Early Menopause - Menopause by 30 Isn't Slowing Me Down

Menopause. Oye, that word…it just feels OLD. Like something my mother and her friends should talk about while knitting {ok she doesn’t knit}. Not me. Not at 32.

I admit the totality of test results stating “Estrogen: 0 | Progresterone: 0” didn’t sink in until the ultrasound which showed my itty bitty ovaries, thus meaning no eggs and nope, no fertility. I’ve since learned the term is premature ovarian failure, it can be caused by toxins, genetics or simply go unknown.

HOLY CRAP…I’m a post menopausal woman at age 32. All the signs point to having been perimenopausal around 27 and probably through it all by 30.

Menopause is the permanent end of menstruation and fertility, defined as occurring 12 months after your last menstrual period. – Mayo Clinic

Actually if you want to be accurate a menopausal woman should still be around an estrogen level of 30, so I’m not sure what that makes me…I don’t have high testosterone so no dude like qualities, I have a pulse so not dead…I guess just happy to be alive! Early menopause - understading what it looks like and how to get through it In fact that’s part of why I’m giving this update!

We all have EXCUSES when we aren’t eating our best or skipping workouts or just the standard line “I’m getting old”. Here’s the thing there are all kinds of things that I know this impacts in my body, but I’m making choices to feel great and nope not one bit concerned with my new title.

Many of you have inquired about what’s changed and how things are today, since I’ve noted I’m feeling good.

For those new to RTTF: I openly shared the story of my crazy ER visit, itty bitty ovaries and scary brain scan moments that were the result of knowing intrinsically something was off in my body {the inability to get out of bed, hair falling out and look of death were pretty good signs too}. They tried to tell me it was just stress, but I continued pushing for answers and finally thanks to the concern, care and diligence of Dr. Gonzalez got to the bottom of it all.

2013 A REBUILDING YEAR

December 2012 I was on my way to feeling 100% better, I hadn’t felt so good in years. Like anyone who has been on the injured list and is excited to return…I pushed too hard too fast. In a 30 day span, I ran back to back races, traveled across the country and eliminate rest in a body that was truly still on the edge.

The next few months vacillated between good weeks and bad. Bad weeks suddenly felt worse now that I was aware of how good I could feel. Having a day where I was too exhausted to get out of bed or sick to my stomach really knocked me for a mental loop because I was so sure things were resolved now that I’d tried to kill off the intestinal parasite, eliminated eggs and dairy, oh and my JOB!After a lot of research, in May 2013 I did a 45 day parasite cleanse {I used this one} in combination with a few other supplemental tools {details on healing my gut} and I switched to LHR training. The first week of this was bad…bad…really…really…bad.

RESULTS

I soldiered on that week because I knew something was happening, something clearly needed to be cleared out of my system. Since then, I haven’t once felt like I did for all of 2011-2012. It seems that may have finally killed parasite, which was sucking up my nutrients and making any stomach issues worse. Now even if I indulge in a little too much dairy I don’t find myself sick…bloated yes because the sensitivity continues, but not sick.

I still do not produce any female hormones. I’ve discussed the long term issues of this previously, but the biggest concerns are Alzheimer’s, bone loss and my hair, seriously I want my lush hair back. Obviously it also means I am unable to conceive or carry a child {that’s a different discussion for a different day}. Stronger and stronger with every mile - great mantra But all of that aside, I feel good.

I’m sleeping well at night again without night sweats. I hop out of bed with plenty of energy for the entire day.
My hair is finally growing in healthy again and it’s fun not having a bloated belly all the time.
I still have times where the fatigue shows up and I can usually look at my life and see I am overtaxing my body with work, fitness, life stresses.

Since my cortisol runs higher due to the hormones, it means being more vigilant about easing off when these things do happen. It also means being aware that this definitely impacts my sugar cravings, so I just need to stay away as much as I can…without stressing over it!

Remember, it’s just life, it’s not that serious!

Q&A

Here are the most common questions you ask on this, so I thought I’d try to answer.

What do you most credit with feeling better? Mostly I credit Dr Gonzalez, who helped me believe I could feel better. After that I fully believe healing my digestion made a massive impact on my health.

Why not take hormone replacement? Most of these are designed for women after menopause and are meant to be used for a short time….not for 30 years. There are a lot of potential side effects. Right now, I am going to continue focusing on healing my body with healthy habits.

What caused it all? It’s hard to say. My body fat is not so low that it would have caused it and while one Dr tried to tell me women can’t run over 25 MPW, I don’t really think that was a factor. The parasite could certainly have been a major player as it was something I may have been dealing with for at least 1-2 years. As the body continued to be deprived of nutrients, it simply started pulling hormones from other places to find balance.

Is anything else off? My thyroid, my adrenals, my testosterone they are all in normal ranges. Everything else about me is healthy.

How did I finally get results? I kept pushing. I wrote an entire article about how to get information from your doctor and not be put off, so check that out.

Am I making any other changes? Yes, I’m constantly learning what works for me as my body, life and surroundings continue to change. I’m taking out foods and adding in foods and trying supplements all the time to keep feeling my best.

Will I start wearing pink slippers and a housecoat? I might be post menopause and I might go to sleep at like 9:30, but I’m not 60. No.

Since I’m being an open book anything else you’d like to know?

To the many, many, many of you that I heard from in emails over the last few years, I hope that you are finding answers and resolutions.

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