How To Navigate Perimenopause: Your Symptoms Could Be Your Body Asking For Help

Brain fog in the middle of a meeting. Sleep that suddenly stops working. Joint pain on hikes you used to love. Weight gain that makes no sense. If any of that sounds familiar, this conversation will help you connect the dots and stop second-guessing yourself.

Shelly is joined by Suzanne Greiner, a nurse of nearly three decades who became a board-certified nurse coach specializing in perimenopause and menopause. Suzanne shares the moment she realized her own symptoms weren’t “just stress” and how a rushed appointment left her feeling dismissed. From there, the conversation shifts to why so many women need multiple visits before perimenopause is even named, and how the healthcare system’s time limits can push women toward quick fixes instead of root-cause support.

Most importantly, there are simple steps that women can take that actually helps. Suzanne walks through a practical, personalized approach built on the pillars that matter most in midlife wellness: sleep as the foundation, nutrition strategies that support blood sugar and insulin resistance, strength training to protect muscle and bone, and stress regulation through boundaries and spotting your energy leaks. She also shares something that gets overlooked far too often: community. Having support during hormonal changes can reduce isolation and make it easier to advocate for your needs.

If you’re looking for clear perimenopause education, menopause support, and real-world wellness tips you can start using today, you’ll get a lot from this one. Subscribe to Words of Wellness, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a rating and review so more women can find these conversations.

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In Health, 

Shelly

Transcript

Wellness Confusion And Energy Leaks

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is more important now than ever to really like what is not working for you and how can you change things? Like, are there certain boundaries you need to put up? Like, look at your energy leaks and things that like really help you with you know increasing your energy levels, like really take a hard look at yourself and what's working in my life and what's not working in my life, and what can I do to support my body as I go through this transition?

Meet A Menopause Nurse Coach

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Do you get confused by all of the information that barges us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or should not be eating, how to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone. I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelley Jeffries, and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today. Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Words of Wellness. My guest today is a nurse who turned into a board-certified nurse coach, and her specialty is in perimenopause and menopause. So she is going to share with us her experience as a nurse that led her to what she is doing today. And it seems to be kind of a common theme that I've been hearing. So again, really wonderful to have individuals like Suzanne to help those of us navigate those hormonal changes that we all go through. So welcome, Suzanne. I'm excited to have you.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Thank you. I'm uh well, I'm excited to be here as well. So thank you.

Brain Fog And The Shame Spiral

SPEAKER_00 2:49

You're welcome. And we were briefly just talking about your journey a little bit and maybe share with the listeners because you were sharing with me that you actually have been a nurse for almost 30 years.

Dismissed By Healthcare And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yeah. So the summer is actually 28 years, which is truly amazing. It's crazy, it's gone by so quickly. Um, and I think as a nurse, you can work in a variety of different areas as a nurse, like in the hospital and a bunch of other things, uh other areas. And like it's very vast. And you know, you have a variety of things. And um, about 2021, I never during COVID, I uh wasn't working that side at the time, but uh 2021 is when I started reevaluating what do I want to do with the rest of my nursing career? Because I have three kids and they were three teenagers at the time, and I've always moved my career around their kind of where they're at in their life. So, like if they were younger, I worked at the weekends. If you know, once they were busy on the weekends and I tried to find other things to do kind of to fit their lifestyle at the time. And about 2021 is when I was just like, oh, what do I want to do for myself now that they're kind of getting older and more independent? And I actually became a board certified nurse coach um during this time frame and I started coaching women, just how helping them through transitions because I went through a divorce and then my kids were getting older, less dependent on me, and they were becoming more independent. And so I just decided that um, you know, maybe I'll just coach women during this time frame of their life because it's like kind of what I'm going through too. And and then I started noticing some changes happening in my body, and I was just like, well, that's kind of odd. And as a nurse, you're like being investigative and you're like trying to figure out like either I have an autoimmune disorder or like there is something else going on because I had so many different symptoms all throughout my body and they weren't making sense. And so I ended up going to my yearly primary care provider. Actually, I was in a meeting one, let me back up a little bit. I was in a meeting one time that um I was, you know, leading the meeting, I was talking about a common clinical outcome, and I couldn't figure out the terminology I needed to use. And I was just like, and so I had to dumb down my words a little bit to get my point across. And after that meeting, I was just like, either I have early dementia or this may be perimenopause. And just saying that to myself, like, this could be perimenopause. All of a sudden I felt as though I had this wave of shame that my body was just aging and like, oh my gosh, I'm like older now. Like I think we just kind of view ourselves as being this young person. But then I started like now, like looking at everything, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like my brain fog from this meeting, um, that is a perimenopausal symptom. This joint pain I've been having, like after like hiking. I live in Colorado, so just hiking like I love to do, but I was having a harder time hiking. And then just like my sleep was not really well, and I started to gain weight. And I'm like, what is going on? But once I've, you know, said I think this is perimenopause, it made sense of all these symptoms because you, there's so many symptoms of perimenopause. And it was that time of year, that was my yearly appointment. So I'm like, oh, I'll just talk to my primary care provider and tell her about you know my symptoms at this appointment. Well, primary care providers only have like 15, 20 minutes with you. And it was one of those that I went in with different expectations out of this appointment and thinking that I could find solutions right then and there. And she said, I only have 15 or 20 minutes to talk to you. I don't have time to talk to you about your perimenopausal symptoms. And I just started to cry because I was just like, this is what's debilitating me in this moment. This is making me not show up to be a mom to my kids or show up, you know, in my workplace or anything like this. And so it was just really devastating to me. And she's like, Well, here's an anti-anxiety medication to help you. And I said, No. I mean, at that point, I was just like, I had taken some a functional medicine course for nurses, and I knew she was just treating the symptom of perimenopause and not the actual root cause, which was the hormonal fluctuations. And I told her, absolutely not. I refuse to take an anti-anxiety medication that doesn't actually really treat that root cause. And she looked at me as though I had like a third eye or something like that, that I wasn't going to take this prescription from her. Um, and I actually I got my normal lab work that you normally get at a you know yearly exam. Um, and then I ended up going to um uh sitting after the appointment, I sat in my car and I was just like, I felt so dismissed. I was like, it was just like, oh my goodness, like I started to cry. I was just like, is this how I'm going to live the rest of my life? Because this is not how I want to show up. Um, and at that time I was 47 years old and I was just like, this is not okay. And so I just cried and I was just like, if I'm being treated this way as a nurse that has been taking care of patients at that point 25 years, I was just like, this is like not okay. Like, how many thousands of women are being treated this way? I'm like, this is not okay. And so from that moment on, I'm like, I want to help women. I never want another woman to feel the way I'm feeling in this moment where I feel dismissed and uh like I can't advocate for myself because I'm not being heard. And so um from that moment on, I decided to start educating women that are going through perimenopause and help them understand what's happening, um, giving them the resources that they need so they can navigate this transition because it's a huge transition. Um, and then like just making sure that they have like a personalized plan because perimenopause is very personal to the person that is going through it. So, so yeah, that's a huge intro for what I might transition in my life.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

So it's wonderful. I thank you for sharing all of that. And I I just really hope the listeners, and especially all of all of us females out there, women out there, hearing you from your experience as a nurse. So you having that professional background, even you are you went through it, right? And having that feeling of being just dismissed your symptoms and not really feeling heard. And I hear that so frequently. And I think the other part of this is also, I didn't realize personally until just recent years how many symptoms are truly related to perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause. I think that it just gives us such, I feel like kind of like a peace of mind, a wake-lifting where we can go, okay, I'm not crazy. And this is part of this whole hormonal shift. And again, I just love what you're doing. I mean, it's this evolution also of many people and men and women being more of an of advocates for themselves and their health. And like you basically flat out telling your your provider, no, I'm not taking that medication. Right, you know, and I I just think that yes, I, you know, and I've had so many conversations about medicine and medication. There's a time and place, and it's so necessary. But as you know, so much of the time it's not necessary, and it's right over-prescribed, right? Rather than coming to the conclusion or seeking out the root cause of what's happening, right? Actually treat it and come to a healthier, happier conclusion in the end. So I just this is so so great to hear from you. I I always find it very, I don't know if encouraging is necessarily the word comforting, comforting, maybe, but again, coming from a professional who goes through it, I think that gives permission to other women to okay, I'm not the only one. And it's okay to speak up, it's okay to stand up for myself and to seek out someone else who will actually make me feel heard and can what I'm going through, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, absolutely. The landscape of healthcare has changed so much. And like, you know, being a nurse for 28 years, like it's changed so much where you could go in and have like a 30-minute or an hour appointment talking about something where now it's like a 15, 20 minute appointment for a yearly visit. And it's not so much like like I don't want to bash the doctors because that's what they're given, but like a lot of it has is derived like from our insurance companies, like they're kind of dictating things, and it just it really makes it frustrating as that consumer, because you're trying to find solutions, you know, this is not feeling well, you're feeling well, and you're um a lot of times um the statistics are real. Like it takes a woman three to five doctor visits to the doctor to be actually um diagnosed or like told that you're in perimenopause, which you know, sometimes that includes lots of different um testing or unnecessary testing, or maybe misdiagnosing, or maybe they are often like um being given the wrong medications when really it's truly a hormonal imbalance. But we have hormone receptors in every single organ system of our body. So when our body starts to feel those fluctuations, it's trying to do everything in its power to get into that homeostasis. So it's gonna start giving you symptoms when it gets to that stage of like, I can't keep up anymore because there's too much like of me trying to regulate, you know, getting back to normal. So here's some symptoms, you got to help me. So I always kind of tell women, like, if you're having symptoms, it's just your body communicating with you. So and it's okay, we'll figure it out, we'll we'll get through this. So yeah, it's just our bodies are kind of amazing when you think about it. Like our bodies do amazing things, and often I think we look at our bodies and we're like, oh my gosh, like it is against me, or like I'm broken or broken or something. But truly, it's our body is communicating with us, and just like I need some extra help right now.

Listening To Your Body In Midlife

SPEAKER_00 12:45

So and that's such an excellent point. And I know I've talked about this with other guests about the importance of us really being in tune with what's going on with our bodies. A lot of times I feel like in our society and our day-to-day lives, and getting caught up in the busyness of everything, we don't always take that time to really just be in tune. And, you know, I don't know, I feel like I have been really in tune with how my body has felt through the years, but I also have been always very active, involved in fitness and health. So there's that component. So, you know, I don't want to make it seem like it's easy or take it for granted. That's something that I have done, but I I always encourage others, like be take that. That's when you need that downtime, right? Kind of that quiet time to just really kind of just be in silence and be able to be have some intuition and have some be in tune with how how you're feeling. Because I think quite frankly, the more that I talk to people, we we know best. I think. I I think not always, not always, but many times we are going to know our bodies the best and know what feels right or doesn't feel right. I feel like yeah, and again, not in any way saying we don't need that medical help or advice, you know, but I think it if we can just get more in tune, it can help kind of lead us in the right direction in our medical care.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Right. Absolutely. I mean, I I feel as though like it, it's like we like especially a lot of women now. I feel like we're busy, we're in that sandwich generation too. Like we're raising kids and our pay parents were getting older. And a lot of women, like at this age, we are um moving up in our careers, we're at the height of our careers or like back to work or whatever. So we have we're spinning multiple plates, and so sometimes like I it's easy to be like, yeah, listen to your body, but like also like I understand because you're trying to navigate so many different things at one time. It's sometimes it's hard to do that, and it's like I think it's yeah, I I and that's what I tell women's like listen to your body, but then also like you're so busy, like doing everything for every everyone else. This is the time that you really have to pay attention to yourself and really pay attention to what's happening because your body is telling you a lot of different things. And I think it's really important to know that like perimenopause is this significant aging event for women. And if we are not listening to it and doing the things during this time frame, um, it's relaying this information or kind of cheat codes to us of what we need to be doing during this time frame. Um, and if we don't do this about 10 years after menopause is another significant aging event a woman goes through, and we have this like window of opportunity to really help our bodies to have this healthy health span as we age. And I mean, uh, like I said, I live in Colorado. I love hiking. I'm like, I want to be that 85-year-old that we see on hiking trails that you're just like, man, that's like awesome that she's hiking and she's like, you know, older, like 85. I'd rather be her than laying in a nursing home bed because I have multiple comorbidities of like maybe diabetes, heart disease, broken hip, like all these things are wrong with me that could have been prevented during this perimenopausal timeframe, um, into that early menopausal time frame that we can prevent moving forward. So that's a huge thing because you know, a lot of times we're so busy taking care of other people, just coming back to like, we got to take care of our bodies, we have to take care of ourselves and not be selfish, but we really just have to focus on our health during this time frame.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

So it's so true. And it's a big reason. I actually created a wellness community for moms, uh, moms who flourish. And it's really that very reason that I wanted to create the community was to help encourage and empower moms to put their self-care as a priority and their wellness because, like you're saying, it's it's exactly that. Who gets put on the back burning? Most of the time, it's it's just moms, right? And so, like you're saying, it's so critical to be taking care of us, filling our cups first along the way. And then it just makes the experience of the perimetopause and the menopause that much smoother. Not that it's gonna be easy, right? Yeah, what are some of the top, like maybe top three to five things that you recommend to women that you work with to help them through these phases?

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah. I used to say nutrition was foundational, um, but now I've switched it to sleep. Like sleep is foundational. I always say start with sleep first, um, which is kind of like one of those things of like, you know, the sleep is like we can't sleep in during perimenopause, but it's very important. So get into good sleep habits. Um, and there's multiple reasons why you may not have good sleep habits. It could be like, you know, just lifestyle choices, but it could be multiple things happening with your body. Maybe um your blood sugars are dipping it down in the middle of the night. Um, maybe your cortisol levels are elevated. There's multiple things. So really understanding your sleep patterns a little bit more of like if you're waking up in the middle of the night or you're waking up feeling not rested, let's take a look into that a little bit more. But really getting good sleep habits because that's going to help you with, you know, weight. It's gonna help you with your stress, it's gonna help you with um being able to work out. So that sleep uh to me is foundational. Like the next layer would be nutrition, um, having a good nutritional background with like in whatever may have worked in your 20s and 30s, maybe shifting and changing in your 40s and 50s as you're doing this transition. Um, so like maybe like, you know, having a certain diet when you're younger may need to be revamped a little bit, but definitely protein is always good, but fiber is like huge because a lot of times we become more insulin resistant during this time frame. So that's where we can kind of see a weight gain happening that we're like, we're doing everything that we used to be able to do to lose the weight or say maintain weight, and now that's not working anymore. We're like gaining weight. So a lot of times it's that insulin resistance that's happening because of the estrogen fluctuations that are occurring in your body. So, really, like I have like three kind of key things with nutrition is um kind of making sure that anytime you eat a carbohydrate, making sure that you always eat it with a healthy fat vibe over protein so you don't have these big glucose spikes in your glucose, glucose levels maintain like a steady level for a longer period of time. And that also keeps you fuller longer. Um, the second thing with nutrition is always um making sure how you eat your foods, the order of you eating your foods matters. So, like eating with the vegetables or the fiber first and your protein second and your starches and carbs last. It helps maintain that blood sugar to be more steady longer. And then the last thing is making sure you do some movement after a meal. So that could be squats, that could be walking, a lot of those different things can help you with maintaining your blood sugar balance. And that's basically um whenever you are doing that movement after a meal, you're helping move that glucose from like circulating your blood into your muscles for energy that they need for that movement. So just doing that can help maintain your blood glucose levels to be more stable for a longer period of time. So just something like those quick little things, you don't have to completely change a diet or you know, anything, but just doing those things are super important. Um, the third thing um is strength training. So maybe you were cardio queen when you were younger and your body and your hormones supported that when you were younger. And now as you're aging, you start to lose muscle mass and your basal metabolic rate changes as we age because we don't have as much muscle. So, really strength training is super, super important as we continue to go through this transition. Um, because your strength of your muscles depends on, you know, it's it's you know, your or sorry, the strength of your bones are dependent on your muscle mass. So really working on that muscle mass during this time frame. And then the last thing is stress regulation. It's huge. Um our bodies are stressed as we're going through this hormonal transition because it's like, what is going on? I feel like we often have cortisol spikes happening because our body's trying to like get back into a normal rest and digest state and instead of like the fight or flight stage. And so just with our hormones changing and shifting, it can really cause a lot of that stuff. So, really, like, I know we've talked about stress regulation a lot or like, you know, doing all these things to help with your stress. Like, this is more important now than ever to really like what is not working for you and how can you change things? Like, are there certain boundaries you need to put up? Like, look at your energy leaks and things that like really help you with, you know, increasing your energy levels, like really take a hard look at yourself and what's working in my life and what's not working in my life, and what can I do to support my body as I go through this transition? So, so those are kind of like the four like major four. And then I always say the last one is super important. Um, and it's often dismissed too, but community, having someone like community is important, especially as we're going through this transition, because it's like it's you don't feel you don't feel alone. And a lot of women that are going through this transition, we have, I think they said there's about a four. 30% increase of depression and anxiety for women going through perimenopause. And it's often the time of our lives that suicide is actually the highest for women is 40 and 50 year olds. And so really having community, so you're not isolated going through this transition is hugely so important. Um, but just it's so much better to talk about things and maybe joke around with other things, other people to talk about this instead of being in isolation, like I feel so alone, I'm the only one going through this, I'm miserable, I'm having a hard time, you know, relating with my kids or my significant other. Those things are super important to have someone outside of your spouse, maybe or your um partner to really talk about like this transition and really have that support that you need in that community.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

So those are such excellent points. Community is huge, like you say. I think it's so, so critical. And it's exactly you're so spot on in saying if we sit in something that we're experiencing and we don't we're not sharing it or connecting with another person who can be like, oh yes, I'm experiencing that too, then we tend to feel like it's just us, right? And it's not just us. And so I just there's so many things I think of that I remember even to this day, but I always, always, if there's something that's going on, the second you start to like verbalize it and talk it out with someone, it makes it seem like, oh, it wasn't that bad, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And I always feel not that bad.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

I always feel like when you share your story of like what you're going through, it gives permission for the other woman to share her story too. And like it is so important.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

So important. And I love the other points that you make because they were just right in a line with I work in longevity and nutrition and wellness, and those are the main areas of longevity. So, like when you're talking about earlier, like I want to be hiking when I'm in my 80s. It's like, let's live into our 80s, 90s, even a hundreds, but let's feel good when we're doing it, right? And have and be healthy. And it and it's so possible if we're taking the right steps along the way and doing all those things that you shared, it can lead to that. So those are such great, great points. Really important.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

I think if anything, that the those same things are like you said, they're along everything else in your life. Like if you want to reduce your cardiovascular disease risk, like everything, it's nothing new. It's just like, oh yeah, this I feel like perimenopause is just that wake-up call because we really like if you weren't doing it before, this is like really this is the time you really have to focus on this more than anything.

Prevention Risks And Late Perimenopause

SPEAKER_00 24:38

So well, I think I think the other key is you mentioned so many of these, like the comorbidity morbidities that you were talking about. I think the the hardest thing for me to grasp, because I I saw my dad deal with almost every single one, and and he ended up losing his battle. But you look at some of these and and knowing that they are preventable is is is exciting. But at the same time, when you see someone suffer from them, it's it's so hard to see that, especially a loved one, knowing that there are things we can do to help prevent these diseases from you know from happening in the first place. And I'm not, and I don't say it, it doesn't mean it's never gonna happen, but at least we can reduce the risk and maybe reduce the severity of them.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Uh yeah, so I I worked in the intensive care unit in the cardiovascular area um for the majority of my bedside career as a nurse. There are so many times that like there's sometimes you just can't do anything for them. And like I would say the majority of the time the patients are like, I wish I would have done X, Y, and Z so that they weren't here. Like it, and that's the hard thing. It's just like that's where it's just you feel sorry for them because they're like they knew at that point that they couldn't do anything else about it. It could have it was prevented, and like they were just like, I wish I could have done that. And that's where I feel like for me, like I like I love to use my voice to educate women in this transition because it really is, especially as we go into late perimenopause. Late perimenopauses where maybe you're skipping your menstrual cycles like two to three months at a time, and you're not as regular, not as frequent with your cycles. I mean, they can change and fluctuate early perimenopause, but late perimenopauses where you're kind of skipping two to three months at a time. That is a huge aging point where this is where increased risk of bone loss happens, about 20% bone loss happens during that time frame that we don't even know about because we half the time we don't even know we're going through perimenopause, or we kind of know, but we don't realize the risk. Cardiovascular disease increases during this time frame. Metabolic diseases happen during this time frame. That late perimenopause phase is like so important for women to know about that. We really have to understand um what our risks are, what are our options, and what can we do to make sure it doesn't progress as we move into menopause and late, you know, post-menopausal state.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

So this is so key, Suzanne. And I thank you for I thank you for sharing that because I I know, like for me personally, I didn't know when I got into perimetopausa and menopause the the risks and everything that you're sharing. And I feel like for whatever reason, it hasn't really been talked about through the years. And I and I share this with my daughter. We talk about it often because she will say she's learned a lot. Um, she actually had a roommate for a while who who specialized in this and taught my daughter a lot, which has been a huge blessing. But I think I told, you know, we were having this conversation recently where I went, you know what, I didn't even know. So so it wasn't information that was shared with me. So I couldn't like pass it on to her. Right. I realize now it's it's more openly talked about and which is wonderful, and people like yourself educating us. And I know I uh there's a couple other individuals that I know are are really in the trenches of this and really helping to get the information out for women in this very topic. And so it's definitely evolving, definitely getting better. But I think it's like you're saying, having that education and that knowledge going into it so that you know what to expect and how to prepare going through it to best protect ourselves and our in our future health is it's so key. Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

I almost see the pendulum swinging for a lot of the younger millennials where they're like scared. They're like, oh my gosh, what can I do to like not go through perimenopause? Every one woman is going to go through perimenopause. We'll go through perimenopause different types. Like I see kind of like four different types of women, like the ones that like are super, super miserable, like they like are barely getting through perimenopause and they're struggling. And then you have the other extreme where they're like, oh my goodness, I didn't know I was in perimenopause until I hit menopause. I'm like, and then you kind of have the ones in the middle that they they look at their options and they're like, okay, I need to take certain actions. And these are the actions I'm gonna take to improve my health and well-being. And then you have the other ones that are just like white knuckling it. I'm just gonna try and get through this. I'm just gonna white knuckle it until I get through menopause. Well, it's just like you have a variety of people, and so you really have to understand, I think, for like being in the middle and like, okay, what are my risks? What do I need to do? And how what is my personalized plan for me? Because I that's where like if you have other certain diseases or other family histories, like that, your perimenopause plan can be very unique to you versus your friend or your sister or a loved one or whoever it may be that's going through the same thing. So just really understand that everyone's perimenopause journey is going to be completely different. So if you're like, oh, I did fine and you don't need to do all this extra stuff, like you have to have empathy towards the ones that are super, they're struggling um to get through it. So everyone's body is unique and different as we go through this transition.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

It's so true. Yeah, we all are. In fact, it was interesting because I had my sister ask me, she's younger than I am, almost four years. And she had asked me a couple of years ago what I did going through, you know, and I said, I says I said, nothing. I said, I you know, and when I talked to my nurse practitioner about it, she says, Well, it's your lifestyle, you you're nutrition and you've been active, and you know, so thankfully it was very, very mild for me. Um, but you're right, we have to really realize it. It's not that way for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Right. And there's a lot of different factors that play into this too, like childhood trauma, like that can be a huge factor kind of going through perimenopause. That actually, um, there, there, I think University of California, San Francisco just has been doing some, they've been um researching the ovaries and how connected they are to the nervous system. And like just if when you think of childhood trauma and how traumatic that could be on your ovaries, too, that can play into your symptoms and going through perimenopause. And you think about like, I mean, you think about the generational things that have been passed down to us. Like I was in my grandmother's, you know, ovary or body at the time my mom was born, you know, like all this stuff when you start looking at generational things of going through perimenopause, like, oh my gosh, this is generational patterns that are passed down too. So there's like it just starts expanding. So I think it's that's where it's like your journey is unique and you have to like really, you know, what is best for you as you go through this transition.

Personalized Plans Trauma And Closing

SPEAKER_00 31:38

So yeah, it's so fascinating, isn't it? When you think how right go way back to to two, three generations or so. It's it's really fascinating. This is so such interesting and such important information. So I thank you so much for sharing this today.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Really appreciate it. How can people find you, Suzanne, if they want to reach out?

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Well, I am on a social media um Suze Grinder, S-U-Z, G-R-E-I-N-E-R on Instagram and TikTok. I'm on there a lot. Um, I also have a website. Um, it's Suzanne, S-U-Z-A-N-N-E-Grinder, G-Re-I-N-E R coaching.com. So you can find me there. Um, you can see what I um do, uh different programs I have for women that are interested in finding out more about what I can offer. I also do a 30-minute consult if someone wants to um be able to um create, you know, if we want to talk about a uh personalized plan, they can reach out to me and we can do a 30-minute consult for free.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

So well, I will add all of your information in the show notes. And and again, this has been really very valuable. And I thank you. Anything you'd like to add? Any last words of wellness or inspiration for our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 32:54

I think the I mean, we kind of talked about this, but I I really feel like women, uh, I'm just gonna reiterate this more that we really have to pay attention to our bodies, listen to our bodies during this time frame. We've been may sometimes maybe we um gaslight ourselves into like thinking, like, oh, this is just, you know, whatever, this is just how I age or whatever. But really take the time to slow down and listen to your body as we are going through this, you know, transition. Um, because it can lie, it can be perimenopause can be four to 12 years long. So it is a long time frame. So really pay attention to your body, listen to it, listen to what it needs, um, and try not to override um what your body is trying to tell you.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

That's fantastic. Well, thank you again so, so much. This has been really, really great. And to all of our listeners, take that to heart, what Susanna is sharing. You know, it's really so important to be in tune with our bodies and how we're feeling and to not dismiss, not to dismiss what's happening. So take time for yourself and your wellness on this day. And until next time, have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week. We'll see you next time on Words of Wellness. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelley Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed week.