Incase You Want to Jump Around:

• Wait... Menopause Causes Depression?!

  • Household Products Can Fuck With Your Hormones!

    • A Small Change and What’s Coming Up in the Near F …

Wait... Menopause Causes Depression?!

Um, yeah. It can.

Estrogen is so intrinsic to so many areas of health... and happiness... that fluctuating hormone levels can really fuck with your emotional well being.

Actually, all hormone changes; at puberty, pregnancy, and peri-menopause; are very similar. Each stage of a woman's life where her hormone levels fluctuate and change have profound effects on her body. As well as her mind.

Go ahead. Think back to when your hormones first started changing at puberty.

My puberty was pretty much a hormone shit show.

Primarily because I was given 150 mcg of estrogen per pill birth control as soon as I started menstruation; but I hadn't even started ovulating by then. I wasn't even sexually active yet.

I was barely 14 Y/O and hormones were also being added to dairy cows and chickens in earnest too. Back then, it wasn’t really a thing. Now, pretty much all the animals that produce so much food in the US are full of hormones.

When I started puberty, I was fine. No overly emotional or physical issues. That is, until I started taking the pill at full extra strength. Which was the only strength at the time. (For reference, 30-35 mcg of estrogen is the normal dose now. 50mcg is the highest current dose.)

I mean, I did start out with very regular periods while I was on the pill - but they were also extremely heavy periods. Though, I have no idea what they would have been like if I hadn't taken the pill. Didn’t have enough of them before to compare.

Plus... most likely due to the combination of puberty hormones and taking estrogen pills to the equivalent of being pregnant with triplets simultaneously... My puberty was one with bouts of very severe depression and suicidal ideation. And... uncontrollably emotional rollercoasters with full on pointless rages as well.

I stopped taking the pill when I was 19 and it was three months before I had another period after that. I thought I was pregnant. I wasn't, but it was a Very stressful time.

When my menses returned, it did so out of the blue: no cramps, no spotting, just a full flow - not even remotely timed with it's previous predictability. Eventually I evened back out and things got a lot easier, emotionally and physically.

When I started going through peri-menopause, I also went through some very severe emotional and physical changes. Including some very deep bouts of depression - with all that angsty teenager style suicidal ideation back in full force.

Full on deja vu!

Knowing what I know now about the role estrogens play in our brain, gut, muscles... everything!... I am not surprised. Those times also happened to coincided with a car accident and financial slow times where I could not afford the herbs and supplements that had been working for me prior. Plus, I was full of parasites, so my microbiome and ability to absorb nutrients was also a mess.

Looking back on that time now, I can see where all that could have been a lot different if I was parasite free and maybe progesterone and pregnenolone - ing too.

So, what’s the take away here?

Well, just that hormones play a huge roll in every aspect of your well being. Including, how much you’re happy or sad and even how well you can concentrate.

Society might throw out the “crazy” at you when your hormones are making you feel that way. But, it’s probably just a simple estrogen dominance issue. (Which is anything but simple!)

Quick quiz:

Q: What do Puberty, Postpartum, & Peri-Menopause all have in common?

A: Estrogen fluctuations - and sometimes kinda poor mental health. Which is actually a result of estrogen levels. (Yes, Post Partum Depression has a physical cause: estrogen fluctuations. So does depression in Peri and Post Menopause. Exact same cause.)

Why and how much your hormones fluctuate varies from woman to woman. Quite a bit. As does the severity and regularity of the bouts of “why bothers”. If they show up for you too.

But you are probably NOT crazy. Hormones Can make your brain do all kinds of crazy things, though.

What you eat, how much you exercise, how much time you spend outdoors, and how much you're keeping the parasites in check, all makes a huge difference in how your hormones behave.

Or not.

Hormones out of wack can really fuck you up! Little bastards…

Quick guide to what you can do about it:

The Vitamin D is really important (at much higher levels than you think) during this phase of life. But so is making sure you eat well and keeping your gut healthy - so you can absorb all the nutrients. Weight training and outdoor exercise helps a lot too.

But if your hormones are making you just want to stay home and hide; a Dutch test (to find out which Bio-identical replacements could help) might be in order too.

Household Products Can Fuck With Your Hormones!

When people think about balancing their hormones, the first thing that usually comes to mind is HRT.

The second thing might be herbs and supplements. Then, maybe, diet and exercise.

All of these things can be helpful. Which ones and in what proportion will be different for each person.

However, some of the biggest hormone disruptors are completely ignored by most people. Mainly because they have no idea that what they put ON their bodies is just as important as what they put IN them.

Your skin absorbs pretty much everything that touches it. Which is why properly formulated wild yam/progesterone creams work so well.

But, have you considered what else you're putting on your skin that might not be quite so beneficial?

There are a lot of chemicals in mass produced skin creams that can unbalance your hormones; as well as cause other health issues.

Most people are also not aware that the products they use to clean their house could be disrupting their hormones. So can the containers you store food in. Or the pans you cook your food with. Even the packaging your food comes in AND the thermal receipts you get at the store can change the hormone balance in your body too.

There are so many chemicals in our daily lives that fuck with our hormones, that it's almost impossible to avoid them.

So, what can you do?

Well, you can start by checking the EWG website to find out what's safe and what isn't. You can also look for chemical free and unscented everything you possibly can.

Yeah, you have to read some labels. But, it's totally worth it.

Also, try to always buy Organic when possible. That goes for food And beauty products. Remember: Just because you’re not eating it, doesn’t mean it isn’t getting absorbed into your body.

The cleaner the products, the cleaner your body. The cleaner your body, the easier it is to keep your hormones from trying to ruin your life!

A Small Change and What’s Coming Up in the Near Future

You might have noticed a little lull in the frequency of this newsletter recently. Well, apologies for that. Life got the best of me for a bit.

So, I have decided to just write a Monthly Newsletter for the rest of the year.

Trying to do too much all at once is partly why I want to address the thing a lot of people don’t mention about the Menopause phase of life: It often correlates to the taking care of aging parents stage of life. If you are also in that aspect of your Menopause, you are absolutely Not Alone!

Because of that, a future newsletter touching on the topic(s) of how Parent Care can affect women at Menopause is coming up before the end of the year.

I have also been working on a new group cohort. Figuring out a courseware thingywhatsit has been a little on the “maybe I should try a different one” side. But I am getting there.

Depending on how long it takes to get things up and running in the aforementioned ware, looking to open that up in November. Or December. Hopefully before January. You’ll all get an email about it when it’s getting close, either way.

I’ve actually had a pretty bad head cold the last couple weeks too. So, when the mucous completely clears from my brain, I’m sure everything will just fall into place!

Right?!

Well, until then: F*ck Menopause and best to you all!

(If you were sent this, or are reading this on the blog, you can sign up for the F*ck Menopause newsletter to also be notified when new Group Coaching Cohorts and One to One Coaching spots come available)