Is Bloating a Sign of Peri-Menopause?

Dr. Debbie Smrz, ND

Since you hit your mid-30’s, digestion seems to have slowed down and lately, you have started to feel abdominal discomfort at the end of the day. Your pants feel tight and you might even have to undo a button or two while watching your night-time TV – or better yet, you switched into yoga pants and have taken off your wedding rings that feel just too tight? You have removed the usual suspects: dairy, gluten and sugar, but are still feeling 3 months pregnant before bed, especially after salty food? You could very well be suffering from hormone-induced bloating.

During peri-menopause our hormones go into ‘mass chaos’, fluctuating throughout the month. Why? The corpus luteum does not manufacture progesterone as high in quality as it did in the twenties. Elevated levels of estrogen unbalanced by progesterone lead to water retention in the individual cells. That means whether it’s in your intestines, stomach, or fat cells on your belly, you may feel swollen and bloated.

Herbal diuretics, lymphatic drainage and removing foods that may help with water retention such as salt can be great first steps. Acupuncture can also be used to rebalance the cells and bring about homeostasis. If you are noticing more peri-menopausal symptoms such as sugar cravings, weight gain, PMS, migraines and decreased attention span, it might be time to speak to a Naturopathic doctor to see if herbal options – or possibly even bio-identical hormones – are your next step.

From Carrie Jones, ND taken from Harvard Health Initiative, 1999