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Can stress make menopause symptoms worse?

Sep 11

3 min read

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Stress can manifest itself negatively in different ways. The body is generally great at adapting, but as we get older, long-term stress can impact and affect the regulation of other hormone messengers, causing dysregulation and adding to existing hormone fluctuations.

Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, or sex hormones, are already starting to make unpredictable shifts from around the age of 40 onwards in women. Some of the key signs and signals can be anxiety levels starting to increase; we begin to feel a bit overwhelmed.

Do you ever catch yourself where you’ve forgotten to take time to breathe, where your heart rate is slightly elevated, and you’re rushing from A to B and feeling slightly, well, stressed?

In these instances, you might feel that you’re managing fabulously to keep on top of things and are doing fantastically well to ‘keep the plates juggling'. However, longer-term, this can have a negative effect on our health.

When we get into the ‘rushing about like a headless chicken’ mode, as I like to call it, on a daily basis, as so many of us do - what we may be doing is raising our cortisol levels over time to a detrimental level.

WE NEED TO MAKE EFFORTS TO HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON…

So, is cortisol the enemy, I hear you ask?

Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands and has many vital functions. It is part of a network of hormones that tell your body what to do and when to do it. It plays many roles: it regulates our blood pressure and blood sugar, controls our inflammation response, and helps us to regulate our sleep/wake cycle.

However, when our body is dealing with chronic stress, i.e., having a stressful home life and/or a demanding job, as many of us have these days, cortisol production can go into overdrive.

In recent research studies, it has been found that a past traumatic event or childhood trauma can cause us to become ‘stuck’ in a fight or flight response, which can also increase the levels of cortisol to chronic levels.

Some of the many negative symptoms of cortisol dysregulation include:

- Headaches

- Muscle weakness, particularly in arms and legs

- Increased aches and pains

- Increase in abdominal fat

- Slowing metabolism

- Decrease in memory functions

- Mood dysregulation

Why should we be mindful of these impacts?

 I now wonder how much my menopause symptoms were aggravated by, or attributed to, too much cortisol coursing through my veins.

Limiting stress in any way possible from the age of around 40 upwards is a good move.

Easier said than done, I hear you say!

Try to find ways of slowing your breathing, take some time for yourself, and don’t try to be all things to all people, say ‘no’ now and again!

Being aware as we head into perimenopause is essential; often we can knock that delicate balance by bringing elevated cortisol to the party, a heady cocktail of steroid hormones and sex hormones which, when they start to fluctuate, can result in a really crappy, non-happy party.

What’s alarming for me in writing this piece is the fact that the symptoms of cortisol dysregulation and menopause symptoms all seem strangely similar!?

Let me know your thoughts on this having read this!

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