Keeping Track of Perimenopausal Symptoms Can Be Helpful

Perimenopause — the six to 10 years leading up to menopause –  can be a time of great frustration to women.  Despite a healthy, active lifestyle that’s been free of physical problems, the hormonal changes that begin during perimenopause can cause an array of symptoms that seem puzzling to someone who doesn’t know what to expect during this time of transition.

But before you know it, you’re taking sleeping pills to help with insomnia; anti-depressants for mood swings and anxiety; ibuprofen for the head aches and joint pain that you think are due to stress or too much jogging; and perhaps antibiotics for the occasional urinary tract infection that you have for the first time in your life.

It usually isn’t until years later that you can look back and clearly see that all of these mild but annoying problems were due to declining estrogen levels and that some help with hormone balancing and possibly supplements would have made a big difference in how you felt, without taking prescription drugs.

One way to put these pieces of the puzzle together is to keep a daily diary of your body’s physical and emotional changes so that you can clearly see if there’s connection with your cycle.  Knowing what is causing these symptoms will reduce your anxiety and help your doctor help you cope better with these hormonal changes.

There are some excellent Daily Perimenopause Diary templates available from the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research at the University of British Columbia.   Their website also offers excellent information about all stages of hormonal changes.