Common Women’s Health Concerns in your 40s

Common Women’s Health Concerns in your 40s

When women enter their 40’s hormonal health really starts to change. Some women will continue with concerns that she experienced in her 30’s. Some will start to wonder if maybe menopause is fast approaching. Others will simply not feel like themselves and not really notice a hormonal connection (though hormones are usually the cause).

Once a woman reaches her 40’s she will start to have menstrual cycles where she will not ovulate or she will ovulate at irregular times. Inconsistent ovulation is what causes the range of symptoms. Ovulation is the main event of a woman’s menstural cycle. When this doesn’t happen in a cycle she will continue to produce estrogen, but she will not produce progesterone. This confuses the body, allowing the uterine lining to get thicker, not providing a proper signal to produce a period at the right time, and sometimes lead to new or worse premenstrual symptoms.

Women in their 40’s are the women who start to feel like their lives are falling apart; they think they are going crazy. But I want to tell you, YOU ARE NOT GOING CRAZY….your hormones are.

So, what are common concerns that women at this age may see:

• Irregular menses

As I mentioned above, the 40’s is usually the age group where ovulation starts to be less consistent. Less consistent ovulation results in a change in hormone production. This starts with lack of progesterone (which is primarily produced with ovulation) and eventually results in irregular production of estrogen. Without proper, cyclic production of progesterone and estrogen, the body doesn’t get consistent, appropriate signals on when to menstruate. The result is longer and/or shorter cycles.

• Heavy menstruation

Along with irregular cycles, the lack of progesterone production with anovulatory cycles can result in heavy menses. Progesterone is an anti-inflammatory hormone that also helps to control the growth and sloughing of the lining of the uterus. Without progesterone, “un-opposed” estrogen allows the lining of the uterus to get much thicker. In addition, without the rise and fall of progesterone after ovulation, the body does not get the clear sign to shed the lining with menstruation. This increase in inflammation of the uterine lining and the change in signals that allow it to get thicker can result in much heavier periods.

Women can also start to develop uterine fibroids in their 30’s and 40’s which are stimulated to grow by estrogen. Increased production of estrogen during some parts of the cycle, which is common in this age group, can stimulate these to grow which will increase menstrual flow and sometimes cause mid-cycle bleeding.

• Mood changes

New onset anxiety and depression can be a result of estrogen fluctuation in a woman’s 40’s. Anovulatory cycles described above, will cause periods of extreme estrogen fluctuation. As the brain tries to signal the ovaries to regulate hormone production, there will often be times where estrogen is very high and times where estrogen is very low. Some of these women will have new onset anxiety and depression because of these extreme fluctuations in estrogen, which don’t always seem to be cycle related (because of inconsistent or irregular ovulation). This is more common in the late 40’s but can happen earlier. This is a VERY common time for women to be given antidepressants but this is NOT a case of serotonin deficiency.

• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)- worse than ever

Though she is probably not ovulating ever cycle (as indicated above), a woman in her 40’s will still have ovulatory cycles. She will probably fluctuate between cycles where she doesn’t experience any PMS symptoms, and cycles where she will have the worst PMS that she has ever had.

• Insomnia

This usually happens closer to the menopause transition (later in her 40’s). It is first noted closer to her period when estrogen is usually at its lowest. Usually women who experience insomnia related to her hormones in her 40’s will also have other contributing factors- dietary, stress, and/or other health concerns.

• Hot flashes and night sweats

In her mid to late 40’s women can start to have hot flashes and night sweats. In most cases they are not consistent, most commonly happening the week before her period.

• Weight gain and related issues- muscle loss, increased risk of osteoporosis, insulin resistance.

Though many women associated these issues with the menopause transition itself, the causes are starting in in her 40’s. After the age of 30, we start to lose muscle involuntarily by 3-8% per decade. Though this doesn’t seem like much, accelerated muscle loss, plus more sedentary jobs and lifestyles can make the effect of this muscle loss pack a punch in our 40’s. This opens the door for declining metabolism, increase weight gain and bone loss once our body stops producing estrogen in menopause (I will talk more about this when we take a look at health concerns associated with our 50’s).

When women start to address this with diet, lifestyle changes (including resistance training) and sometimes supplements or hormones in her 40’s things improve more quickly than if she waits to address it once her period is gone.

At Health Over All, we see woman at all ages and stages in their lives. When a woman comes to us in her 40’s we find that we see the most dramatic improvement in her symptoms and her health in general. When we help a woman with her hormones in her 40’s the benefits always continue into her 50’s and beyond. Don’t wait until something is really wrong to start to address your health! We don’t just want you to be healthy, we want you to feel amazing life- long!

Our Well Woman Assessments are designed for women who want answers! AND The ones who are not afraid to commit to their health to get solutions.

If you are ready for changes, want answers and want to know exactly what to do to achieve results then book your Alignment call and ask us about our Well Woman Assessments.

Book your free Alignment Call HERE to find out about our Well Woman Assessments.

In health,

Dr. Lisa Maddalena, ND