I am excited to share with you guys the start of my perimenopause health journey. I’m fairly certain this is the start of it and I want to document it all for you. I love being open and sharing everything so let’s use my journey as a way of learning and coming together! Here we go…
The Beginning.
(You can also listen to this here.)
Two months ago, I hit a point where I knew something had to change.
I had gone on 9 trips in 9 months. While I’m incredibly grateful for the experiences, the constant travel, stress, disrupted routines, restaurant meals, late nights, alcohol, and “go-go-go” pace were catching up to me in ways I couldn’t ignore anymore.
I started waking up regularly in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep. At first it happened occasionally, then it became normal.
My body started changing as well. My back was always in pain because my hip injury wasn’t healing along with my shoulder. I was gaining belly fat despite eating well and working out consistently. My hair was breaking more than ever, and my skin looked older, duller, and more wrinkled.
I was so irritable all the time that I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Noise overstimulated me. I felt constantly on edge. There were moments where I literally wished I was deaf because everything around me felt like too much stimulation for my nervous system.
I was still working out, still eating high-quality food, still hitting my protein goals, still functioning, still showing up online. But underneath all of that, my body was waving a giant red flag that something was off.
I think a lot of women hit this phase in their 40s and assume their metabolism is slowing and that declining hormones mean feeling worse is just something they have to accept. Or they believe they need more discipline, or they just need to push harder. But being someone in this role of coach, who knows the data and evidence, I knew better and have been determined to get what I want.
The First Step.
So I decided to stop guessing and start digging deeper into what was actually happening physiologically. I ran an HTMA test, which looks at mineral patterns and stress adaptations in the body over time. What stood out immediately from the HTMA was the overall pattern. My results reflected chronic stress adaptation, nervous system overload, slower thyroid signaling at the tissue level, and a body that essentially looked like it had been trying to compensate for prolonged stress for a very long time.
A lot of the findings lined up almost perfectly with how I had been feeling: overwhelmed, reactive, puffy, exhausted from stimulation, sensitive to alcohol and travel, struggling with sleep, dealing with hair breakage, skin changes, and stubborn lower belly fat despite consistent nutrition and workouts.
To get an even closer look I ordered a bit of blood work and got those results back a week ago as well. My blood work painted an interesting picture because a lot of my markers actually looked very good; my blood sugar was health; triglycerides were low; HDL was strong; liver enzymes looked normal; and recovery markers looked solid. This wasn’t a story of complete metabolic dysfunction.
But there were still patterns that matched my symptoms. My cortisol had been trending upward. Stress and alcohol were becoming a major burden on my sleep. My testosterone was trending down, my progesterone looked lower than expected during my luteal phase, and my iron saturation had been running high. A lot of it pointed toward a body entering early perimenopause while also carrying a very high stress load.
I brought in a second opinion from my doctor, Elaine Reifkohl of Ageless Vitality Center in Tampa. Elaine understands me, my lifestyle and supports my goals. She also has a lot of experience in the medical treatments that support anti-aging and also looks at health through a holistic lens, just as I do. She recommended a few specific additional labs, which I ordered for myself and at this time of this post, I am awaiting those results.
The biggest realization for me was that you can appear “healthy” on paper in many ways and still have a nervous system and hormonal environment that are struggling to keep up with your lifestyle.
For years, I think I was able to outwork, out-train, and out-function stress.. until I couldn’t anymore. And instead of my body completely shutting down, it became more sensitive. More reactive to poor sleep, alcohol and travel. I became more reactive hormonally as well as emotionally.
Where I am Going From Here.
That realization completely changed how I started approaching my health. Next week I will share the results of the second blood panel I did and the protocol I’ve been following based on those labs.
But before I sign off, I want to share a really big victory that I think would serve so many of us..
After I received the results from my HTMA and saw how stressed my body had become I started a few specific dietary and lifestyle changes:
- I began consuming egg yolks, onion and or garlic daily to support detox pathways
- I began consuming pineapple a few times a week for the digestive enzymes
- I began supporting my mineral status with a bit more salt on my food for sodium, daily banana or potato for potassium and never missing my magnesium before bed
- I began eating arugula multiple times a week to improve bile flow to support digestion
- I began consuming oysters or shiitake mushrooms 2-3 times a week to increase my copper status as well as other trace minerals
- I began eating two Brazil nuts daily for selenium
- For 6 weeks I added 10g of L-glutamine each day on an empty stomach to support tissue repair and gut health
- Decreased alcohol intake
- Began taking time each day to do breath work, screen-free walking, Frank cuddles and pets, more reading, meditation and/ or journaling to increase parasympathetic stimulation
This is in addition to all of the other healthy habits I’ve always had, but doing this has made a huge difference for me. My sleep has drastically improved along with my mood, tissue repair, my energy levels and having less cravings.
I’m really excited to get more information back from the second blood panel to continue on this journey and see what the next steps will be. I refuse to play victim and I do not believe age has to hold me back from achieving everything I want in life. I’m excited to share my journey with you!
Your Coach,
Kyra