Many women start to experience irregular or heavy periods, depression, hot flashes and other troubling symptoms during the transition from child-bearing years to post-menopause. Although this perimenopausal phase is a natural part of a woman's life cycle, the symptoms can send women scrambling to try a variety of alternate therapies to make themselves feel better. One lifestyle modification that may help in some cases is to adjust the levels of daily caffeine consumption.
Identification
Perimenopause is when your body's hormone levels shift, and you turn from regular menstrual cycles and fertility to a lack of menstruation and infertility. Although the average length of perimenopause is four years, it can last from as little as a few months to as long as 10 years. Perimenopause is considered over and menopause reached when you've gone 12 months without a period.
Heart Disease
Declining estrogen levels during perimenopause can cause increases in your blood pressure. High blood pressure contributes to heart disease by making your heart work harder, enlarging it so that it's less able to keep blood flowing normally, and contributing to atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque on artery walls. Researchers in Italy studied the effects of caffeine on cardiovascular disease in perimenopausal women. Their results, published in 1996 in the "European Journal of Endocrinology," showed that women in this group who were given 250 mg of caffeine had an enhanced cardiovascular reactivity to caffeine, with increases in blood pressure and pulse rate.
Hot Flashes
Up to 75 percent of women in late perimenopause experience hot flashes that cause a feeling of heat throughout the upper body and face, red blotchy skin, rapid heartbeat and sweating. Although it's not known why this occurs, it may be due to changing estrogen levels that affect your hypothalamus, the body's thermostat. According to MayoClinic.com, both caffeine and alcohol have been implicated as contributing to hot flashes.
Irregular and Heavy Periods
The most common sign of perimenopause, especially during the early stages, is periods that are lighter or heaver, shorter or longer than usual. Research results published in 1999 in the "American Journal of Epidemiology" found that women in perimenopause who were heavy caffeine consumers were more likely to have short menstrual cycle lengths, less than 24 days. A study in the April 2007 issue of "Current Medical Research and Opinion" discovered that dysmenorrhea, characterized by pain, cramping and backache during menstruation, was relieved more effectively by a combination of 130 mg caffeine and 1 g acetaminophen than either supplement alone.
Sleep Problems
Many women going through perimenopause have trouble sleeping, with or without hot flashes. A study published in "Obstetrics and Gynecology" in 2001 followed 436 women aged 37 to 49 over a two-year period and found that greater caffeine consumption was a risk factor for sleep problems among the women.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Perimenopause; September 2010
- "European Journal of Endrocrinology"; Increased Cardiovascular Response to Caffeine in Perimenopausal Women Before and During Estrogen Therapy; G. Del Rio, et al.; November 1996
- "Obstetrics and Gynecology"; Sleep Quality, Estradiol Levels, and Behavioral Factors in Late Reproductive Age Women; L.E. Hollander, et al.; September 2001
- "American Journal of Epidemiology"; Caffeine Consumption and Menstrual Function; L. Fenster; March 1999
- "Current Medical Research and Opinion"; Efficacy of a Paracetamol and Caffeine Combination in the Treatment of the Key Symptoms of Primary Dysmenorrhoea; Z. Ali, et al.; April 2007
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Menopause
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