I seem to be bloating and gaining weight as one does each month just before my period, the only issue is, where I used to de-bloat and lose the few extra pounds after my period, I now no longer do - which means I am literally gaining weight on a monthly basis… I fear this is unsustainable as I will be morbidly obese by the time I reach menopause which all things considered should still be about 15 years away give or take! Has anyone else experienced this and if so have you found relief from it or a way to halt it? Please help! <3
Written by
Rhsana
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I’d recommend you read the Period Repair Manual by Dr Lara Briden ND. It explains the relationship between cortisol, progesterone and oestrogen dominance and how this leads to weight gain for some people and what you can do about it.
It explains what to do to calm down the HPA axis for example. One of the best books I’ve ever read on this subject.
Thank you - I have just purchased from Audible and look forward to it! I was also looking into getting some tests done - have you experience with this? Do you think this would be a useful test -
"This panel provides a comprehensive assessment of sex hormones, adrenal function and the entire menstrual cycle. DUTCH Cycle Mapping delivers a clear understanding of the overall menstrual cycle by tracking and evaluating hormones throughout the month. Nine targeted oestrogen and progesterone measurements provide important details on a patient's hormone levels in the follicular, ovulatory and luteal phases of the cycle. The DUTCH Complete profile analyses 35 different hormones; oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol along with their metabolites. It also measures daily free cortisol, the oxidative stress marker 8OHdG, melatonin and six organic acids including markers for vitamin B12 (methylmalonate), vitamin B6 (xanthurenate), glutathione (pyroglutamate), dopamine (homovanillate), norepinephrine/epinephrine (vanilmandelate), and serotonin (5-hydroxyindoleacetate). This test is suitable for those with irregular cycles, unexplained infertility, luteal phase defects, PCOS, irregular cycles, PMS and PMDD, amongst many other hormone related conditions."
I’ve not had the DUTCH test yet but I may do in the future because I’ve always had very heavy periods.
I don’t know how old you are but as you get older progesterone levels drop and progesterone has a calming effect on us so past the age of 35 we tend to have more oestrogens compared to progesterone. Combine that with a lack of sleep and stressful lifestyle causes some of us to eat more. Plus blood sugar balance is key to ensuring our mood remains stable and so we’re less prone to then reaching for high calorie sugary or fatty foods. Oestrogen dominance is also made worse by xenoestrogens which we are exposed to. It’s all in the book.
Lara Briden also explains that synthetic progesterone from birth control has the opposite effect of calming progesterone and can lead to anxiety and depression.
I am 37 almost 2 years post baby and my hormones are all of a sudden all over the place again - the pregnancy actually helped level me out. I am still producing trace amounts of breast milk as well. I was on progesterone cream for OD prior to the pregnancy but have not gone back on it. I am also very cautious of xenoestrogens. I have had adrenal fatigue before as well pre pregnancy and all of those symptoms now seem to be returning. Basically Im a hot mess
I’m 42 so probably in a worse situation but I have other thyroid related issues 😂
Basically Lara explains how our health is centred around having good ovulation each month. How we can improve ovulation through magnesium, B6 and Selenium for example. She also explains how it takes 100 days for a follicle to fully mature so whatever you do now in terms of stress and nutrition will take effect 3 months later.
How do you find progesterone cream? I’ve considered it but I was too afraid to try it. Have you had any side effects from it? I wanted to try it for heavy periods.
I was prescribed it by a private doc, I can DM you the details if you would like. The cream itself came from specialist-pharmacy.com/
I had a lot going on at the time (lots of symptoms) and I was trying a lot of different things so it is very hard to tell what was beneficial and what had no effect etc.
You can buy a less potent prod cream without a prescription, which I also purchased I I just can't seem to remember the name - I found out about it on this forum though so I am sure it will come up if you search for Prod cream.
I have to say - some of the issues I was experiencing are in line with this persons account. So perhaps the cream did have some of those negative effects on me.
What side effects were you having? That’s what puts me off trying bioidentical hormones. However, sometimes I do think otherwise given the nightmare I go through each month.
Having read that link I would say that the advice Dr Lee gives in his book leads people to think you can take loads of progesterone cream. I’ve read his books too, they were written a while back and I think back then it was not known what the side effects of overuse would be. Also I doubt many of those people regularly test their hormone levels. Overuse would result in side effects as with anything but I don’t think it’s not easy to limit your dosage with a cream and perhaps it’s better to take it in another form such as sublingual pills?
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