OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?

I can remember it so clearly.

She was laying face down on the table as I treated her back, telling me that she continually felt wired and tired. Work had her racing, she couldn’t catch a break to get a decent nights sleep, sometimes waking up in a sweat which had her reaching for more coffee these days. Frustrated she told me that despite 10,000 steps a day and a healthy diet that she was getting a belly. Once she started to open up the floodgates opened: “I’ve also got pelvic floor issues Karin! I hate it, I pee now whenever I laugh don’t even get me started on what happens when I run!” “What the heck…I have cut back, I’m training a ton and nothing is working!” I will never forget how she looked at me, desperate, upset, and no knowing where to turn. Why wasn’t she responding to what she had always been able to do to get over her hip pain and it’s when she asked me quietly…”Could this be menopause..?” and at the same time she blurted “but I’m still getting my period so it can’t be!! I’m not old!”

She wasn’t the only one. As I started getting curious, my amazing patients lifted up a curtain after curtain hiding symptoms that they either didn’t recognize or wrote off as a period of life that was excessively stressful. Some told me they woke up in the middle of the night with anxious, racing thoughts, heart racing and dripping from sweat. Some describe periods that look like a murder scene believing that for sure that something was deafeningly wrong. Others couldn’t understand why their emotional state had them swinging from the rafters one minute and crying a river the next. There was major confusion over what were likely hot flashes, but explained away on the weather or what they ate for lunch rather than what might actually be happening in their body.

All the while I was mentally checking off a checklist of my own that seemed to rise in concert with their own issues and had me groaning…omg ..Me TOO!

This had me racing to the books, the studies and countless postgraduate courses to figure out what the heck was going on.

Circling back to my patient who implored that I help her with her symptoms, many of which felt like she was playing a game of whack-a-mole, she was describing were the symptoms of perimenopause, the time where her hormones were shifting prior to when her monthly would eventually end and could last several years…I was and still am determined to help my patients feel supported in their life transitions while living their best lives.

Despite the need for more research, there is a lot of information about Menopause. But it’s confusing. Our mothers didn’t fare any better and are often ill equipped to help us in our journey, having suffered silently. Hushed conversations might happen with girlfriends and rushed appointments with our doctors or OBGYN providers - as amazing as they are- can leave us perplexed or alone.

Let’s start by defining exactly what Menopause is.

It can be broken down into 3 distinct phases.

Perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause.

Perimenopause means the period before menopause. It’s when your hormonal cycles start shifting and is often the most symptomatic phase of the menopause transition. Women can still have their period during this time, get their period and it can last for 8-10 years before the actual menopause.

Menopause is what we all know to be when our periods stop and is signified by one date in time, the day where we haven’t had a period for 12 months. Generally, the average age of menopause is 51-52 years old but can vary.

Postmenopause is the new hormonal state that our bodies hold for the rest of our lives and is often a time where most of the perimenopause symptoms decline (however not all). It is, however, also a time where other health concerns might appear such as osteoporosis and heart disease. Cellular aging does ramp up and there is often a feeling that society has us written off due to our not living up to some ridiculous youthful standard.

And I’m not standing for what

some mean is an inevitable decline.

As I mentioned before, there is a lot of scientific research about menopause and it can be complex. Wrapping our heads around hormones fluctuations, how they interact and what is happening our bodies can send us into a dizzying confusion. My mission is to help explain this information into bite sized actionable pieces, while addressing the major concerns women have about this experience of life. It is also my core belief that through basic pillars of health, including nutrition, exercise, mindset and medical intervention when necessary can help us live our best.

All told, I see this phase of a woman’s life as powerful. I’m determined to help you learn how to work with your physiology to harness the resilience of both your body and mind to keep feeling strong, fit and lean. Not only that but it is a time where we can continue to protect and enhance our well being as we get older while still kicking a** at work, life and sport.

I see you.

You are worth it.

You-Are-Worth-It.

It’s time to Stop Playing Small.

Much love.

Karin