Q&A with Naturopath Susie - Why Do Perimenopause Symptoms Vary So Much?

Why do some women experience more severe perimenopause symptoms than others? Discover the underlying reasons behind this as we tackle Amy from Perth's awesome question. In this episode, I discuss the spectrum of severe symptoms like night sweats, hot flushes, mood swings, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and insomnia, and the factors that influence their intensity. By understanding these differences, we can better navigate the complexities of perimenopause and find effective ways to manage and support each unique experience.

To further assist you on this journey, I'll be sharing some invaluable wellness resources tailored specifically for perimenopausal women. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes, and join the conversation on Instagram @susiegardenwellness. Tune in and empower yourself to live your best life during perimenopause and beyond!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women

(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to Q&A Thursday with me,
susie.
And this question this week isfrom Amy.

(00:44):
Amy is in Perth in WesternAustralia and she has asked why
do some people have worseperimenopause symptoms than
others?
She said she is experiencingworse symptoms than her friends
and she's wondering why.
And this is a really commonquestion.

(01:06):
I think this is possibly one ofthe reasons why it can be a
little difficult to get reallyeffective treatment for your
symptoms, because in medicine wereally like consistency.
We like if someone has acertain medical condition, we

(01:29):
want to see certain symptompictures coming together that
tell us oh yes, that is thatmedical problem and we really
like that.
And when I was a nurse, Iremember like it was just, you
know, you could tell what waswrong with a patient very
quickly from their cluster ofsymptoms when I started working
in natural medicine, where oftenthe kind of patients that I'm

(01:50):
seeing are those that havealready been through the medical
system and they just haven'tbeen able to get any answers to
what is going on with them.
And it's because often theirsymptoms are just really outside
what is considered the normalin inverted commas symptom
cluster for a particular medicalcondition.

(02:11):
And I think because and this isjust based on my experience, I
guess, and the experience ofother practitioners that I speak
to and also my clients is thatwhen those symptoms don't fit
into a round hole, if you'retrying to put a square peg in a

(02:31):
round hole, it won't fit.
So if the symptom picture isnot exactly what needs to be to
fit in that round hole, then iteither doesn't get diagnosed as
being what it is or people justget told you're fine, your blood
work looks fine, thereforeyou're fine.
It's something I hear all ofthe time from my clients, from

(02:53):
my new clients, that they'rehearing from their doctors.
So that, I think, is potentiallyone of the reasons that there
is a real variance, I guess, inthe way different doctors
approach women, their womenpatients that have perimenopause
symptoms and Amy, I'm not surewhat's going on with you.

(03:16):
I don't know you, I don't knowany of the details of why you
might be having worse symptomsthan your friends and I don't
know what symptoms you're having.
But I guess I just wanted todiscuss today what are the
really severe perimenopausesymptoms and why some people

(03:36):
might have worse symptoms thanother people, even if they're
the same age and maybe have thesame sort of life experience.
So what is considered severesymptoms?
It's when they affect yourability to carry out in just
normal we used to call it Idon't know if they still call it

(03:57):
in nursing your ADLs, youractivities of daily living, so
just your normal ability to dothe things that you need to get
done in your day, and also if itaffects your mental health.
That's another kind of sign thatthe perimenopause symptoms are
severe, and these can be are amyriad of symptoms.

(04:18):
A lot of these are ones thatyou're probably very familiar
with, like night sweats, hotflushes, mood swings,
irritability.
But then there's things likeperimenopause anxiety,
perimenopause depression,difficulty concentrating, brain
fog, memory issues, you know,introducing someone and you've

(04:39):
completely forgotten their name,even though there's someone you
know quite well.
Or walking into a room and youcan't remember, really can't
remember why you have Otherthings are, you know, pain
during sex, vaginal dryness,less interest in sex, some
people get heart palpitations,insomnia.
Now, that can be justdebilitating and I've spoken

(05:03):
quite openly about my own battlewith sleep and a lot of people
don't really realize that whenyou have insomnia that it can be
linked to perimenopause,particularly if there aren't
those other symptomsaccompanying it.
I think a lot of doctors thinkthat the reason women in
perimenopause have insomnia isbecause of the night sweats or
because of the hot flashes.
So if you don't havethoseopause, have insomnia is
because of the night sweats orbecause of the hot flashes.

(05:23):
So if you don't have those butyou have insomnia, they're not
necessarily making the link thatthat can be a perimenopause
symptom on its own and that canbe incredibly debilitating and
that can lead to things like thebrain fog, the memory loss, the
concentration issues, the lowmood, all of those things, and
can make it really difficult toget everything done in your day.

(05:45):
Debilitating fatigue is anotherone.
Joint pain A lot of people don'tunderstand.
If you have hip pain orshoulder pain in particular,
that can be a pretty significantperimenopause symptom and also
getting multiple urinary tractinfections.
It's relatively common forwomen in their 20s, I guess,

(06:06):
particularly if they're havingmultiple sexual partners, to get
multiple urinary tractinfections.
I find that quite common whenI'm doing intakes for new
clients and when I've worked indifferent clinics over the years
.
But when you're in your 30sthey tend to decrease in
frequency but can often ramp upagain in your 40s and 50s and

(06:28):
that can be because of thechanges in the microbiome around
your genital area, because wehave a separate microbiome there
and that happens because of thehormone changes.
So, you know, not everyone'sgoing to experience all of the
symptoms, but these are probablyconsidered some of the more
severe symptoms, in particularif they're interrupting your
ability to get everything donein your day that you need to get

(06:49):
done, and even just having oneof these symptoms that's, you
know, intense can definitely bea major issue in terms of
interrupting your day, let alonehaving multiple ones of these,
which is what many women have.
Now, why do some women havemore severe symptoms than others

(07:09):
?
Well, if you look at it from aresearch-based point of view the
research again, because I don'tdo a lot of research in women,
so we don't have a lot ofclarity around why some people
have worse perimenopausesymptoms than others.
However, there are a number offactors that seem to contribute
and I certainly see this myselfin clinical practice and

(07:34):
probably one of the main ones ishaving a higher body mass index
, and that's why, as youprobably know if you've been
following me for a while, I do alot of work with women with
weight loss as well as withhormones, and definitely when we
see a good amount of fat losson a body that needs it to reach

(07:55):
what you'd call normal ininverted commas BMI, we
absolutely see an improvement inperimenopause symptoms in any
of them.
So definitely maintaining ahealthy body weight for your
height and for your frame isimportant.

(08:16):
People that drink alcohol thatdefinitely can increase some of
the, particularly some of thevasomotor symptoms, such as your
hot flashes and the sweating,but it also can really impact
sleep.
It can actually really impactsleep in people that aren't in
perimenopause.
It can often help you get tosleep, but it will interrupt

(08:37):
your sleep during the night.
So alcohol and perimenopauseunfortunately doesn't mix very
well.
The rule of thumb I tend to gofor is having one or two drinks
one or two nights a week isprobably sustainable.
But just bear in mind there isnot any level of alcohol
consumption that is consideredhealthy.

(08:58):
It's a little bit of a myththat red wine does have the
resveratrol, but the alcohol init pretty much kind of cancels
out any health benefit you'regoing to get from drinking the
red wine.
I'm really sorry.
I really wish I could saythere's a health benefit.
But the more we learn aboutalcohol, the more we realize

(09:20):
there's really no health reasonto have it.
If you are a current or a formersmoker, it's been observed that
women that have either been asmoker in the past or currently
smoking will tend to have worseperimenopause and menopause
symptoms.
If you have other medicalconditions, such as fibroids in

(09:44):
the uterus, adenomyosis, thatcan worsen symptoms, and also if
you go into peri earlier.
So an earlier onset seems topredict longer and more severe
menopause symptoms.
So earlier onset would be sortof mid to late 30s might be very

(10:08):
early 40s.
That you have an absolutesensation of periods in your
early 40s means you've been inperi for longer.
But if you're experiencingperimenopause symptoms like 35
to 40, which is absolutelypossible then it does seem to
predict longer and more severemenopause symptoms.

(10:30):
Now also, please keep in mind,these factors I've just
discussed do not guarantee thatyou will have severe symptoms.
They're just, they've beennoted as potentially increasing
the risk of this or there's beenan association described that
in the research.
So, amy, I hope that helps you.

(10:51):
If you have a look at thosereasons and maybe some of them
might apply to you, that mightgive you some answers.
If you're going no, none ofthem apply to me, then you know,
let me know, send me anothermessage, and you know that would
might be really interesting toexplore further.
So I hope that's been helpfulfor you and for other people

(11:13):
listening.
Please, please, please, send methrough your questions.
I love receiving them.
It often sends me down pathwaysof reading and searching
through the medical databasesand I love that.
I absolutely love it.
It's really.
I'm a nerd at heart and I lovelooking at all this stuff.
So, yeah, anything that canhelp me help you, please let me

(11:34):
know, because I absolutely adoreit.
So I hope you're having a greatweek, that you've got something
nice planned just for you onthe weekend.
I'll be back on Tuesday and Iwill see you then.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked today's episode.
Please make sure you click thelittle plus button if you're on

(11:55):
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If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
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Guide for perimenopausal women.
Or if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
Instagram and DM me atsuzygardenwellness.

(12:17):
I'd love to connect with you.