Dealing With Menopause During A Pandemic

Dear menopausal friend? How are you? How’s menopause treating during these tough times? Are you sleeping well? Eating well? Feeling well? Coping well? My menopause symptoms have kicked in again after being under control for months. I can’t sleep! In fact, I had a 2-hour sleep last night and ended up getting out of bed and writing this article to share my current state of affairs. My mind keeps wandering aimlessly throughout the night and I cannot turn it off. I keep tossing the blanket under and over my whole entire body and turning left, right and centre. And when I finally start to drift into dreamland, a hot flash gives me a nudge. Now I am not fighting my endless thoughts, but rather a fire burning inside of me.

Menopause and crisis connection

It’s April 2020 and we are in the midst of a crisis that has nothing to do with midlife! This is a stressful time, a pandemic the world hasn’t seen in over 100 years. Young and old, we are all under tremendous stress and are facing physical and mental aches. And even though middle-aged women endure stress due to hormone fluctuation, adding a pandemic on top of this is impacting the way we respond to stress physically and emotionally.

So, let’s talk a little bit about how this stressful pandemic affects menopause symptoms and help each other find some ways to deal with it during these hard times.

So how does a crisis or stress stimulate menopause symptoms?

Mood swings

It is said that stress is an external situation that affects our mood. The current global pandemic is highly stressful for all and is affecting everyone’s mood. Therefore, mood swings are frequent because we feel that we’re not able to resolve the situation we’re in. We’re listening and reading doom and gloom news daily, and no one has figured out how this virus behaves and how it should be contained. It’s total chaos, and an unbearable stress and mood influencer.

Hot flushes

The stress of the pandemic has triggered hot flashes in my case. I believe the situation is putting pressure on our nervous system, and we become overwhelmed. Stress is releasing adrenaline and histamine, and these are calipers to triggering hot flashes. I am experiencing hot flashes throughout the day now, a situation which I haven’t felt since peri-menopause period. What about you? Have you noticed a change in your temperature lately?

Weight gain

Many of us experience some weight gain during menopause, and adding stress to the equation may further affect weight gain. The crisis and lockdown are stressing us out, making us feel less motivated. We don’t feel like exercising because we are miserable and tired. As well, stress can reduce magnesium levels, which trigger food cravings. Such factors ultimately tempt us to reach for comfort food (sweet or salty) and alcohol to boost our mood and feel cheerful.

Sleep problems

The current pandemic is the stress that created sleep problems. But menopause itself affects sleep caused by low estrogen. We can’t go to sleep quickly or stay asleep throughout the night. I just lie down stressed and anxious in bed worrying about the economy, health and safety of our society. On top of that, stress is not only preventing us from getting to sleep, but we often tend to wake up a lot earlier as well.

How to relieve stress during menopause

Meditate

Meditation helps relieve stress, improve sleep, and can lower blood pressure and reduce chronic pain. I usually try to meditate for about 15 to 20 minutes before going to bed. But I realized that I’ve been spending too much time glued to the TV and the laptop following the stressful news. I end up losing track of time and next thing you know, it’s midnight and I feel overwhelmed with the confusing messages and updates.

Exercise

I cannot stress the importance of exercising during the pandemic. Not only does it help us maintain muscle strength and bone density, but it also helps improve mood and quality of sleep. Some of my favorite workouts include hiking, jogging, strength training, and pilate. Pick a workout routine you can stick too and if you can’t, then make sure to go for 1 hour walks each day.

Reduce caffeine

Consuming too much caffeine can cause insomnia. And since women during menopause struggle with sleep due to hormone fluctuations, then it’s best to reduce the intake of caffeine consumption. I notice that my sleep pattern changes when I drink more than the usual amount of coffee per day and when I drink coffee later in the day. But it’s difficult to quit drinking coffee lately, so I finally bought decaf and started drinking Dandelion tea which, by the way, tastes very similar to coffee. And even though a warm cup of coffee or tea gives me a sense of comfort in daylight, it brings grief at night!

Sleep well

Getting a good night’s sleep can indeed be a blessing during such a tough period. With the stress of the pandemic, women over 40 struggle with getting a proper sleep pattern and ultimately suffer anxiety as a result. One of the best ways to get better sleep during menopause is to find a good distraction before bed, such as meditation, taking a warm shower, and reading a book.

Healthline recommends taking Melatonin supplements. It’s a natural hormone called the Sleep Hormone our bodies produce. Melatonin offers several other health benefits that can be found on its website too.

To manage hot flashes, North America’s Menopause Society recommends herbal remedies such as Black Cohosh, Red Clover, Dong Quai, Ginseng, Kava, and Evening Primrose oil.

Talk about it

There’s no shame in talking about how the pandemic is affecting our menopausal symptoms. We should open up about it with our sisters, moms, and friends. I wrote this blog intending to start a conversation and exchange support by sharing my own experience during this stressful period. Let’s discuss how this current situation is affecting our physical and mental health as menopausal women.

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Originally published at https://ellemuse.com on April 21, 2020.