Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods
Perimenopause is the two to ten years leading up to menopause and is the time when symptoms are most likely to occur. Symptoms of perimenopause include anxiety, insomnia, weight gain, night sweats, and a reduced ability to cope with stress. Treatment options include magnesium and body-identical micronized progesterone such as Prometrium capsules.
There can be a strong hormonal component to abdominal weight gain. And in most people, that hormone is insulin.
In episode six of my podcast/YouTube video (released in May 2022), I discuss insulin resistance, including why you could have insulin resistance even if your blood sugar is normal, the role of mitochondria, and all the ways to lower insulin and improve metabolism.
In women, too much testosterone can cause insulin resistance and abdominal weight gain.
That’s why androgen excess contributes to the weight gain associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), menopause, and some types of birth control.
If you’re going to take hormone therapy, it’s safer to take hormones that are identical to human hormones. In other words, hormones that are body-identical or bioidentical. The concept of bioidentical used to be controversial but is now conventional and mainstream.
In episode five of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss hormone therapy, including why the concept of bioidentical was controversial when it didn’t need to be; oral micronized progesterone for heavy periods, mood, sleep, and perimenopausal migraines; and some quick facts about body-identical estrogen.
In a normal period, you should not lose more than about 80 mL of menstrual fluid over all the days of the bleed. That’s equivalent to about five tablespoons spread over all the days of the bleed.
In episode two of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss heavy periods including the role of hormone imbalance, mast cell activation, and insulin resistance; simple period-lightening strategies such as iron, zinc, and a dairy-free diet; and using body-identical progesterone to lighten periods.