Building Resilience for Menopause

Menopause can significantly reduce our ability to handle stress, including biologically, psychologically, and also neurologically.  Menopause is a real shift in how the stress system operates.

 There are many reasons why this happens.

Oestrogen helps to buffer the brain and our body against stressors.  When this begins to decline, our stress response system (adrenal glands) become a lot more reactive (especially to those things that never used to bother us).  The stress hormone, Cortisol, spikes more easily and stays at higher levels for longer, including at night which affects our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.  Our ability to recover after a stressful episode also slows down – we recover back to baseline much slower.   Many women find they suddenly feel overwhelmed by things that they previously would have handled easily.

They feel wired most of the time but yet exhausted and they find they can be more emotional reactive to everyday events.  This is linked to the HPA (Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal) Axis becoming out of balance and dysregulated.  However, there is a lot we can do to support this and get your back to feeling good again.  

Lower oestrogen and progesterone hormone levels reduce calming hormones, such as GABA and serotonin and can activate our fight or flight mode.  This leaves many women feeling anxious or agitated, struggling with insomnia or even having a reduced tolerance to noise around them.  Many women say they no longer feel able to multitask like they used to and this can cause great distress and loss of confidence.

While Cortisol is a very important hormone, chronic high levels can contribute to common symptoms such as brain fog, weight gain around the middle, blood sugar disruption, low energy, unstable moods and poor sleep.

When progesterone levels decline, this can contribute to women becoming agitated, anxious, overwhelmed and to wake up several times at night.  Palpitations have been noted by many women during episodes of night-time waking. 

When I ask many of my clients how their stress levels are, they say “oh, I don’t feel stressed at all” but their symptoms tell me a different story.   Smaller stressors feel overwhelming, they feel irritable or anxious, can burst into tears for no apparent reason. They often feel less social and can feel exhausted after normal activities.   This can also lead to feelings of self-doubt and questioning our own capabilities.

However, all is not lost and there is lots that we can do to help you feel calmer and more motivated in your day to day life.  In Menopause, we need a different strategy when the usual techniques we have been using start to fail us.  I use breathwork training for ALL of my clients and this has been a game-changer.  Overwhelm, anxiety and poor sleep are common drivers of disrupted breathing patterns and when we correct your breathing patterns, this is when my clients start to see real and positive improvements in how they feel.  Resilience can be strengthened and cultivated, no matter what age or stage of life you are at.

Here are my top tips for building resilience in Peri-Menopause all the way through to Post-Menopause:

Sleep: Keep consistent sleep and wake time; get natural light exposure first thing in the morning; reduce alcohol and afternoon coffee and keep your bedroom cool and dark at night (no blue light devices).  Your bedroom should be a place of calm.

Food Tips: Ensure you have protein at every meal, including snacks; no enforced fasting if you don’t feel good with it; reduce ultra-processed foods; limit sweet and sugar-based foods.

Exercise: Menopause is definitely more about strength training than HIIT so opt for strength training and weights 3-4 times per week alongside yoga, tai chi and other gentler, strengthening exercises. This will help to reduce cortisol levels, boost Serotonin levels and protects bone density as we age.

Social: Surround yourself with supportive friendships and relationships; talk openly about how menopause and whether you need additional support; engage in group activities to increase social connectedness to avoid feeling isolated and socially withdrawn.

Other Support: if you feel that you need other support in  terms of HRT, sleep support, anxiety treatments or nutritional interventions, make this a priority to yourself. Remember, self-care is vital for strong resilience so make self-care a priority in your day-to-day life.

If you feel you need help in any of the above areas that I discuss here, you can book a call with me to see how I can help you. Click HERE to get in touch.