could bedepressing in itself.
(31:51):
Exactly.
Exactly.
If you are feeling like you'rehaving joint issues, or if you
don't have good joints to beginwith, then that may be affected.
There's something called frozenshoulder.
Kelly (32:04):
Yes.
Tracey (32:05):
That I didn't know about.
Okay.
I 100 percent had that.
Something was happening with myshoulder.
I was going to The chiropractorgetting all this work done on my
shoulder had no idea about thiswhole frozen shoulder thing.
It's an actual thing and asymptom of perimenopause or
menopause.
Wait, okay, what, okay, tell meabout it.
(32:25):
Maybe I have to Basically you'reYour joint like locks up almost
on you.
You lose movement.
in your shoulder, basically.
That's crazy.
That's interesting though.
I didn't know that the frozenshoulder is part of this
menopause.
Sheesh.
Yeah, you can look it up, butsomebody I follow and who is an
amazing expert on menopause, andI highly recommend check her
(32:49):
out.
Her name's Dr.
Mary Claire Haver.
you can follow her anywhere,Instagram, TikTok she has her
own website.
She created the Galveston Diet.
She has a book too.
Mary, what?
Mary Claire vaber.
She was a OBGYN.
It's just Dr.
Mary Claire on Instagram, buther profile says, yeah, she's
(33:13):
cute.
She's got like a.
A sweatshirt and glasses.
1.
5 million followers.
Speaker (33:19):
Yeah, I'll put all her info in our show notes, but she
just came out with a new bookcalled The New Menopause.
Kelly (33:27):
That's what I feel like I need.
It's just like a book, like agood book, that's gonna
Speaker (33:31):
Yeah, and she created the Galveston diet, which is a
nutritional program you canfollow during menopause.
So it's just really dialing inyour nutrition.
There's certain supplements thatare really key to us when we're
going through menopause that sherecommends.
She's got her own line ofsupplements, but fiber is very
important.
So again, if you want to treatsymptoms and not use alcohol.
(33:55):
Make sure you're takingsupplements that are going to be
key to making your body feelgood and that you're making sure
that you're recouping what we'regetting depleted of.
Omega 3, that's very importantas well.
Vitamin D3.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yes.
Vitamin B12.
That's very good for mood,right, Linz?
Magnesium.
Apparently I take the liquidionic magnesium and take it
before bedtime.
That's supposed to actually helpyou with sleep as well.
Yeah.
Magnesium.
I think women tend to bedeficient.
Kelly (34:28):
Yes, I think everybody is actually because of the soil
that our food is grown in.
I believe that's one of theminerals that we're.
Yeah.
Tracey (34:35):
There's other supplements.
Definitely.
You can look into that supporthormones, I hear a lot about a
product called DIM.
That's what I take.
I take that too.
Yeah.
Dim 200.
That's supposed to help.
I don't know.
I have never taken it.
The other thing my doctorrecommended was a supplement
called adrenal chill.
(34:56):
Okay.
Yes.
because of cortisol our adrenalscan get really fatigued.
That's another one.
But yeah
Kelly (35:03):
I look at all the supplements I take and I'm like,
okay, why am I taking this oneagain?
I have to do like a rehaul.
Lindsey (35:11):
I have so many supplements that I take every
day.
Richard's I don't think you evenneed to eat today, babe.
You got all the nutrients.
I'm like,
Kelly (35:19):
the amount of supplements and then the amount of stuff
that I put in our smoothie inthe morning, all these like
wheatgrass and like dandelion,
Lindsey (35:26):
all the things like, I don't know,
Kelly (35:31):
but I still want to learn more.
Yeah, I'm always interestedbecause it always changes,
right?
Like always find out somethingnew, something that could help
us with this or that, or, butspecifically for menopause, that
can be really helpful.
Tracey (35:44):
I think you have to change your supplements and gear
your supplements to whateveryou're challenged with and what
phase you are in life, right?
Lindsey (35:53):
That's really true about supplements.
It's not just a one and done foreverybody.
You have to really pay attentionto how you're feeling.
Speaker (36:00):
And of course there's some staples like, Omega 3,
Vitamin D.
Everybody should be taking that.
That's a given.
The other thing to rememberabout supplements is they take a
bit to get in your system,right?
So give them a chance.
Lindsey (36:14):
Yeah.
Tracey (36:15):
Another one that's good for anxiety and sleeping if you
take it before bed is GABA.
Okay.
Ooh.
I'm telling you, I don't know ifI've told you guys this before,
but my magic thing that I love,and I tell anybody who will
listen, is my 20 milligrams ofCBD that I take every day.
Lindsey (36:34):
Wow.
Kelly (36:35):
It is, I'm telling you, I take it in the morning and I do
have the achiness.
Sometimes I think it's more myage and what I do with my body.
But yes, I get the muscle achesand things like that.
A little bit of joint pain.
Mood.
I do still get my period so likecramps and stuff like that.
And 20 milligrams is not a lotat all.
So some people might need totake a little bit more.
(36:57):
If I've got like crampy periodstuff, I'll take another 20
milligrams before I go to bed.
But.
I'm telling you, it's goodstuff.
I don't know about in the US.
I don't know if it's easy to buyin Canada here.
We can buy it on any corner, butI'm really grateful that I found
that.
If anybody's looking forsomething like that, if like
he's a little bit of anxiety,things like that,
Lindsey (37:19):
it's worth a try for sure.
It's worth it.
Kelly (37:21):
Yeah, it's natural.
And we have a system in our bodythat works with it.
Tracey (37:25):
And you said, Kel, that you hadn't experienced a lot of
symptoms, so maybe that's why.
Maybe, based on some of yourchoices already,
Kelly (37:33):
like I'm not going to change anything.
Lindsey (37:35):
No, don't.
Tracey (37:35):
Yeah.
Lindsey (37:35):
Don't change it.
Kelly (37:36):
Okay, my question, I have a question.
Can anybody get through thisunscathed?
Lindsey (37:41):
I'm scared.
I'm shit scared.
I'm not going to lie.
Kelly (37:44):
But I'm good.
I'm saying so Trace, you said.
Menopause from 48 to 52.
I'm almost 50.
I'm almost 50.
I did, I had some pretty nastyhot flashes in my early forties
and I do believe, I was tryingto remember, I believe it was
after I quit drinking at 43.
Oh.
But anyway, I went foracupuncture for that, and that
was really helpful for me.
(38:05):
I had terible Night Sweats and Iwent for regular acupuncture in
that.
Lindsey (38:08):
I get night sweats and I'm like, just try acupuncture
or as it, I'm like every fourmonths weird fucking little
symptoms.
I'm like.
Kelly (38:19):
But anyway, so yeah, my question is is it possible that
I could get through that otherthan my forgetfulness, which I
can't remember.
Oh, that's a brain fog.
It's a, I don't feel like Ibrain fog cause I've gone
through that before, but yeah,but I don't remember.
Lindsey (38:35):
I'm going to watch whatever you do and I'm just
like, you're taking this and
Kelly (38:41):
we both take the dim.
Lindsey (38:42):
Yeah, DIM is amazing.
Kelly (38:44):
I'm just gonna keep taking that.
Lindsey (38:45):
It works with hormones.
Yes.
I think specifically estrogenand it's a supplement that you
can buy over the counter if ourlisteners are like, what's dim?
Kelly (38:54):
Yeah.
Mine's dim 200.
I get it on Amazon.
Tracey (38:58):
Do your research.
Do your research.
We are not experts.
Not experts.
Do your research on CBD.
I'm not prescribing you all CBD.
Lindsey (39:07):
No, yeah.
Definitely make sure if you'retaking any medications that
there's no contractions.
Talk to your doctor.
We're not doctors.
Kelly (39:14):
This is all our disclaimer.
Lindsey (39:16):
As we were chatting here, I got really quiet because
I was looking at Dr.
Marie Claire's Instagram, butokay, listen to this post.
Can I read this?
This freaks me out.
Okay.
There are estrogen receptorsthroughout almost every organ
system in your body.
And as your levels drop, thesecells begin to lose their
ability to assist in maintainingyour health in other areas,
(39:39):
including your heart, cognitivefunction, bone integrity, and
blood sugar balance.
Ugh.
Speaker (39:46):
Yeah sorry, that was something I wanted to say that I
had as a point here too whenKelly was talking about brain
fog, ladies.
Decline in cognitive function asour brains are more vulnerable
with less estrogen in ourbodies.
Lindsey (40:01):
I feel like that is happening to me as we speak.
I always joke that I haveAlzheimer's and I'm like, this
isn't funny anymore.
Oh my god.
Tracey (40:11):
And you know what We already know that alcohol also
affects the brain, so again,double whammy if you're, feeling
like you're forgetful and yourbrain's being affected by you're
lowering estrogen and thenyou're drinking alcohol on top
of that, not good.
What I find is thatenergetically, I find I'm
(40:33):
challenged.
My energy levels aren't the sameas what they used to be.
I can get tired out.
Like I have a hard timephysically pushing myself in
exercise.
Mind you, they say that youshould also change your
exercise, right?
Because we don't want to pushourselves at this stage of life
with exercise because that canincrease our cortisol.
(40:55):
You want to do your research andlook into, if you are constantly
pushing yourself at the gym, ifyou're a gym goer, an exerciser,
and you're not feeling good, allof a sudden, that might be a
sign that you need to adjustyour workout because you might
be actually affecting otherthings in your body that you
don't realize that are moresensitive as you go through
perimetopause and menopause.
Kelly (41:17):
Yeah, intuitively, I've been really trying to tune into
my body, rather than everysingle day, go and do the hot
flow yoga, like some days I'llgo to a hot flow class, but I'll
just roll around on my mat andstretch out my hips and my
shoulders.
Yeah, like I'm really trying totune into that.
I'm feeling a real call to slowdown.
Speaker (41:36):
That's like me too, Kel, and I would say that's
probably one of the best piecesof advice I could give anybody
is start really listening toyour body when you're eating
stuff, pay attention to how youfeel after you eat, like that
was a big thing for me withadjusting my diet.
I'm gluten sensitive.
I knew that basically just basedon how I feel when I eat gluten,
(41:57):
but I was confirmed that againthrough my DNA testing.
Kelly (42:01):
You're like damn it Yeah, I'm like, okay.
Yeah.
That's why I want to take a napif I friggin eat pasta bread in
the afternoon like that's why Ifeel tired and lethargic or
bloated or whatever, right?
You bake trace I'm not much of abaker.
Okay.
I was going to say try spelt,try spelt flour.
I was always scared.
(42:21):
I've been gluten free.
I'm allergic to wheat.
So I've been gluten free for 17years.
And, I've heard that in thepast, like you could maybe
tolerate spelt, but I was justtoo scared because I know how it
used to be.
But I just recently tried speltflour and I'm okay with it.
So it makes me very happy.
Tracey (42:39):
Yeah.
I've had store bought speltbefore.
In the past, when I've beendoing a cleanse or something,
yeah, where you couldn't havegluten, I've had it, but I've
never tried to make it myself.
Yeah, it's good.
Yeah, it's good.
That's good to know.
Yeah, so I'd say just reallylisten to your body, but I think
all in all.
(42:59):
You are not doing yourself anyfavors if you're going through
this stage of life and you'resuffering with symptoms if
you're continuing to consumealcohol.
Yeah.
Speaker (43:08):
I think there's a lot of evidence to that.
And again, that's a payattention to your body.
Have a drink and see how youfeel opposed to how you feel
when you're not drinking.
Kelly (43:18):
Yeah.
Take a couple of weeks off andjust those symptoms are like, we
write it down have a littlediary for two weeks before you
get up and two weeks after andsee what it says.
Yeah, I'm sure it will be verytelling.
Tracey (43:32):
And I think like, all other things.
There can be a lot of relief andpower and, doing some breathing
techniques getting out in thefresh air, go for a walk, if you
are feeling fatigued or not veryenergized, like I do some days,
just go for a walk.
If you don't muster the energyto go for a workout or go to the
(43:52):
gym just go for a walk in thefresh air being out in nature
and then at least you feel likeyou're moving your body and I do
feel like it re energizes me.
Kelly (44:01):
Yeah, I feel like, yeah, tuning into our bodies and
educating ourselves on all ofthis and learning more about it.
I think we'll take away thatsense of dread because it sounds
like to me, when some peopletalk about it, it's like a
victim mentality.
Lindsey (44:13):
Yes.
Kelly (44:14):
Oh my God, this is happening to me.
You have no control over it.
I know.
And I don't think it has to belike, I
Lindsey (44:21):
don't buy it.
I think
Kelly (44:22):
we can do things.
Lindsey (44:24):
I feel like that for a lot of things in life.
There's a lot of victimmentality.
Kelly (44:29):
What are you putting in your body?
What are you putting in yourbody?
Lindsey (44:32):
What are you putting in garbage out?
I really just think we can dobetter and we're going to get
through this.
I feel the best I've ever feltin my entire life in my early
40s.
I think it has a lot to do withnot drinking alcohol.
This December is going to be 5years for me.
And I'm like, what the hell?
Like, How can that even be?
I think it has a lot to do withnot drinking alcohol, that was
(44:55):
just the springboard for a lotof these habits that I've
developed and things that I'veditched and just feeling good
and I honestly just can'timagine going back and
especially going into menopause,like that's the next big thing
in life for me, right?
And I'm just like, I don't know.
Oh really scared of it.
And I don't really know what toexpect.
Kelly (45:15):
I don't think you need to be Linds.
Lindsey (45:18):
I don't know.
I don't think you need to be
Kelly (45:20):
scared.
I
Lindsey (45:21):
think for me, hormone stuff has always triggered major
anxiety, not depression, justanxiety, like crazy and not
drinking.
I've noticed a huge change.
In that feeling.
Yeah, just knowing that, duringmenopause, sometimes anxiety and
depression can be a result ofchanging hormone levels,
decreasing I'm definitely notgoing to drink through it and I
(45:43):
feel sad that women Feel theneed to reach for alcohol to try
to get relief from the symptomsthat we have.
There's a better way, Yeah.
we have to all rally around eachother and we're gonna get
through this together.
Kelly (45:56):
Yes.
Yeah.
And it doesn't have to be likethis terrible, dreadful, awful
thing.
Let's let it be a reason why weall bond together even more.
Yeah.
And have these conversations andempower ourselves with all this.
Tracey (46:09):
I did want to state one other stat that I was reading,
that in 2023, it was reported 85percent of women were
complaining about perimenopauseand menopause symptoms.
Kelly (46:21):
Complaining.
Okay, so there's a culture.
85%.
Yeah, you can understand whythere's been so much awareness
and traction gained on thissubject because pretty much the
bulk of our population is at theage that they're going through
this phase of life andexperiencing these things.
(46:41):
But do we need to go through itcomplaining, or do we need to
support each other and yeah.
Speaker (46:47):
As a woman, empower yourself.
By learning, by doing yourresearch, understanding the
phase of life that your body isgoing through, and you're going
to go through it so much better.
Kelly (46:59):
Alcohol free.
Tracey (47:00):
Yes.
Start with that.
Start with that.
Anyways, I think that was apretty good conversation.
Kelly (47:07):
It helped me a lot.
I hope it helped some listeners.
I feel better.
I feel empowered.
I feel less nervous about thewhole thing.
Yeah.
Tracey (47:17):
As I learn more, I'll share more.
We'll have to do another episodeas I.
Yes.
And then we will tune into moreinformation.
I love it.
Thanks girls.
Kelly (47:29):
You're welcome.
Thank you guys.
Lindsey (47:32):
Thank you so much everybody, for listening today.
Don't forget to check us out onInstagram at LAF Life Podcast
and also on our website,laflifepodcast.com.
PS if you are.
Are a menopause expert.
We would love to have you on ourshow.
So fill out our guest form.
(47:52):
You can head on over to ourwebsite laflifepodcast.com we'd
love to hear from you.
If you think this would helpsomebody do us a favor, share
it, you never know whose lifeyou might be changing.
We're going to see you back herenext Tuesday with a brand new
episode.
So until then.
You guys know what to do.
Keep laughing.
Kelly (48:12):
Thank you for listening.
Please give us a five starrating like and subscribe, share
on social media and tell yourfriends.
We love getting your feedbackand ideas of what you'd like to
hear on upcoming episodes of theLAF life podcast.
If you yourself are livingalcohol free and want to share
your story here, please reachout.
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