And it is not fun!! I discovered this a few years ago when I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack but at the same time logically knowing I wasn’t!!! Strange I know but I was shaking uncontrollably, my heart was racing and I was incredibly anxious. After all the tests came back negative , I was sent home with Ativan and told it was stress!
It wasn’t until after speaking to a friend of mine and telling her what happened that she told me it has happened to her and that it was menopausal anxiety! I did not even know it existed! No one talks about it and with menopause it is all about the hot flushes and the weight gain!
I truly believe that we need to shout from the rooftops about menopause! It is a natural part of aging and entering the next exciting stage of our lives! But menopause is either hush hushed or swept under the rug and no one wants to talk about the hot flushes and weight gain. But , there are a host of other symptoms not spoken about that need and should be addressed because so many women suffer from them and one of those is anxiety!
I had never suffered from anxiety before, sure I get nervous and afraid of things but nothing debilitating. This menopausal anxiety , I could actually feel physically in my body when it was coming on . We look fine and well on the outside but on the inside, you fight with your mind to keep it from winning. The constant battle with your mind is exhausting and frightening!
What should we be doing for this?
For me, I started on HRT, Hormone, replacement therapy and it helped abit. But I wanted to find a way to get off the hormones and do it naturally. After much searching I found an incredible program the MyMY menopause transformation which was a game changer and quite frankly a life changer for me!
Wendy the founder of the program is a retired nurse , personal trainer and did a doctorate on women aging studies AND most importantly had been through menopause and totally understood what we women go through! Wendy uses the knowledge of food to manage the symptoms and explains the hows and the whys! After 6 months on the program I was able to get off the HRT .
To manage the anxiety, I now use food, refined sugars and processed foods are triggers for me. I use exercise, although I have changed the kind of exercise I do as this had an impact on me as well. I do alot of deep breathing which is huge and read or listen to meditations. I discovered Aswagandha! An ancient herb that can reduce anxiety!I I now take an incredible powder daily that contains sustainably-sourced Ashwagandha (a powerful adaptogen) plus sustainably-sourced Saffron to achieve a balanced mindset. I have noticed a huge improvement taking it daily to my mindset and my body rarely gets those symptoms anymore. My anxiety has gone from off the charts to barely 2/10!
If you are suffering in anyway from menopause or anxiety, know that you are not alone, there is help and there are ways to manage it.
Reach out to me if you would like to learn more.