Type 2 Diabetes and Perimenopause Part 1
This month’s blog serious is going to focus on perimenopause and type 2 diabetes. Recently, I have been going through some perimenopause symptoms and wanted to do some research, share my story and my findings with all of you. I am hoping this will also help others understand the noticeable changes within their biologically female bodies. Some symptoms I currently am going through include hot flashes, trouble sleeping, mood changes, night sweats, headaches and being more emotional than what we would consider to be the normal ups/downs. What I have noticed with these perimenopause symptoms is it makes managing my type 2 diabetes and blood sugars more difficult. This from what I have read is a classic symptom of perimenopause and type 2 diabetes. As the production of estrogen and progesterone decrease this can cause blood sugar fluctuations. This news was incredibly helpful to me as I sat stumped a few times a month over the past year wondering why my insulin dose was “not working.” I soon figured out that my insulin dosage was correct, but it was the biological aging process of my female body being in perimenopause and the reduction of hormones was why my insulin seemed to “not be working effectively.” When it comes down to the science of perimenopause and type 2 diabetes, we as biological women can feel off mentally and physically.
Also, in my reading and research physical symptoms of stress and fatigue due to perimenopause can feel like a double whammy to those of us with type 2 diabetes. Fatigue has set in less for me as I have increased my exercise routine. But I do have days where I feel physically tired and fatigued. If I am feeling this way, I rest.
Lastly, other common perimenopause symptoms include irregular periods, hair changes, vaginal dryness, weight gain and redistribution. With some of these symptoms it can further explain those changes we might be seeing within our bodies, but it can also help us advocate to our health care providers when we need to. Type 2 diabetes is a numbers and weight game in our healthcare system. If we know as a biological woman, we are going through perimenopause, we now have explanations for the biological struggles of trying to lose weight and lowering our A1C and blood sugars. We can try as hard as possible to manage our type 2 diabetes, our food portions, our exercise routine and still not get any results or the results our healthcare providers want. We need to give ourselves some grace knowing that perimenopause is a natural part of aging for biological females and all we can do is manage what we can.
