Juno (West Hollywood, California, Usa) on 03/24/2010
Hello everyone,
Since I wrote about my terrible reaction to coconut oil (the skin on my neck got cracked and soooo dry) I am not going near coconut oil. I have had many other symptoms for which I am not blaming coconut oil, but I am sure the oil did exacerbate my particular situation. Things like internal shaking, anxiety and all kinds of aches and pains. Things like feeling I'm on caffeine when it's time for bed and I am certainly exhausted.
After so many trials and doctors I now know that these are all premenopausal symptoms, which in other words mean that hormonal balance is changing in my body and doing all kinds of numbers on me (emotionally too of course). If coconut oil stimulates the thyroid that definitely explains the strong adverse reaction to it.
During menopause some women's thyroid becomes under active and for others it might become overactive (Hypertension, Hyperthyroidism) so it very much depends on your specific constitution.
What am I doing to relieve these symptoms? The answer is not simple.
I am trying very carefully monitor the effects of different foods and to find the right balance of exercise and the right supplements like magnesium, zinc, E and others which are known to be helpful.
I am trying to de -stress my day as much as I can.
Meditate and teach myself to take it easy and let go. (as a mother of two young kids that is a feat in its own right.)
Anyway, I am only writing all this to suggest to many women who might be going through all kinds of weird things to take into consideration that the onset of menopause might be the cause of many a strange sensations and emotions. Hope this helps.
Replied By Amanda (Hot Springs, Ar, Usa) on 03/26/2010
i have been off the coconut oil for a few weeks and i still have more anxiety, internal shaking, hard time sleeping, feel like i cannot calm down. how long does it take to get back to normal? i am 36, but i did not have this problem until i was on the coconut oil for a few weeks.
Replied By Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 03/27/2010
Did you start by taking a lot at once? I am 52, have just started cooking and taking coconut oil and the only side effect was constipation, no idea why as I haven't suffered from it for many years. Maybe the secret is starting only with cooking as you will only use a bit with every meal and go on from there. No menopausal symptoms here and I am a lot older. Also no other symptoms like someone just mentioned here like sleeplessness (I often don't sleep very well anyway), restfulness and so. I now only rub it on my skin twice a day as it is very dry and will use it only with cooking for a while before I start taking an extra spoonful or two a day.
Replied By Kingsuites (Nc) on 01/29/2014
It is possible that nervousness, anxiety, heart palpatations, the feeling of being wired but tired, are all the result of too much of a drop in progesterone. I went through this, and after being misdiagnosed, several years later had a hormone saliva test from ZRT labs indicating high cortisol and low progesterone. A blood test did not show this, because it does not indicate what hormones are in the tissues. I was told by a Naturopathic Doctor who worked under a cardiologist in his office, that cortisol and progesterone compete for the same receptor cites. So if your body is low in progesterone, guess what - the cortisol makes you feel wired, nervous, anxious, cause insomnia, etc. It became a viscious cycle with me because I couldn't sleep and still had to function with toddlers, so my cortisol was up from just trying to survive. I ended up with chronic fatigue from it. I was eventually prescribed topical bioidentical progesterone cream from a compounding pharmacy. You can get other creams like this in the health food store. It really helped but took about 3 mos for it to build back up in my system. I have been taking it for over 10 years now. I always wondered, why in the world was my progesterone low in the first place? What is interesting is that later on, a health consultant told me that if you have fungus in your system (small intestine/stomach, maybe from too many antibiotics, which I definitely had growing up) that the fungus will use up the progesterone in your system. This was confirmed to him by someone he new in the pharmaceutical industry who worked in a prescription drug producing lab that grew fungus in a progesterone environment to get the mycotoxin to make the drug. All in all, the root for me was to try to eliminate the fungus. What a challenge that Candida is. Still haven't done it, though I've tried a tone of stuff. Since I found that fungus can lead to cancer, I found out about the Budwig Instuitute in Spain on this EarthClinic site. They gave me a link to a home remedy for killing fungus, which I think is the best so far. You can contact them and ask for it.
Replied By Julie (NC, US) on 09/16/2014
I'm surprised there is so little about perimenapause. I started having it in my 30's thanks to having ezcema. It seems to be caused by a combination of acidic pH and yeast. I take black cohosh, MSM, and korean ginseng. I have found the ginseng and cohosh make a great combination to sleep at night and help my pH. I have had to go on a strict alkalizing diet of nothing but veggies and apples. I alkalize my water. The yeast die off symptoms are terrible but they do lesson over time. Also there are natural hormonal creams on line. Doctors are no help so far.