What to Expect When You Enter Menopause
There are certain aspects of getting older that everyone dislikes, but for many women, there’s one looming specter of dread on the horizon– menopause. It’s something that you hear horror stories about from your female friends and relatives from your youth, and by the time menopause is drawing closer for you, it’s enough stress to make anyone start sweating!
In spite of the way we all often talk about menopause, it’s a very natural and normal part of a woman’s life, even if it has its unpleasant moments. Many women consider it a mark of age and wisdom that deserves to be celebrated! However, no matter what your opinions about menopause are, when you’re staring into the face of a major change to both your body and your life, it can still be intimidating. The solution? Information, and as much of it as possible! Learning what you can expect to experience throughout menopause, especially in the early stages, can do a lot to alleviate your fears and make everything more bearable. This quick guide is an excellent place to start!
Menstrual Changes
Significant changes to your menstrual cycle are the hallmark sign of menopause, but unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that your period will just conveniently drop off and never start again. While this can happen for some women, most women experience about a year’s worth of changes to their cycle before it stops for good, like skipping periods for a few months before starting them again, much heavier or lighter flows, different symptoms than you’re used to, or any number of unexpected changes. Once you’ve been without your period for an entire year, you’re officially medically considered to be in menopause.
Hot Flashes
Every woman fears them as she starts to get older– the dreaded hot flash. It’s not 100% clear what about menopause triggers hot flashes to happen, although research seems to suggest that falling estrogen levels in your body can cause the parts of your brain that regulate body temperature to go haywire. While every woman’s experience with menopause is different, hot flashes are very common to experience, and extremely irritating and uncomfortable. Taking precautions like dressing in loose, light layers and avoiding triggers like warm rooms and spicy foods can help, but if your hot flashes become a serious problem during menopause, your doctor might recommend a treatment like hormone replacement therapy to help get them under control.
Sleep Problems
The rising and falling hormone levels of menopause can affect just about every process in your body. After all, hormones are the chemical messengers that control everything your body does! Sleep is one of the places that many women struggle with the changes of menopause. Hot flashes and night sweats can disrupt your rest, and you might find yourself feeling sleepy or wide awake at hours you’re not used to, or feeling inexplicably tired and needing more rest. If your sleep problems are causing you distress, they can and should be talked about with a medical professional, but don’t stress too much over minor changes to the way you sleep. With such a big shift in your body, it’s to be expected!
Mood Changes
In many ways, menopause is similar to puberty. Both of them are times of significant physical and hormonal changes in the human body, and they can come with similar issues. One of those issues is mood changes. If you thought that hormonally-triggered mood swings were only limited to pregnancy and your teenage years, think again! Menopause can trigger the same unpredictable shifts in how you’re feeling from moment to moment, which can be just as tough to handle. Try to approach these unexpected moments of anger, irritability, sadness, or other emotions with patience and compassion for yourself, and keep an eye on how often you feel down and how drastically your moods fluctuate. If you become concerned, don’t hesitate to discuss the issue with your doctor to ensure that nothing more serious is going on, and to talk about ways to feel better!
Body Changes
Shifts and transitions in the way your body looks and feels are a normal part of aging, even if they’re a part that isn’t always the most fun. The onset of menopause and the dropping off of your estrogen levels can lead to a lot of new things in this department. You might notice your skin becoming drier and less elastic, and your breasts losing volume. You may struggle with vaginal dryness that causes sex to become less enjoyable or even painful, and it’s very common for women to gain weight during menopause as well. Again, these are all normal changes and not any cause for alarm, but that doesn’t make them any less frustrating! Like many of the tough-to-manage symptoms of menopause, seeking out treatments like hormone replacement therapy can help to ease you through this transition more comfortably.
Entering menopause can certainly be a stressful time in a woman’s life, but with the right mindset and a little help, it doesn’t have to be! If you’re interested in learning more about how hormone replacement therapy can help to make menopause easier for you to manage, contact our team here at Renewed Vitality. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have!
Most of us are familiar with melatonin today. We know that it has to do with sleepiness and our sleep cycle, and that we can buy it in vitamin form to help us nod off at night. You might even know a little bit about what affects your natural melatonin levels, like light exposure. But did you know that just like estrogen, testosterone, dopamine, and adrenaline, melatonin is a hormone?
Melatonin is just one of the many, many hormones that act as chemical messengers in our body, allowing the different systems to communicate with each other and interact to keep your normal bodily functions– like sleep, digestion, and the reproductive system– working properly. For everything we know about melatonin, it still remains a mystery in some ways, and scientists and researchers are trying to figure out just what makes it tick. Want to know more about melatonin and what it does in your body? Keep reading to find out!
What is Melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone, and it’s often referred to as the sleep hormone, because that’s just what it does! Melatonin is the main chemical at work in your body to keep your sleep cycle regular. When you start feeling drowsy at night, that’s your body’s natural melatonin at work!
Melatonin is also available as a supplement that you can take to help yourself fall asleep. While melatonin isn’t regulated by the FDA, it’s generally considered safe and non-habit forming, though it’s best used only for short periods of time, and at specific doses. The amount of melatonin in your favorite gummy is probably quite a bit higher than what you should be taking! Experts recommend starting with just 1 mg of melatonin and increasing your dosage slowly to get up to 10 mg only as needed. You should also be taking melatonin at least an hour before bed if you decide to use it, not right before you hit the sheets!
What Does Melatonin Do?
Melatonin is the main force behind your ability to sleep. Rising levels of melatonin in your body help you to feel relaxed, drowsy, and ready to nod off, while falling levels of melatonin in your body make it easier for you to wake up and feel alert and rested. Your circadian rhythm is the term for your body clock or internal clock– the rhythms of changing hormone levels and functions in your body that take place over a period of time. Melatonin is very closely tied to that cycle, and in a normal, healthy body, your melatonin levels will rise and fall at the same times every day, allowing you to have a regular and healthy sleep schedule!
Melatonin also plays a role in your immune function, blood pressure, and your levels of cortisol, or the stress hormone. Notice that these are all things that start to go out of whack when you aren’t sleeping properly!
Where is Melatonin Made?
Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland, a tiny organ in your brain that’s a part of the body’s endocrine system. The time of day, which your body knows based on activity levels and light exposure, plays a role in melatonin production. When you’re exposed to more light (like you would be earlier in the day), your pineal gland doesn’t produce melatonin, allowing you to stay awake and alert. When you’re slowing down your activity and are exposed to less bright light at night, melatonin production in the pineal gland ramps up, getting your body ready for sleep and making you feel tired!
How Does Melatonin Affect Me?
If you had absolutely perfect sleep hygiene (the term for having optimal light exposure, activity, levels, and sleeping habits) and a completely normal and healthy circadian rhythm, you would never have any trouble falling asleep. However, this isn’t the case for anyone! Almost everyone has a few habits that they’re unable to get away from that disrupt their melatonin production and thus their sleep, like using screens and other bright lights too late at night or not being able to keep a regular bedtime or waking time. These things can cause your melatonin levels to be a little off from where they should be, leading to sleepiness during the day or trouble falling asleep at night. In most cases, these problems are temporary and not serious, and a few nights of being better about your sleep habits or taking a sleep aid like supplement melatonin can get you back on track, even if your sleep still isn’t perfect.
However, some people struggle a lot more with their sleep, to the point of having sleep disorders! Problems like sleep apnea aren’t closely related to melatonin production, but circadian rhythm disorders are. Let’s take a closer look at these issues!
What Causes Melatonin Problems?
If you have serious problems falling asleep, staying asleep, or staying awake during the day, it’s a safe bet that your melatonin levels are involved somewhere in the mix. Sleep disorders can arise for a lot of different reasons and make it hard for people to have average sleep habits. Some of these disorders include:
Insomnia
One of the most common sleep disorders out there, insomnia is difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep at night that’s more frequent and pervasive than the odd sleepless night. If you find yourself lying in bed unable to fall asleep for hours or waking up multiple times throughout the night, especially if you have a hard time falling back asleep afterwards, you’re probably suffering from insomnia!
Blindness-Related Circadian Rhythm Disorders
People who are completely blind and have no light perception in their eyes often struggle to feel sleepy or alert at socially acceptable times. This can become a serious problem that affects their relationships and ability to hold a job, as well as their physical health like their weight and their mood. While it can be debilitating to have these disorders, there are treatments that can help.
Non-24 Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder
This is a sleep disorder where a person’s circadian rhythm doesn’t fit a 24-hour pattern, but is instead longer or shorter than a day, causing them to constantly be feeling sleepy at times when they shouldn’t be or be alert when they should be asleep. Their sleep times are constantly moving earlier or later, occasionally lining up with socially acceptable hours before misaligning again. It’s considered to be a chronic problem, although some treatments are available that can lessen its effects.
Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder
People with delayed sleep phase disorder, or DSPD, have a circadian rhythm that is a normal 24 hours in length but that doesn’t match up with most people’s sleeping times. Someone with this condition naturally stays up much later and stays asleep much later than the average person, often being awake until well past midnight and sleeping into the afternoon. It’s common for teenagers to show signs of this problem, although most grow out of it in their adulthood. Some people, however, have DSPD as a chronic condition throughout their lives, and don’t ever grow out of it, leading to problems in their career and social life. They’re not lazy, and they’re not sleeping more hours than the average person, their internal clocks just don’t line up with the hours that society tends to function at!
Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder
Advanced sleep phase disorder, or ASPD, is the counterpoint to DSPD. If you or someone you know naturally wakes up at the crack of dawn and can’t stay awake for long in the early evening, it’s probably this! Where DSPD is more than just being a “night owl,” ASPD is more than just being an “early bird.” People with this disorder often wish they could sleep later or stay awake later. They may suffer in their social life because they can’t stay awake at the later hours when people often like to spend time together after work, and severe cases may affect their jobs as well.
Shift Work Sleep Disorder
People who work outside normal hours, such as taking very early morning shifts or very late graveyard shifts, often struggle with something called shift work sleep disorder, or SWSD. Some people seek out these jobs because they have something like DSPD or ASPD where their natural cycle aligns with the requirements of the job, but for someone with an average circadian rhythm who works a job like this, they will constantly struggle with needing to be awake when they want to be asleep and needing to sleep when their body wants to be awake. This can lead to a lot of serious problems in a person’s mental and physical health.
Melatonin is involved in all of these sleep disorders, but taking melatonin supplements isn’t the magic pill to cure them, even though melatonin therapy as indicated by a doctor can sometimes help to provide relief. When a person’s circadian rhythm, and thus their melatonin levels, are out of sync with what is considered normal, it’s a deeper problem. Your circadian rhythm is something that’s programmed into your body– resetting it is not as simple as taking a sleep aid and going to bed on time for a week or two. Part of the reason that these problems are still so hard to treat is because sleep in general, including melatonin and the circadian rhythm, are very mysterious. While there is a lot we do know, like certain important processes that happen while we sleep, the deeper mechanics of just why sleep is so important to us as humans is still unknown. As scientists and researchers continue to work to learn about this process, more answers will become available, and hopefully we’ll gain a better understanding of melatonin and how to treat sleep problems, from simple occasional insomnia to more serious issues!
If you’re interested in learning more about the many hormones that work in the body, you can continue to read our blog here at Renewed Vitality!
It’s one of the most common indicators of menopause, one of the most widely discussed, and one of the most fearfully anticipated– the dreaded hot flash. If you’re a woman approaching her menopausal years, hot flashes are probably the first thing that pops into your head when you start to sweat. The majority of women will experience them at least a few times throughout menopause, and there are dozens of products devoted to stopping them in their tracks.
However random they may seem, hot flashes actually do have some common triggers that can bring them on! Avoiding these triggers may help you to more easily manage the discomfort of your hot flashes, and reduce how often or how severely they occur. Here’s what you need to know!
Heat
It makes sense that when your environment is hot, you feel hot, but when you’re suffering from menopausal hot flashes, the heat can end up feeling much more intense, and it can be hard to cool down, even after you’ve exited a hot and stuffy environment. Planning your day to avoid putting yourself under excess heat is just a fact of life when you’re in menopause, so try to dress in light, loose layers that are easy to take on and off, plan your travel and events accordingly with the weather, and bring a fan or cool drink with you to help you beat the heat!
Spicy Foods
If you’re a lover of cuisine with a kick, this trigger will be a hard pill to swallow, but spicy food can commonly trigger a hot flash. If your dinner is hot enough to get your forehead sweating, it’s probably going to lead to you being uncomfortably warm down the line! Switching to foods that are a little more mild in the heat department can help keep your hot flashes at bay while you’re going through menopause.
Caffeine
Your daily latte or cup of joe may feel vital to your morning routine, but unless you want that routine to include a regular hot flash, it might be best to reduce your caffeine intake. Caffeine affects the body in all kinds of ways, and is a common hot flash trigger. Switching to a decaf version or eliminating your caffeine intake altogether can be a challenge, but if it helps your hot flashes, you might find that it’s worth it!
Alcohol and Smoking
Notice yourself checking the thermostat after a nightcap or a quick drink with friends? It’s not a coincidence. Alcohol has been known to trigger hot flashes for women with menopause, and you may even notice through your own observations that certain types of alcohol, like wine, may trigger them more easily than other types. Smoking can also trigger a hot flash, so cutting back or eliminating both of these substances is not only good for your health, but can help keep you feeling cool!
Tight Clothing
A snug-fitting dress or tight top and skinny jeans are a great fashion statement, but they might end up making you more uncomfortable than you bargained for as the day goes on. The restriction of tight-fitting clothes is a very common trigger for hot flashes, and on top of that, wiggling your way out of a tight garment while you’re trying to fight a hot flash is an exercise in frustration! As good as they look, it might be best to ditch some of your more tight-fitting outfits while you’re going through menopause. Choosing clothes that are more lightweight, flowy, and loose-fitting will keep you much more comfortable, and you might even find that you like the style too!
Avoiding these common hot flash triggers can make a big difference for some women, but if you find that you’re still struggling with hot flashes and other unpleasant symptoms of menopause, seeking out hormone replacement therapy like the kind we offer here at Renewed Vitality can get you feeling like yourself again!
Your body is a complex organism full of systems that interact and affect each other in intricate ways, sometimes in ways that don’t make a lot of sense to us modern humans on the surface. We tend to think of the mind and body as two separate entities, and because stress is primarily a mental state for people today, it seems like stress shouldn’t have much of an impact on the physical health of the body.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! The body affects the mind and the mind affects the body in turn, and if you’re under high levels of stress, it’s likely that you’ll notice it affecting your wellbeing and how you feel on a daily basis. In fact, a lot of the physical signs of stress, like weight gain, sleep and energy problems, and even menstrual problems, share common ground with the signs of hormonal imbalance. That’s because your stress levels are affecting your hormones! It all comes down to a little chemical your body makes called cortisol. Let’s take a look at the ways it is affecting you!
What is Cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone– more specifically, it’s a steroid hormone– that the human body produces in the adrenal glands, which are located near the kidneys. Cortisol is naturally occurring and every human body needs it! In the right amounts, it helps to regulate your blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and keep your blood pressure at an optimal level, along with many other jobs.
The issues arise when stress is introduced to the situation. Cortisol plays a vital role in the body’s “fight-or-flight” response. This is actually the reason it’s often referred to as the stress hormone. When your system is triggered by a stressor, whether it’s an actual physical threat or an anxiety-inducing modern threat like a deadline you forgot about, your body is flooded with high levels of adrenaline to prepare you to respond to the stressor. If the stressor goes away, these levels drop off, but if it stays, the body starts producing high levels of cortisol as well, releasing blood sugar to give you energy and slowing down the digestive and immune systems to conserve effort. Once you are no longer being confronted by a stressful situation, these levels will go back down to normal and your body will start to function as it usually does, but if you’re dealing with chronic, ongoing stress, your cortisol levels stay elevated, leading to a whole host of health problems.
Effects of High Cortisol
High cortisol from long-term stress can really wreak havoc on your physical health. Some symptoms of high cortisol are frequent headaches, digestive problems, low sex drive, appetite changes leading to overeating or undereating, brain fog, and anxiety. If it goes on for long enough, high cortisol can also cause heart disease, depression, and can affect your menstrual cycle. Basically, cortisol levels that are too high for too long have a waterfall effect on all of the systems in your body, telling them to constantly be ready to fight or run from an incoming threat. Your body moves resources away from less essential systems like digestion and reproduction to focus on keeping you ready to act at any moment. When your body is in this state for a long time, it can be bad for your health in both the short term and the long term!
How to Regulate Your Stress and Hormones
Regulating your hormone levels when you’re dealing with chronic stress and high levels of cortisol is something that it’s wise to consult a doctor about. However, there are some healthy lifestyle changes that you can easily make on your own that can help you to start feeling better! Eating right, exercising enough (but not too much– you don’t want to overtax your body when it’s already stressed!) and making sleep a priority will help put you on the right track for recovery.
Additionally, taking measures to reduce your stress can help pull your body out of that constant fight-or-flight state. If you’re able to remove external sources of stress, like cutting down your hours at a difficult job, that’s a great place to start, but not everyone has that option. In both cases, it can also be beneficial to use techniques that talk to the base systems of your body and tell it that it’s not in danger. Meditation can be a great way to do this, and so can deep breathing exercises and mindfulness practices that focus on stopping stressful thinking patterns. Basically, anything that you wouldn’t be able to do if there was a tiger or a bear right in front of you is a good way to tell your body’s primal stress response system that it’s ok to calm down and relax. Any activities that increase endorphins, the feel-good hormones, are also great to counteract high cortisol, like dancing, spending time with friends and loved ones, cuddling a pet, or even just laughing!
These techniques are a great way to help address hormonal imbalances caused by stress and high cortisol, but what about other kinds of hormonal imbalances? For more information, you can learn about your hormonal health and how to improve it by reading our blog here!
If you’ve spent some time online recently in spaces devoted to discussing aging, menopause, and womanhood, then you might’ve heard the term “menopause vacation” or “menopause retreat” getting thrown around. A vacation always sounds nice, but what exactly are these phrases referring to, and what do you need to know about it if you’re currently staring down the barrel of menopause yourself?
Here’s the short answer– a menopause vacation or retreat is a program, usually that lasts at least a day or as long as a few days, focused on menopause and dedicated to increasing a woman’s understanding and enjoyment of the experience as she goes through it. For the long answer, keep reading below!
Why Go On a Menopause Vacation?
Right off the bat, you might have mixed feelings about the idea of a menopause retreat. This stage of life is something that isn’t frequently acknowledged or discussed by society at large, so dedicating an entire wellness program to it might seem like an unusual decision. However, there are lots of reasons that women choose to go to these retreats!
For starters, menopause vacations or retreats often have a strong focus on education, information, and awareness. Menopause is something that every woman goes through once she reaches a certain age, and yet many women don’t fully understand what the change entails and aren’t prepared for it. Learning more about what’s actually happening in your body, how to make it easier to cope with, and how to embrace it can create a positive experience for many women.
On the subject of embracing it, part of the idea behind menopause vacations is to celebrate and relish this time in your life. Menopause is often viewed through a negative lens, but it’s not necessarily a negative thing, even if at times it isn’t the most pleasant. Going through menopause means you’ve grown and experienced so much as you aged! It means that you have wisdom to share, memories to treasure, and new experiences to look forward to. Celebrating the process of aging and all of the developments that come along with it is something of a radical idea in our society that tends to look down its nose a bit at older women, and programs especially dedicated to embracing this stage of life are a great vehicle to do it.
One of the other main reasons that a woman might enjoy going on a menopause retreat is to enjoy camaraderie and community with her peers– other women who are in a similar stage of life and who are going through the same experiences. For lots of people, school is the last time that they’re ever surrounded by people their own age, and even if you have lots of friends and family that you love, if there’s no one in your circle who’s at a similar stage in life to you, it can be hard to feel understood. Meeting other women, making friends, and exchanging stories and advice is a huge part of these vacations or retreats, and it’s a big draw for a lot of the people who attend them!
What Do Menopause Vacations Include?
What a menopause vacation or menopause retreat will include depends a lot on the individual program, its location, and its length. However, you can definitely expect to see sections of the program dedicated to learning about menopause as well as sections devoted to socializing and bonding with the other attendees. It’s also common to have activities on the schedule that promote rest, relaxation, and wellness, like massages, yoga, meditation classes, and other activities designed to alleviate stress. You might also have activities that discuss exercise and healthy movement, nutrition, sleep, and other aspects of your physical wellbeing that can help to alleviate the less pleasant symptoms of menopause.
Would a Menopause Vacation Benefit Me?
Whether or not you feel like a menopause vacation would be a good idea for you is a personal thing. However, if you’ve been feeling like you could use some deeper knowledge about menopause, some friends to talk about it with, or just a chance to relax and slow down for a minute, going on a menopause retreat might be a good idea for you!
If you want to start learning more about menopause and the many ways that it can affect you, you can continue to read our blog here!
Menopause is something that a lot of women dread, in spite of the fact that it’s a normal and natural process. You’re bound to hear horror stories from the older women in your life about how unbearable it is, and as your friends and women of a similar age to you start to experience it, you may be watching yourself with laser focus, reading into every little ache and drop of sweat and wondering if it’s a sign. Knowing more about the real, reliable signs of oncoming menopause can help you to feel less anxious and more confident about the change you’re about to undergo, so here are the signs you should be looking out for!
Irregular Periods
This is the one irrefutable sign that menopause has begun. It’s what the name literally means– the stop of the period. If you start to notice your periods becoming very irregular in their length, heaviness, or cycle, especially if they’ve always been mostly regular, it’s a sign that menopause is beginning for you. Once you go a full year with no periods at all, you’ve officially crossed the threshold and are medically considered to be in menopause. Watching your periods will be the most important predictor of this change!
Chills, Hot Flashes, and Night Sweats
Perhaps the most infamous symptom of menopause is the notorious temperature fluctuations– the chills, the hot flashes, and the night sweats that make it hard to stay comfortable. If you start noticing yourself feeling disproportionately warm or cold compared to everyone else in the room, it may be a sign that menopause is starting.
Sleep Problems
Whether they’re brought on by night sweats or other discomforts or seem to have no cause at all, changes or difficulties in how you sleep are often a sign that something is afoot in your body, and it can be an early indicator of menopause, especially if you notice sleep problems in conjunction with other symptoms like changes to your period!
Mood Changes
Menopause is a major physical and hormonal change in your body, in much the same way that puberty was when you were young. As such, it comes along with similar mood changes that may be frustrating or hard to predict. Although you probably have a better handle on them now that you’re more mature and less impulsive than you were as a teenager, you may still find yourself feeling suddenly angry or sad without much provocation. It’s okay, and it’s a normal thing to experience! Try to let these feelings wash over you; just feel them as they come and then let them go. They’re still your feelings, even if your hormones are kicking them up a notch. Give them their moment, and then move on with your day!
Sexual Changes
Alterations to your libido or sex drive are a very normal thing to experience in menopause, as are shifts in how much you actually enjoy sex or sexual activity. This can be due in part to symptoms of menopause like vaginal dryness, which can make sex uncomfortable or painful, but it can also happen separately of physical changes– simply a change in your sex drive. It’s not unheard of for some women to have an increase in libido, but it’s more common for a decrease to occur and for women to lose some interest in sex. If you find this is straining your relationship with a partner or partners, seeking out medical help can be useful in restoring your sex drive to what it was, and therapy can help you and your partner adjust to the new normal in your relationship.
Body Changes
Physical changes to your body are a big sign of the shifting hormone levels that take place with menopause. Common things that you may see are a decrease in breast volume or fullness, thinning of hair both on the head and on the body, dry skin, weight fluctuations, and weakened bones or osteoporosis. Some of these changes are harmless if a little annoying, while others can become uncomfortable or pose problems for your long-term health. Speak to your doctor about them– they can help you to find approaches that will keep you comfortable, confident, and healthy throughout this transition!
If you’re noticing these signs in yourself on a regular basis, then it’s probably safe to assume that you’re entering menopause! Despite the fact that these symptoms are incredibly common, they can be very frustrating and difficult to deal with. Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is a powerful tool that can help you to deal with them. To learn more, you can read about the HRT offered by Renewed Vitality here!
The human body is full of hormones. They’re the sophisticated message system that your body has in place so that all of your different organs and systems can communicate properly. Most people know about hormones in the context of their reproductive health– estrogen, testosterone, and other names will probably sound familiar to you. However, there are far more hormones at work in your body that can be helpful to learn about! Ghrelin is one that you might or might not be familiar with, but you feel its effects every single day. It’s the hunger hormone! Let’s take a closer look at how ghrelin works inside your body.
What is Ghrelin?
Ghrelin is a hormone produced in your body that mainly affects your digestive system. Unlike neurohormones, which work in your brain, or sex hormones, which work in your reproductive system but have jobs all over the body, ghrelin is a hormone that’s pretty directly focused on your hunger, digestion, and eating habits.
What Does Ghrelin Do?
Ghrelin is called the “hunger hormone” because its main function is to do just that– make you hungry! It’s what gives your body feelings of hunger and creates the drive to eat and seek out food. In prehistoric humans, ghrelin was what drew you out of your safe, protected dwelling to hunt and seek out sustenance. In modern times, the only places ghrelin is likely to drive you are to the fridge or the grocery store. However, the function is the same. The human body needs fuel, and ghrelin is what makes you seek it out.
Ghrelin works in tandem with another hormone called leptin. One of leptin’s main functions is to make you feel full, so when you eat, your ghrelin levels go down and your leptin levels come up, letting you know that it’s time to stop eating for now. After a meal, your leptin levels gradually come down again as your ghrelin levels come up, increasing your feelings of hunger the longer you go without eating.
Ghrelin also plays a small role in your sleep/wake cycle, or circadian rhythm. Ever had trouble sleeping when you had a light dinner and are really hungry, or when you’ve eaten way too much before bed? Blame ghrelin for that. It also has to do with your reward-seeking system, your taste sensation, and the way you metabolize food. If you’ve ever been on a diet, you know the feeling of ghrelin making it hard to stick to that low-calorie plan!
Where is Ghrelin Made?
Ghrelin is produced in your digestive system, mostly in your stomach. An empty stomach is what triggers the production of this hormone. Once it enters your bloodstream and makes your way around your body, ghrelin eventually finds its way into your hypothalamus, the part of the brain that helps to control and regulate your appetite. That’s where it works to trigger feelings of hunger and that thought of “it’s time to eat something!”
What Causes High Ghrelin?
Ghrelin levels are found to be high in people who follow restrictive diets for one reason or another. People who suffer from eating disorders like anorexia tend to have high ghrelin, as do people who are frequently on yo-yo or fad diets. High ghrelin is also sometimes found in people who restrict their diets for health reasons, like those with celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease.
What Causes Low Ghrelin?
While it might sound counterintuitive, people who struggle with obesity often have low ghrelin levels. Scientists are still working to understand this, but one theory is that overweight or obese people are more sensitive to ghrelin, and can feel its hunger-causing effects even at lower levels. Low ghrelin is also associated with conditions like chronic gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and infections like H. Pylori.
How Does Ghrelin Affect Me?
For the most part, your ghrelin levels are something that naturally fluctuates with your diet and eating schedule. If you’re trying to lose weight, however, you probably feel like you have a pretty antagonistic relationship with your hunger, and so, by association, your ghrelin hormone. Try to think of it this way– in this day and age where we have access to more food than we can possibly eat, ghrelin may seem like a simple annoyance, but in the early days of humanity, ghrelin was what helped us protect ourselves from starving. It helped humans maintain healthy fat levels that would sustain them through times of scarcity.
If you have abnormally high or low ghrelin levels, there’s probably an underlying cause like a digestive disorder that should be treated by a specialist. However, if you’re otherwise healthy with no additional symptoms but you’re struggling with your feelings of hunger, it’s likely that you’re just feeling the effects of ghrelin doing its job and trying to keep you fed.
You can help to keep your ghrelin levels more balanced and manage your hunger by eating a healthy diet full of satiating foods like protein, fats, and healthy carbs, as well as adding in high-volume foods like vegetables. Try to get an adequate amount of sleep and stay hydrated as well– these things can help to regulate your appetite!
Ghrelin and your digestive system don’t exist in a vacuum within your body, and all of your hormones and body systems are connected. Imbalances in your sex hormones have the power to affect your appetite, so if you’re struggling with too much or not enough hunger along with other symptoms, seeing the hormonal specialists at Renewed Vitality might help you! Talk to our team today to learn more.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month has drawn to a close, but the time to be paying attention to the health of your breasts isn’t just during October, it’s all year round. While breast cancer is more treatable and has a higher survival rate than ever before, it’s still best to catch it as early as possible, meaning you should be extremely conscious of any potential symptoms, including pain and changes in your breasts.
The symptoms of menopause and the signs of breast cancer can occasionally overlap. As your body enters the early stages of this transition, changes to your breasts are common, and it can be hard to tell what’s normal and what is a cause for concern. To be safe, it’s best to make sure you get your regular mammograms and perform your monthly self-exams. These are some normal breast-related symptoms of menopause, and some other ones that should warrant a check with your doctor!
Normal Menopause Symptoms
Pain or Tenderness
Any time your hormones get out of balance, whether for an oncoming period, a new pregnancy, menopause, or a whole host of other reasons, your breasts can feel sensitive and sore. During menopause, it becomes less predictable than it was with PMS. Take note of any pain or tenderness for good measure, but unless it’s severe or persistent, it’s usually not anything to worry about!
Changes in Size and Shape
The dropping levels of estrogen in your body as you enter menopause can affect the size, shape, and look of your breasts. You may notice that they lose density and fullness, and they may appear to be a completely different size or shape than they were when you were younger, especially if you’ve breastfed children in the past. These changes are normal and many women experience them during menopause.
Lumps or Masses
Feeling a lump or mass in your breast is enough to get any woman’s heart racing, but not every lump means cancer. Cysts are a common cause of breast lumps and are nothing to be concerned about, especially if you’ve been performing your monthly self-exams over the years and you know that you’re prone to this kind of mass. Lymph nodes also might feel like a small lump but are perfectly normal. However, other kinds of lumps can be dangerous– keep reading below to learn how to tell the difference.
Talk to Your Doctor
Hard or Fixed Lumps
Lumps in your breast that are soft, have defined margins (i.e. edges that are regular and easy to feel) and are mobile, meaning they can be moved around by touch, are usually benign and not dangerous to your health. You should still discuss them with your doctor if they concern you, but they don’t typically indicate cancer.
Lumps that are hard, have irregular borders, and are fixed (meaning they can’t be easily moved by touch) can be signs of breast cancer. If you find a lump, mass, or growth in your breast that fits this description, you should inform your doctor of it right away.
Nipple Changes or Discharge
Changes in the shape and size of your breast are normal during menopause, but you should be very aware of changes in your nipples, particularly if your nipples invert suddenly (or start pointing inwards when they used to point out). Unexplained nipple discharge is also a sign that something is amiss and should be discussed with your doctor.
Skin Changes
A skin effect called “orange peeling” is a common sign of breast cancer. This means that the skin on a particular area of your breast takes on a dimpled appearance, like the skin of an orange. This is something you should look out for when you perform your regular self breast exams. You should also keep an eye out for any redness, rashes, or irritation on the skin of your breasts. Some kinds of cancer won’t cause a lump but will present with these symptoms instead, and any unexplained skin irritation on your breasts is something to tell your doctor about.
Lopsided Size or Shape Changes
For the most part, as long as changes in the size, shape, and appearance of your breasts are symmetrical, they’re not anything to be too worried about. However, if you notice a sudden change like a swelling or shrinkage of the breast on one side but not the other, it’s definitely something to make a note of and get checked out.
The changes that occur in your body during menopause are easy to get scared by. It’s a time when a lot is shifting and altering, and it’s only natural to be concerned about your health. However, if you keep in mind what’s considered a normal breast change and what’s not when it comes to menopause, it should help to set your mind at ease. If you want to learn more about women’s health and taking care of yourself during menopause, continue to read our blog here at Renewed Vitality!
