Stress and Perimenopause Symptoms | What You Can Do

There is one important factor that contributes to perimenopause that many women don’t realize.

 

Stress is a key contributor to perimenopause because of its effects on the adrenals. When you experience stress the adrenal glands release cortisol. Cortisol then competes with the sex hormone estrogen for its hormonal precursor.

Your body prioritizes making cortisol, leaving less of the building blocks for making other hormones, like estrogen and progesterone.

 

One of the causes of perimenopause symptoms is a lowered estrogen level. So when you’re under stress, especially long term, your body has a hard time keeping estrogen levels up high enough so that you don’t experience perimenopause symptoms. In fact extended stress can lead to adrenal fatigue, as Dr. Christiane Northrup also recognizes.

 

Dr. Marina Rose has helped women with perimenopause symptoms and other challenging, chronic health conditions in and around the city of San Francisco, CA.

 

To reduce the stress levels in your life, consider:

• Schedule relaxing time for yourself.
• Try relaxing herbal teas like chamomile or lavender.
• Use nutritional supports like B vitamins, antioxidants like Vitamin C, E, and selenium during especially stressful periods.
• Moderate exercise like walking, yoga, or dance can help. Strenuous exercise can actually increase cortisol.

 

When you need natural solutions for perimenopause, Functional Nutrition takes a systems approach to finding the key factors that will make a difference. For some insight into which macronutrients may be out of balance for you, click below to take our nutritional profile quiz and get your results immediately.