The Truth About Perimenopause: What Your Body Is Trying To Tell You

0:00
Welcome back to another episode of the Diabetes Digital Podcast.
Today we have a very special guest for you.
We are talking with Bria Gad, also known as the Period Whisperer.
I love that name and I wish I would have had a period Whisperer when I first got my period.
0:17
We are going to be packing what is really happening in the body during perimenopause.
Brea explores the connection between hormone fluctuations and blood sugar, how to spot early signs, and why symptoms like fatigue and cravings are real and valid.
Whether you’ve been navigating perimenopause for a while or you’re just beginning to notice changes, this conversation will leave you informed, supported, and more connected to what your body needs.
0:41
Perimenopause is one of those things that is not talked about enough, and many women are left feeling unprepared for the changes that it brings.
So we are thrilled to have this conversation with Brea and just a reminder that if you have pre menopause or menopause, if you have prediabetes, PCOS, diabetes and you want personalized support from one of our dietitians, we do offer insurance covered counseling.
1:03
So make sure you check us out at diabetesdigital.co and we are going to hop into this episode.
Welcome to the Diabetes Digital podcast.
I’m Wendy.
And I’m Jess, and we’re best friends, registered dietitians and diabetes educators.
Through our telehealth platform, Diabetes digital.co, we offer accessible and personalized virtual nutrition counseling for people with diabetes and pre diabetes.
1:26
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Now on to the episode.
Welcome to the podcast for ya.
Thanks, Wendy.
I’m super excited to be here.
Yay.
All right, so gonna jump right in.
We were chatting about perimenopause.
3:47
Our Co host Jess, she was diagnosed with perimenopause in her mid 30s and up until then I didn’t even know what that was.
I thought you went from like having a period to going straight into menopause.
And so we have covered it a little bit on the podcast before, but I’m curious to know like what your experience has been and how you got into this line of work?
4:06
Yeah, for sure.
I think, you know, I always, I was amazed when I got into this work, I realized like 50% of women don’t know the difference between perimenopause and menopause.
I mean, I’m surprised it’s not a larger.
I didn’t know.
And I was in the Wellness industry and that’s really how I, I learned about it because I had primarily, you know, built a career in fitness and nutrition, you know, through my late 20s, all through my 30s.
4:30
And you know, when I was raising young kids.
And then around 353637, first I started noticing changes in my clients.
Like they, they just didn’t have the same energy, the same stamina, the same recovery, especially in their fitness.
And we’re more tired.
4:45
And, and then I really noticed it in me.
And I thought, it’s so funny because you think you have something figured out like when you work, I’m like, well, I have my Wellness figured out.
Don’t have other things.
But it really threw me for a loop.
I was stopped sleeping very well.
My periods did get a little wonky, which was super unusual for me, Those two markers in particular, but I hadn’t really changed anything.
5:07
I put on some extra weight and I was having a lot more cravings and and a real energy suck.
Those were kind of the big things and some some big time increase in anxiety.
And that was what kind of took me from Google searching things, which was never very helpful to going to my healthcare practitioner who was wonderful, you know, did all the things, like ran all the tests, asked all the questions and just kind of was like, you know, you’re, you’re the picture of health.
5:34
That was kind of, you know, so glad I don’t have any of the awful things that come up when I Google.
But I remember thinking, I’m 37 and if this is how I feel at 37, like, I don’t know, how am I going to swing this next another 37 years?
5:50
You know, that was what really pivoted things for me into better understanding the function of my body and not just the physicality of it.
And it’s where I really discovered sex hormones and just took me an entirely different direction.
That’s so good that you had a doctor that listened to you and I was able to diagnose you because I remember when Jess was going through it, she had to go through 8 doctors to get a diagnosis because it was getting overlooked because they were like, oh, you, you know, it must be something else.
6:20
And like she wasn’t sleeping at that point for months.
Like she just had terrible sleep.
She was going through it.
And so aside, you mentioned fatigue, poor sleep, are there any other symptoms that people should look out for and like, is there a specialty Dr. that one should see that would be better at like diagnosing perimenopause?
6:40
Yeah.
Well, and technically perimenopause isn’t a diagnosable condition.
I mean, I think probably with Jess, it was like early menopause.
Perimenopause is really, I mean, it’s essentially the the beginning of the retirement of your ovaries and your reproductive system.
It’s like they picked up the torch, the new job in puberty and now they’re like, OK, time to transition out, which is a big deal for the rest of the body because they’ve carried a pretty important role for a while, but not a role that’s essential for life, one that can help us with some vitality.
7:11
So I think, you know, I always think it’s so important for us to pay attention to your own body to kind of bring things back to some key foundational pieces that you know about your own body.
But I think it’s so dependent these days in healthcare.
7:27
And I think the other thing is when you go to a doctor, their job is to diagnose something physically.
And if they, if there’s nothing physically wrong with you, then we know it’s functional.
So I’ve often recommend either if you think it’s your hormones, either work with a menopause Dr. or perimenopause specialist, a female hormone specialist, or or work with a functional practitioner like myself, because you’re going to get into those why’s a little bit more.
7:51
And then aside from the fatigue and the sleep, are there any other symptoms that people should look out for?
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think a lower capacity to handle stress is really a principle one lack of recovery from from fitness.
So if you are into fitness, unexplained weight gain or undeserved, we’ll call it, where you haven’t really changed anything and things are changing and absolutely changes in your in your menstrual cycle.
8:17
That’s like one of our key signs of health as a woman, and we really haven’t been taught about it.
So if you aren’t tracking, I would track.
And then if you notice changes, more symptoms, heavier periods, different colors in your cycle, those are really, I think key indicators that something is off in your sex hormones.
8:35
OK.
Yeah, those are really good to pay attention to.
So we focus on insulin resistance, pre diabetes, PCOS.
Have you noticed any fluctuations and blood sugar as people are approaching perimenopause and menopause is like, is there anything that you’ve picked up on?
8:53
Yeah, I love that there’s a huge correlation here.
I mean, you know, the whole body is like an orchestra.
It all works together, systems.
But what typically happens in this, you know, this transition of retirement, we’ll call it, is that first, you know, estrogen starts to decline and fluctuate along with progesterone.
9:12
And when we’re talking about like insulin and glucose, when estrogen declines, it lowers our insulin sensitivity specifically because it plays a protective role in blood sugar regulation by supporting our insulin sensitivity.
Like, as you know, and I’m sure your listeners know, like how well our cells respond to insulin, it also helps glucose move from the bloodstream into cells for energy.
9:36
And so as it fluctuates and declines, especially estradiol, which is kind of our most robust form of estrogen, your cells can become more resistant to insulin.
So means our blood sugar is staying elevated longer.
It means over time, you know, we might be getting more insulin resistant.
9:53
Mm hmm.
And that’s just with estrogen declining.
And then of course when progesterone starts to drop, which typically for most people happens 1st, and then the estrogen, we have more cortisol reactivity.
So it like typically progesterone really buffers our cortisol, our stress hormone and perimenopause.
10:11
But as it drops, you start to lose that kind of calming effect and you become more stress reactive, which you know, when cortisol’s around it raises blood sugar as a part of that fight or flight response.
Then it kind of encourages is that blood sugar instability, more crashes, more cravings.
10:28
So I think when we’re really talking about the impact of sex hormones on on insulin and glucose, that’s what we’re what we can see there.
Yeah.
And it’s definitely a domino effect where you know, with the cortisol and the insulin resistance and then that ends up affecting your mood and your energy and then it affects how you’re sleeping.
10:48
And then the sleeping is also affecting the insulin resistance.
It’s just like.
And makes it harder to make certain food choices.
I mean stress or it doesn’t have enough energy from sleep, it’s going to crave quick energy, which is always sugar in some form, which makes that even more complex for our body.
11:07
Yeah, sleep is really hard.
I mean, because I, I remember like when Jess was going through and she was telling me that it was like months of just exhaustion.
I’m like, I would be miserable.
It affects everything.
And with it being a common symptom with perimenopause, what is like, what is the underlying factor there?
11:27
What is causing that?
Yeah.
I mean, of course, there’s always, there can be many options, but I would say like 80% of the time if you are waking up, well, there’s a few different parts of sleep if you’re struggling to fall asleep, I think usually that comes down to again, cortisol dysregulation.
11:45
So we’re not cortisol’s not coming down at night the way it should and then our melatonin’s not coming up.
So we kind of have one problem there.
But to kind of bring it back to, I think blood sugar and like relevance here, you are waking up multiple times a night and or specifically between those like witching hours of two and 4:00 AM, we always, I think kind of bring it back to cortisol.
12:07
And then where is that cortisol coming from?
And often it’s blood sugar dysregulation.
So I find most of my clients, if they are waking up between 2:00 and 4:00 AM specifically, that’s the time when our liver kind of does itself clean.
So it needs some glucose at that time.
12:22
And if there’s not enough in there, because our blood sugar is just regulated, the brain calls for cortisol instead.
And it comes and then we wake up and maybe we wake up in a sweat, maybe we wake up and can’t get back to sleep ’cause that cortisol is kind of creating that that spin, that fight or flight in the body.
12:40
OK.
And I’m curious to know like what nutritional changes were helpful for you because I’m sure that there’s like appetite changes, there’s preference changes, your metabolism is changing.
So what did you find helpful during this time?
Yeah, I think the probably the most helpful thing and what I always work on first and foremost with my clients is like is stability and consistency of nutrition, first and foremost.
13:07
So that means waking up, eating within one to two hours of waking up, and then paying attention enough to figure out how much do I need to eat in that meal to last me four or five hours.
Because that’s going to help tell us that we’re regulating, that we’re getting enough in that time frame.
13:23
Everyone wants to know, like how much I should eat, you know, what I should eat.
And only you get to know that.
So for your own body, so that paying attention, right, these regular meals every four to five hours, you know, if it has to to be 3, so be it.
But I really like 4 to 5 hours.
If it’s got to go longer, we have that snack to really create that kind of consistent energy drip into the body.
13:46
So that would be #1 tip.
And the other thing that I find really, really helpful besides having a balanced meal, right, like making sure we’re having protein, fats and carbohydrates like fiber filled carbohydrates, we’ll call them, is the order that you eat your food.
And maybe you guys have talked about this already, but it’s such a great little hack for blood sugar regulation, I find.
14:05
Let’s say at lunch or you’re going to have, you know, a salad and a, you know, a sandwich with meat or something in it.
If you have the salad first or you have your vegetables first, that kind of slows down the absorption of of the higher glucose spiking foods.
14:21
So even just eating your food in an order of carbohydrates, like those vegetables 1st and then your protein and fats and then your carbohydrates is a really simple way without adding much stress to your life to help with that.
Yeah, I love that.
14:36
And also in thinking about satiety, I love what you were saying about pairing foods.
And I think that the more foods you add to that combination, the longer you’re going to be satiated for.
Because oftentimes people might think like, OK, well, I’m going to try to eat healthier and have like a chicken salad or something like that.
14:55
And they really cut back on carbohydrates and then next thing you know they’re hungry like an hour later.
Yes, I totally agree.
I think I mean, that’s a beautiful message from your body.
If you are hungry like less than three hours after eating, you didn’t eat enough and and not enough of a mixture for your body.
15:14
So we can go back to our meal and say, OK, well tomorrow, how do I either increase my protein and fats?
How do I make sure it’s more well-rounded and I have those carbohydrates.
So you can just play with it a little bit for yourself.
And ultimately, Wendy, I feel like it’s the best meal plan advice.
15:29
You’re like just listening to feedback your own self.
And we don’t have to pay for more meal plans.
Exactly.
I know, yeah, we talk about that all the time, intuitive eating, but it’s just so hard for people because you’re constantly getting these messages and the meal plans online and the hacks and the this and the that for blood sugar regulation.
15:48
And now there’s a lot of stuff for perimenopause out there too.
And it’s like people get so confused.
And it’s totally understandable because it’s like, OK, what should I be doing?
But I love what you said about really listening to those messages and using your body signals as a guide.
16:06
That’s like your best, you know, That is your best compass, I feel when it comes to nutrition.
Yes, 100%.
And and I always want to say to him like you don’t have to do it forever.
I think if you, if you really just decide this is what I’m going to focus on for.
I mean, I’d say for women, if you’re cycling, probably a month would be ideal because then you’re getting a full cycle.
16:25
But even two weeks of paying attention and then moving on, you know, is enough to keep you from having like cyclical food thoughts from having blood sugar dysregulation.
If you if you really TuneIn And then of course if you need help, you can get that help.
Absolutely.
16:42
I want to talk a little bit about the impact that this might have on someone’s mental health, like going through this transition, I’m sure physically it’s a lot to handle, but also emotionally like it’s, it’s a big change and just kind of wrapping your head around like, wow, my body is really changing.
17:01
I’m entering a new phase of life and if I could imagine if someone is dealing with pretty harsh symptoms that can be really hard to deal with as well.
So what what do you think might be helpful during that time?
Just for like emotional coping.
17:18
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I always think like, I think when you’re thinking about again, a retirement like so someone, something’s transitioning out like any transition in life, it’s an added workload, right?
It’s what’s more energy demand.
So at the very least, I think we always need to look at, OK, more is happening, so there’s more demand, energy in my body.
17:39
So can I decrease demand in other ways?
Maybe, maybe not.
That just is going to depend on your life, but how do I really increase my energy supply?
And I think we can look to some of the key ways of increasing sleep, of course.
17:55
But if your sleep’s disrupted, I just am always a believer in like, just hold the space for the sleep.
Have the consistency of when you go to bed, the consistency of when you get up that make sure that that space is held.
This making sure you’re prioritizing this nutrition piece.
So we’re getting that fuel in.
18:12
And then I think pleasure is an underrated way to help us feel better, right?
Like all transition is challenging.
All transition is new.
And in perimenopause, the fluctuating of our sex hormones does impact the part of our brain that like memory codes and retrieves.
18:31
So that can dig up things that we’ve thought we’d put to bed or maybe just stuffed somewhere inside of us emotionally so things can start to surface.
So I think that my focus is always, you know, bringing things back to like habit and consistency in your main health pillars.
18:50
When do I eat, when do I sleep, when do I move and when do I play?
And if you’re too stressed to play, then we need to work on the stress to createspace for the play because you know, Wendy, we do this like whether you’re a parent or not, you probably have an animal like we create routine for our kids and our dogs.
19:08
Like it is something that we know so well that provides and our bodies are no different.
We’ve just kind of gotten away from it.
So I think that taking space, listening to your body, asking for help, but always being solid on like, OK, did I sleep today?
19:24
Did I eat today?
You know, did I move my body today?
And did I find time to either breathe or laugh today?
And those things alone can can really create stability in a rickety time.
Yes, yeah.
19:39
That’s so helpful and with sleep, because I think just like people in general struggle with sleep and I’m curious to know like what rituals or like tips you have that help you get a good nighttime routine?
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I’m a big believer in staying off screens an hour before bed.
19:58
I think you hear this one a lot.
Or if you need to be on a screen or if you want to watch TV, make sure it’s not like a personal screen.
Like sit down the couch with your loved one or buy your whatever watch, you know, watch it a bit further away.
Maybe put on some blue light blockers?
And take a little time to do some deep breathing.
20:14
I mean, most, again, most of these things all come down from to stress and the central nervous system, right?
Insulin resistance going to be impacted by stress.
Our sex hormones are impacted by stress.
So if we can take a hot minute and just breathe and bring us back down into calm, that can be really helpful.
20:33
I’m a huge fan of going for a walk after dinner.
You know, again, a lot of people have dogs, like walk your dog after dinner.
It’s in 1020 minutes.
Not only regulates our blood sugar better, but it just calms that body down.
And then first thing in the morning, like I’m a big I actually two things I have started to hit snooze on my alarm and just listen to a 5 minute meditation.
20:56
I have a hard time creating space for meditation in my life and I think there’s a lot of highly productive people and women that struggle with that too.
Well, I’ll just like listen to 5 minutes then just to kind of, again, keep the body calm.
Not long, just that snooze time.
21:13
And I like to at least like get outside for a minute.
So again, get your pet out for a walk, go for a 10 minute walk.
Just stick your feet in the ground if it’s not freezing where you live, but get that sunlight in your eyes and that’ll help regulate that circadian rhythm, which will again, impact stress, impact sex hormones, impact hunger hormones.
21:31
Yeah, that makes all the difference.
I recently started going out for walks.
I don’t even do it everyday.
Like sometimes I’ll just go out to my balcony to get a little bit of sunlight.
But the days that I actually do go out and I’m more like immersed in the park and things like that, it makes all the difference with like energy levels and mood.
21:52
And yeah, I think The Walking is super important, especially after meals, because it could just be super quick.
And if you’re having some issues with insulin resistance, that can also be really helpful as well.
And it feels so much better.
You know, you’re like a little bit of movement.
It’s nothing intense.
22:08
And it just kind of keeps us all, I think, more calm and regulated in general.
Agreed.
Well, in wrapping, I would love to go over 1 myth that you’d like to clear up when it comes to perimenopause.
Yeah, there’s.
So many here.
22:24
It’s a tough one, but I think, you know, the idea that there’s nothing you can do about it and that it’s just your hormones changing, I think is total baloney.
You know, don’t get me wrong again, transitions cause stress.
22:40
They cause more work on the body.
But in Chinese herbal medicine, they talk about menopause and perimenopause as your second spring.
And I really believe if we understand our hormones, you can see that really from puberty until menopause, we’ve kind of been hormonally hijacked every single month in the name of reproduction.
23:01
Like there’s a reason for it where estrogen rises and it’s like rose colored glasses and it makes us amenable to put everyone else ahead of us to procreate and and put our children ahead of us.
And that is going away.
And now what’s left is how we really feel.
23:17
And I think when we don’t have that kind of drug of estrogen coming in all the time, although there’s beautiful benefits to it, I think we get to really make stuff happen.
You know, it’s when we really get to be like, oh, this is really bugging me like all month long.
It’s bugging me.
Not just it’s, it’s really perimenopause is the gift that kind of highlights things that weren’t working for us anyway, but youth kind of allowed us to like ignore.
23:45
And it’s the time to deal with those mess things that your body’s telling you so that you can have the next 40 years, like living your best life.
Yeah, that’s a great way to think about it, because it’s not doomsday.
24:00
It’s like shifting mindset and like this is actually an opportunity to get to know yourself in a different way.
I really love that.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Amazing.
Well, Bria, for listeners who want to connect with you, where can they check out your work?
24:16
Do you have a website?
What’s your socials?
Give us everything, yeah.
For sure, So you can always cop over to the website and and see what’s going on there.
It’s Bria the period whisperer.com or come hang out on Instagram.
I love hanging out there at Bria under score, period under score whisperer.
24:33
It’s a mouthful and or I have a podcast as well that I’m so excited to be having Wendy on soon called the Period Whisperer podcast.
Anywhere you get your pods.
If you want to learn more about your body as a woman.
It’s really what what I talk about.
Amazing.
Thanks Bria.
24:51
Thanks for joining us for today’s episode.
If you’re interested in nutrition counseling with one of our expert dietitians to help improve your pre diabetes or diabetes, visit us at diabetesdigital.co.
Also, if you found our conversation helpful, do us a favor and rate and review this podcast on iTunes, plus share with someone who might find this helpful.
25:11
You can also connect with us on Instagram at Diabetes Digital.
Dot Co and TuneIn every Wednesday for practical, inclusive, and culturally humble diabetes insights.
We’ll catch you later.
Bye.