Oral Health Is Part of My Midlife Maintenance Now

By now, I have accepted that perimenopause has opinions about almost every part of my body.

Sleep? Affected.

Mood? Definitely affected.

Metabolism? Don't get me started.

Skin, hair, brain, joints? Apparently everybody gets a turn.

And now, my mouth has joined the conversation. Omg.

A Visit to the Dentist A Few Months Ago

A few months ago, I had an episode that sent me to the dentist. I blogged about it here: Apparently You Can Floss Religiously and STILL End Up at the Dentist 😭

Because of that episode, I discovered something I hadn't really thought about before: oral health can change during perimenopause and menopause.

Research has documented oral-health concerns during perimenopause and menopause, including dry mouth, gum and periodontal problems, oral discomfort and changes in the tissues of the mouth.

Hormonal changes, particularly changes in oestrogen, are thought to play a role, although of course not every dental problem in your 40s can be simply blamed on perimenopause.

This realisation has led me down the rabbit hole of oral probiotics, interdental brushes and toothpaste ingredients.

Welcome to midlife. Hehe.

The Product I Didn't Even Know Existed: Oral Probiotics

During that dental visit, I was given the usual treatment, but my dentist also recommended that I take BioGaia Prodentis for a month.

My first reaction was essentially: Har? There are probiotics for your mouth? Until then, probiotics lived firmly in the yoghurt-and-gut-health section of my brain.

BioGaia Prodentis contains the active strains of Limosilactobacillus reuteri Prodentis (a blend of L. reuteri DSM 17938 and L. reuteri ATCC PTA 5289).

Unlike swallowing a probiotic capsule, it comes as a lozenge that dissolves slowly in the mouth, so the bacteria are delivered directly into the oral cavity. BioGaia specifically developed the combination for oral health and gum support.

I have been taking BioGaia Prodentis for the past four months. And so far, my gums have been behaving themselves. I no longer have the bleeding or soreness I used to notice.

At the same time, I also started using an interdental brush properly.

I Changed My Toothpaste Too

As though oral probiotics weren't already enough of a departure from my old routine, about a month ago I switched toothpaste and started using Boostoral Restore+ n-HA Prebiotics Whitening Toothpaste.

Previously, toothpaste was… toothpaste. Now I read ingredient lists. Haha.

Boostoral caught my attention because its formulation is built around two things I hadn't previously looked for in toothpaste: nano-hydroxyapatite and oral prebiotics. The toothpaste also contains hydrated silica, while other ingredients in the range include things such as xylitol and tea tree extract.

Nano-hydroxyapatite, or n-HA, was particularly interesting. Hydroxyapatite is a mineral that naturally makes up much of tooth enamel. Boostoral uses a nano-sized form designed to interact more closely with the tooth surface and support remineralisation and the formation of a protective mineral layer.

Then there are the oral prebiotics, which are there to support the environment in which beneficial oral bacteria live.

So in a sense, I have somehow arrived at this situation:

Prodentis = probiotics

Boostoral = prebiotics

I have gone from buying whatever toothpaste seemed reasonable to apparently managing an ecosystem inside my mouth. Midlife is wild. Hahaha.

There is another reason Boostoral caught my attention that has absolutely nothing to do with microbiomes.

The branding is ridiculously eye-catching. Their packaging doesn't look like the traditional toothpaste packaging I've been staring at in supermarkets for decades. It looks almost like skincare.

And then there are the flavours. I started with Pink Guava, which sounds much more like something I should be drinking at a beach resort than brushing my teeth with. I've since bought Watermelon and Magic Mint. The one I actually wanted next, Lemonade Burst, is currently out of stock.

Looks like I've also started collecting toothpaste flavours now. I don't know when this became my life either. LOL.

And perhaps that matters more than it sounds. The best oral-care routine is still the one you actually keep doing.

Disclaimer: This is simply my personal experience with the products mentioned, not medical or dental advice. My oral-health routine also changed in several ways at the same time, so I can't attribute the improvements I've noticed to any single product. If you have persistent bleeding, swelling, pain or other changes in your gums or mouth, see a dentist rather than attempting to probiotic your way out of it. 😆

September Is Perimenopause Awareness Month

What Exactly Is Perimenopause?

If there's one thing I've realised from learning more about this stage of life, it's this: many women enter perimenopause without really knowing what to expect.

We know that menopause is when menstruation stops. This is the simplest explanation.

But perimenopause, the transition phase before menopause, can last up to 8 to 10 years before menopause actually occurs.

During perimenopause, which Dr Mary Claire Haver describes as the Zone of Chaos, hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone become increasingly unpredictable, and the effects can show up in ways that don't immediately seem hormonal at all: brain fog, anxiety, poor sleep, mood changes, joint aches, palpitations, changes in body composition and many more.

Which is why, so many women in their 40s seem to describe similar experiences:

"Maybe I'm just stressed."

"Maybe I'm just getting old already lah."

"Why don't I feel like myself anymore?"

And then you finally start connecting the dots.

Discovering the Perimenopause Rollercoaster

My Blog Posts

I thought estrogen was just a reproductive hormone. Here's what I learnt about estrogen's role in brain fog, mood, sleep and other perimenopause changes.

Why do anxiety, irritability, and poor sleep feel different in perimenopause? Here's what I learnt about progesterone and feeling less steady in midlife.

Feeling flat, less motivated or low in energy? Here's what I learnt about testosterone in women and how it may affect drive, strength, and midlife.

Aha. No wonder lah!

Perimenopause Deserves More Conversations

Awareness matters because recognising that these changes could be related to perimenopause gives us more context. It helps us ask better questions, seek appropriate support and have more informed conversations about what is happening to our bodies.

If you're wondering whether some of the changes you’ve been experiencing could be related to perimenopause, you can also reach out to Menopause Asia.

It is a digital platform that connects women with independently licensed doctors, reliable information and practical midlife health resources, with the aim of making menopause support easier to access and navigate. Menopause Asia itself is not a healthcare provider; medical consultations are provided independently by licensed healthcare professionals.

Sometimes, knowing what might be happening is already a very useful first step.

So this September, maybe tell another woman what you've learnt too.

Because the more openly we talk about perimenopause, the less likely someone else is to spend years thinking: "What on earth is wrong with me?"

❤️ Share this with a woman who might need her own Aha, No Wonder Lah moment.

Adding Oil to Everything Is Now Part of My Parenting Strategy

I came home from a dietitian appointment recently with a new parenting strategy:

Add oil to lunch, dinner, and whatever food my child will happily eat.

So apparently, when you're trying to help a child gain weight, sometimes the answer isn't eat more. It's figuring out how to make what they're already eating work a little harder.

I just realised this is one of those parenting things I never thought I'd know need to put into practice.

For the past few months, we've been working with a dietitian to help our youngest kiddo with his growth. He's always been on the smaller side, so we're trying to help him gain weight steadily and, hopefully, support his height growth along the way.

The good news from our latest appointment is that he has gained some weight.

Although not a drastic increase, it was enough for the dietitian to mention that whatever we're doing, keep doing it.

So next, we add oil.

One of the things I've learnt is that helping a child gain weight doesn't necessarily mean piling more food onto his plate.

Because if your child already doesn't eat very much, staring at an even bigger mountain of food isn't exactly going to inspire him.

Instead, we're learning to increase the calorie density of the food he's already eating.

Hence: oil (e.g., olive oil, butter).

And we're also encouraged to add things like fried shallots, fried garlic, and fried ikan bilis to his meals; basically foods that add more oil, protein, and calories without significantly increasing the amount of food he has to finish.

Vegetables require a different strategy.

This is another thing I liked from the dietitian.

Instead of constantly introducing vegetables as a separate 'you must eat this because it's good for you' item, we can introduce them through something he already likes.

He loves tom yum, for example.

So rather than saying, "Here is a new veggie. Eat it." It can be, "Here's your tom yum. There's a nice veggie in it." 😂

He's already started accepting a few vegetables, so the idea now is to keep those consistent while slowly expanding the selection.

Sleep is not for the weak.

This one is probably going to be harder than adding oil.

The dietitian also reminded us that nutrition is only one part of growth; sleep matters too.

So we're now working towards an earlier and more consistent bedtime, which means my child's growth plan involves not only what happens at the dining table, but also what time he needs to be in bed.

Wish me luck!

Small progress is still progress.

I think that's probably my biggest takeaway from these appointments.

When you're watching a child's growth over time, progress doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it's simply seeing that the gap on the growth chart has become a little smaller.

And for now, that's enough to make me happy.

We have another few months before the next check-in, so the plan is pretty simple:

• Keep doing what seems to be working.
• Keep making his snacks more substantial.
• Keep introducing food, including veggies, without turning every meal into a battle.
• Get him to bed earlier.
• And of course, add oil to his food.

Wish me luck!

Where Did My Spark Go?

After learning about the chaotic behaviour of fluctuating estrogen and progesterone during perimenopause, I thought I understood this whole hormone situation.

Then testosterone came along.

Women Have Testosterone Too

What? Seriously? 

Did you know that women have testosterone too? This was probably the first misconception I had to get rid of.

Testosterone is not exclusively a male hormone. Women produce it too, just in smaller amounts.

Source: Instagram | joiedevivrefit

In women, testosterone supports:

• Energy and vitality
• Libido
• Muscle and strength
• Bone health
• Confidence and drive
• Cognitive sharpness
• Skin and hair

Okay wait.

So, estrogen has its hands in almost everything.

Progesterone is involved in calmness and sleep.

And now testosterone is in the picture, deciding whether I still have energy, drive, and motivation.

How many functions are these hormones actually running? 😑

The "I've Lost My Spark" Feeling

Because low testosterone in women can be described less like feeling unwell and more like this vague sense of flatness.

It's not necessarily sadness or depression. Just... "I don't feel like I used to."

Some women describe it as:

"I've lost my spark."

"I feel flat."

"I'm going through the motions."

"I don't recognise myself."

That whole cluster stood out to me because it's such a subtle thing.

There may not be anything dramatically wrong; you're still functioning, going to work, doing what needs to be done, and showing up.

But somewhere along the way, the enthusiasm feels smaller and the drive is less.

The "I can't be bothered" moments become more frequent.

And you may start wondering, "Am I just tired? Lazy? Burnt out? Bored? Getting old? Or is there something else going on too?"

Then There Is the Energy Problem

This one is interesting, because "tired" can mean so many things.

There's sleepy tired, physically exhausted tired, and mentally overloaded tired.

And then there's this other kind of "tired" where you can technically do something but just don't feel like it.

Because the motivation, enthusiasm, and that forward momentum are missing.

Now to be fair, sometimes I genuinely cannot be bothered because the thing is annoying and I have reached that stage in life where I no longer want to waste energy pretending otherwise. 😂

But still.

I find it striking that testosterone is also associated with drive and vitality, because those are not usually the things women are taught to connect with hormones.

Strength Training Is a Big Deal

Declining testosterone has been linked to reduced muscle mass, less physical resilience and shifts in body composition. This is probably the most practical takeaway I got from this topic.

Experts put a lot of emphasis on resistance or strength training and suggest two to three sessions a week as an important part of supporting strength and muscle in midlife.

Strength training seems to be the "prescription" for almost everything related to perimenopause, bone health, muscle mass, and metabolism.

Sigh, I suppose this is one of those moments where I can no longer pretend I didn't get the memo.

Looks like I need to stop avoiding strength training. 😑

Excuses Vs Context

Anyway, learning about hormones isn't about finding an excuse.

It's about understanding that sometimes there is more context behind the question, "Why don't I feel like myself anymore?"

Maybe the better questions are, "What has changed?" and "What can I do?"