Cycles and Mood after 35

Here’s a quick take on mood and cycles for women over 35, from Asian medicine, books, websites, and 20+ years of helping women with cycles and fertility. There’s not one website that would have it like this, but Lara Briden, Stacey Sims, and Aviva Romm are good.

The last decade of a woman’s cycles are like her first few years of cycles during puberty - irregular because the hormones aren’t lining up ideally every month. Here’s a graph of the process: https://www.larabriden.com/what-estrogen-does-perimenopause-how-progesterone-can-help/ 

In early puberty it’s a new system; after 35 or 40 it’s a slowly destabilizing system. But there are many behaviors, foods and supplements that soften the experience as cycles wind down toward menopause around age 50.

The ideal scenario is that the woman is able to increase her exercise, attend to her nutrition and sleep, and work through the existential questions that come up. Again, this is like puberty, and it’s driven both by knowing fertility is ending and life will be different, and biochemically feeling different because of lower hormones. 

The less-than-ideal scenario is the woman arrives at her 40s too busy or tired to exercise, rest, or sleep well at night, and out of practice eating slowly, getting enough protein and vegetables. She might be using dairy as her primary protein, or cutting carbs to lose weight, both of which will mess with hormones. All of these will drive up her cortisol, leading to lower hormones, muscle loss, weight gain in her torso, poor sleep, and crankiness. 

Here is a short article, with graphs, showing several irregular cortisol patterns that can emerge, with some tips: https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/the-cortisol-curve/ 

The solution is to provide both the raw materials for good hormones and well-timed cortisol, and the behaviors that ensure the materials get used for hormone optimization, not survival.

Nutrition:

Plenty of protein from a variety of sources (not dairy primarily, and little to no dairy if a woman has heavy periods) - meat (not just chicken breast), seafood, eggs. Collagen does not count towards protein, though it’s useful for joints and skin. Nuts, seeds, beans, rice, hummus, or other plant sources do not count primarily as protein because it’s hard to eat a significant amount, and they contain far more fat and carbs than protein. They are useful for different reasons - fiber, phytoestrogens, nutrients.

Carbs, whether in moderation at each meal; or more in the afternoon or evening to lower cortisol; and/or before or after exercise. It’s emphasized in many places that it’s not good for a woman over 35 to exercise hungry, and many even recommend a small snack (100-200 calories, signal more than fuel) and hydration before exercise even in the absence of hunger. If cortisol is running high it can dampen hunger cues so nothing is noticeable until panic-level hunger sets in. In that case I would recommend a small carb snack to raise blood sugar and lower cortisol, and then a balanced meal or snack, similar to the strategy many women use for managing blood sugar during pregnancy.

Fiber from plant foods includes phytoestrogens, weak estrogens that act as placeholders. Fiber also changes gut flora and steadied blood sugar. All fruits and vegetables that a person enjoys are useful. It does not need to be soy or a particular vegetable that has a marketing team. 

Minerals such as iron, iodine, selenium, copper, zinc, that provide energy, thyroid hormone, immunity, and stable blood sugar. Beside minerals in food, these liquid minerals are palatable (slightly sour, not salty or bitter) in water: https://a.co/d/dMrF58O 

A good multi that emphasizes iron will generally include all of this, and be sufficient if it’s taken regularly. For nursing mothers more is necessary, and mineral deficiency is probably contributing to their inability to lose the baby weight until they wean. 

Note that when TTA, it can be helpful to skip supplements (or at least skip the thyroid supplements) during the fertile period and resume them post ovulation. Not helpful from a nutrition perspective, but it reduces libido somewhat (also exercise, obviously), and then adding supplements back improves libido post-ovulation when it would normally drop off. 

There are other supplements such as probiotics for digestion and hormones, berberine for insulin, pregnenolone for more progesterone, DIM to block estrogen, etc, that a person would add if the basics described here are not sufficient.

Personally, since I tend towards insulin resistance, berberine and Ashwaghandha are helpful for my waistline. For a naturally curvy woman who tends towards high estrogen, the probiotics and DIM would probably make the difference. 

There are a number of herbal combination formulas for mood, such as “Easy Wanderer” from Planetary Herbals: https://www.planetaryherbals.com/products/GP1508

and the stress relief formulas from Gaia herbs: https://www.gaiaherbs.com/search?q=Stress 

Behaviors:

Sun exposure for Vitamin D and circadian rhythm. I lay out for 20 minutes a couple of days in a sunny week, after lunch or while the baby naps. It’s a good choice for lower-energy days. 

Going to bed early, at least a few nights per week, resting after lunch, and taking breaks throughout the day.

Eating meals or snacks alone, reading, and generally any time when I can anticipate that no one will need me for at least 10 minutes, is immediately calming. 

Exercise:

Walking, stretching, are the foundation - they move the lymphatic system and normalize hormones. And being outside is excellent for mood.

Weights or body weight exercise once or twice per week for bone strength, posture, muscle tone. I lift slowly, using machines, light weights on arms, heavy on legs. Body weight exercises at home are great but at this point going to the gym and exercising without kids feels like a treat.

Short cardio as needed for stress release, not primarily to burn calories.

Most women over 40 do not find that long sessions of steady state cardio are good for their overall health and weight loss. This is because for most women, pushing through fatigue to run for a long steady-state workout destabilizes hormones more than it improves metabolism. 

Short bursts of cardio can “tune” the nervous system by providing a strong, clear stimulus and then a clear cool-down. Cortisol rises during exercise but will end at a lower baseline than before. 

In general, the times to use cardio are

1. during the fertile period because energy tends to be higher and if you’re TTA you need to burn off libido 

2. during the week before the period/after ovulation because the movement helps with estrogen metabolism and reduces excess hormone symptoms such as sore breasts, bloating, and moodiness 

   
   

Still, this is not a recommendation to get the heart rate up every day, since energy levels vary and pushing through fatigue can be a net loss. 2-3 workouts a week can be just as good or better for weight and mood.

Cardio in the evening tends to spike cortisol and affect sleep; this is an area where women experiment to find their cutoff time and activity threshold. Most people are safe before 3 pm but many people prefer the morning. A short mid or late morning walk can be a nice break from homeschooling. 

I do not encourage women to wake up early to exercise. It can accentuate the tendency towards an early morning cortisol spike. It tends to be a net loss to cut off sleep, and it sets your circadian rhythm on the early side so the afternoon and evening can really drag. Some ladies are truly morning people but most of the lean, fit ladies here are exercising between 7 am and 4 pm. I can only think of one who hits the weights at 6. I often see moms in the early afternoon as I drive around town.

During her period, the recommendation from Asian medicine, and every cultural tradition, is to take it easy. This may matter less with central heat, hot showers, and general modern conveniences, but it’s a low-hormone time and tends to be a lower-energy time. Stretch and walk, no hard cardio. Some women truly feel great during their periods and enjoy cardio, but in my experience, resting seems to shorten my period and conserve energy.

Over - 35 Cycles: 

Ovulation becomes less predictable with age, and there are common patterns:

1. In a well-nourished, generally healthy woman, ovulation seems to come earlier over time, probably because her body has so much practice. So the cycle length may go from 30 days to 28 to 26 to 24, still with a full luteal phase of 14 days, and with ovulation as early as day 8-10. Bleeding may be lighter or heavier.

There is no test that predicts ovulation 5 days ahead. If you are TTA, even the last few days of the period may not be usable days. If you wouldn’t mind a bonus baby, then obviously it doesn’t matter. 

2. Some women shift to later ovulation, which is a different kind of TTA or TTC hassle. Most ladies I’ve talked to have been able to change a delayed ovulation pattern with more calories and vitamins, particularly iron and iodine. Anemia and low thyroid tend to delay ovulation. 

   
   

3. Some women get a shorter post-ovulation/ luteal phase, perhaps with changes in their period like spotting, and this can accompany more severe mood changes and PMS symptoms, because a shorter luteal phase means lower progesterone (calming) in relation to estrogen (energizing, sexy, but also touchy and moody). This might also accompany heavier bleeding.

   
   

The nutrition and cortisol management tips above will allow progesterone to rise, and if a few months of those aren’t sufficient, women can then add pregnenolone or progesterone for the luteal phase of their cycle. 

A shorter luteal phase also means that TTC will be harder and miscarriage is more likely. To be clear: Statistically, odds of miscarriage are 50% after age 41 and 75% after age 44/45, due to many factors including progesterone, immune changes, and thyroid function.

4. Some women’s cycles destabilize entirely, and they have early menopause. 

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Whether TTA or TTC, shorter and more reliable cycles with a full luteal/post-ovulation phase are easier to live with. If bleeding is getting heavy, Lara Briden has good suggestions.

Incorporating the basic suggestions here has helped me have better cycles and better mood in my early 40s than in my late 30s, and resolve a few patterns that had developed.