Holistic Perimenopause Support in Alexandria
A personalized, whole-person approach to navigating perimenopause with confidence.
Perimenopause can feel unpredictable. One month is smooth, the next brings sleep changes, mood shifts and cycle irregularity. You feel like you can’t rely on your body the way you once could and wonder what to expect next. It can be unsettling and really start to affect your quality of life.
Many women think, “Am I just getting older?”, “Is this normal?” The truth is, you don’t have to “just live with it”. We can help you not only get through it, but actually feel better than ever!
Receive Personalized, Holistic Perimenopause Support
Thrive Naturopathic offers personalized, holistic support here in Alexandria, helping you understand what is going on in your body and showing you exactly what you need to do to regain your energy and vitality and return to vibrant health.
Our functional medicine practitioners and coaches can give you the structure, support and insight you need to transform your health and get to the root cause of your issues.
Book a discovery call with Thrive Naturopathic to discuss what we can do to help you unlock your full health potential!
What Causes Perimenopausal Symptoms?
In perimenopause, ovarian function becomes less stable and the body’s sex hormone levels shift. In early perimenopause, this can mean increased estrogen and decreased progesterone, but later estrogen also decreases. Perimenopause is essentially a precursor to menopause, where hormones are shifting around before they eventually settle into a more stable pattern.
However, it is important to understand that it is not just the absolute levels or hormones that change. Additionally, the relationship between these hormones also changes. In other words, some hormones decrease more than others – so their proportions relative to each other, change.
This is an important distinction because it is the balance between hormones that has the greatest effect on our health, not the absolute levels.
You cannot change the fact that your ovarian function will slowly start to diminish and that your body will subsequently produce different levels of sex hormones, but what you can change is the balance between the hormones.
balance your hormones
There are 3 main body systems that determine hormonal balance: 1) the brain and nervous system, 2) the gut (intestines/digestive tract), and 3) the liver.
Hormone production starts in the brain, where signals are sent out to the target hormonal gland (e.g. the ovaries, adrenal glands, thyroid, etc.). Once the gland gets the signal, it produces hormones.
Hormones then circulate through the bloodstream to affect our bodies. They eventually make their way into the liver, where they are transformed into different hormonal metabolites that either 1) get excreted or 2) get re-circulated (where they can continue to affect the body).
The hormones that are pushed through the bile (from the liver and gallbladder) go into the intestines, where bacteria in our microbiome act on them to either excrete them or put back into the blood circulation.
That is the life cycle of hormones. That’s all there is to it – nothing more. So, if you want to change the way hormones are affecting you, you have to change 1) the brain and nervous system, 2) the liver and 3) the gut. It’s really that simple.
Perimenopause, Insulin And Imbalanced Hormones
One of the defining features of perimenopause is that ovarian function becomes less stable. This is partly just a function of aging, where the ovaries and eggs become less able to work and respond properly.
However, there is a lot that can be done to improve this situation. For instance, getting your blood sugar under control.
One thing that greatly affects the way your ovaries react to hormone signaling is insulin. You’ve probably heard of insulin as being related to blood sugar and diabetes. But insulin also has a strong effect on ovarian cells – prompting them to produce more androgens (such as testosterone).
Excess androgen production disrupts the maturation of follicles (eggs), which in turn leads to lower progesterone and higher estrogen.
Higher estrogen increases insulin resistance which leads to higher insulin, which starts the cycle all over again.
This cycle is exactly what happens in PCOS. Many women in peri-menopause experience a mini-version of PCOS – where testosterone is over-produced, cycles become irregular, weight is gained, cortisol increases, etc.
However, we can greatly improve this situation by reducing our insulin resistance. And we can do this through changing how we eat, sleep and exercise.
We can’t change the fact that our ovaries and eggs are becoming less and less reliable, but we can absolutely make the process a LOT smoother – by taking charge of our lifestyle choices.
Our Patients' Experience With Perimenopause
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At Thrive Naturopathic, we have helped literally thousands of women navigate perimenopause successfully by addressing these three areas. There is a lot of nuance, individuality, and some complexity to achieving this, but the basic concepts are very simple – if you can balance your brain/nervous system/stress response, your liver and your gut/microbiome, you will have hormonal balance and have few, if any, perimenopausal symptoms. In fact, many women feel better than ever!
We can show you exactly how to do this and give you the support and structure you need to make these changes happen. The great news is not only will you feel better in your perimenopausal years, you’ll also improve your fundamental body systems to set yourself up for a long, healthy life!
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Unique Holistic Perimenopause Approach
How is our holistic perimenopause care different from standard approaches?
Unlike most medical practices, we get to the root cause of the issue. We don’t mess around with superficial, band-aid solutions. Instead, we help you to change the core areas (both in your life and also your immune, nervous system and hormonal patterns) that are responsible for the way you feel. Symptoms are just a sign that something is imbalanced internally. At Thrive Naturopathic, we get to the root of what is happening with you to help you not only feel better now but also improve your health for the rest of your life.
How soon will I notice changes?
Many people start to notice improvements within the first few months. But it is very important to understand that what we are doing here is helping you change long-standing patterns (both lifestyle patterns and also internal, biological patterns) and this takes time. The whole task will not be accomplished in a few months (even though you will start to see some changes within the first few months). Healing is something that unfolds over time. That is why we only offer programs where you commit to a certain period of time to work on your health.
The good news is that even though our approach takes longer than just popping a pill, you are BUILDING something that will endure. You are laying the groundwork for better and better health. It is an investment in both your present and your future.
The reason you are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms is that your underlying health patterns were imbalanced long before you got to perimenopause – even if you weren’t aware. In bringing back true balance, not only will your perimenopause symptoms improve, but you will set yourself up for better health for the rest of your life. If you want to truly get to the root cause of your symptoms, this is what is required.
Book a Discovery Call with a Thrive Naturopathic Menopause Expert in Alexandria
If you are ready to begin your journey to a more vibrant and healthy you, Thrive Naturopathic will lay out the path to get you back to hormonal balance and vitality! Let us help you get back to living the fulfilling life you know is possible.