The Four Biggest Hormone Myths – Part 2
The Failing Ovary Myth – Why Perimenopause ISN’T What You Think It Is!
Doctors have told women for decades that perimeno-pause is a time when the ovaries begin to wind down…and then finally poop out completely at menopause. No ovarian function = no estrogen production.
So you think that perimenopause is the beginning of the end for the functioning of your ovaries? When women in their 40’s and early 50’s start complaining of hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, insomnia, migraines, and moods swings, they are lead to believe that these perimenopausal symptoms are all about a declining estrogen level from a failing ovary.
If you don’t understand what is really happening to your body, then you will interpret the symptoms based upon the flawed information that is available from your doctor or women’s magazines. This misinformation can then lead to making choices of treatment that are, in fact, potentially causing more harm than helping! It is, therefore, imperative to get the truthful story of your body’s changes.
It was really a shock to me when I first because investigating what was really occurring in a woman’s body’s during perimenopause. Could it really be that we have been so mislead and misinformed? Sadly, the answer is yes.
Here’s the good news!
Research has discovered that the perimenopausal ovary (the period 5-10 years before cessation of menstrual cycles) is more active than it has been since adoles-cence. One leading researcher, Endocr-inologist Dr. Jerilynn Prior, has found that “the perimenopause ovary produces erratic and excess levels of estrogen, with unpredictable moods, heavy flow, hot flashes and mucous symptoms that appear suddenly and unexpectedly.”
The many symptoms that women experience during the perimenopause years, such as weight gain, irrational hunger, increased migraines, heavy periods, worsening endometriosis, breast swelling (with pain or lumps), new or growing fibroids, new or increasing PMS, pelvic pain, and uterine cramps, are caused by high levels of estrogen…NOT low levels.
Dr. Prior has found that the average estrogen levels in perimenopausal women are higher than in younger women. The older women not only had higher levels of estrogen but also had lower levels of progesterone.
What Really is Going On with Our Ovaries at Perimenopause
So, contrary to popular belief, the ovaries are, in fact, working overtime during perimenopause. In a sense, trying to do the last Hurrah! There is usually plenty of estrogen being produced. However, it’s the progesterone that tends to be the deficient hormone during perimenopause.
The truth is, that during perimenopause, estrogen levels are higher than normal, while progesterone levels fall significantly due to erratic ovulations. Progesterone deficiency is really the problem during perimenopause. And what’s more amazing is, [as of the latest understanding], that not only do the perimenopausal ovaries remain active, but the menopausal ovaries remain active as well!
According to the research of Dr. Celso Ramon Garcia, M.D, noted physician, educator, and internationally renowned pioneer in the field of reproductive endocrinology, after menopause, the ovaries continue to function. Our awesome menopausal ovaries work in conjunction with other body sites such as the adrenal glands, skin, muscle, brain, pineal gland, hair follicles and body fat to produce hormones.
It is now known that postmenopausal ovaries maintain a steroid capability for several decades after menses has ceased. As Prior once wrote, “Older ovaries, replete with stroma material, are now understood to actively produce androstendione– the hormone that, in the menopausal woman, is converted to estrone in the fat deposits of the body. This pathway can be significant in preventing osteoporosis.”
Far from shriveling, the ovaries of perimenopausal and menopausal women continue to secrete estrogen and androgens (accompanied by declining progesterone levels) often late into the menopause. Far from the myth of a downhill slide, the continued function ing of the ovaries during perimenopause and menopause supports a woman’s well being. Nature, in her wisdom, has insured that women, of all ages, will not just survive, but thrive!