Okay...just want to share and see if anyone else out there has this...somedays I am absolutely fine..no nervousness, no anxiety will go off and do errands on my own...which sadly enough is sometimes hard to do and I hate that I am this way...ugh! Then I have mornings where I literally wake up from a sound sleep with my heart racing...then anxiety kicks in then I feel like I can't even step outside the door...all confidence and independence goes down the toilet....I wonder if sometimes diet or food triggers it? I ususally can get myself out of this funk but just wanted to see if anyone else was going through this too....thanks for any input!!!
Hi Lisa,
I have had days like this. Mainly due to stress. When I had many things going on the go or just annoyed by what people say.
Okay thanks...yeah same here now that I think of it. It is usually when I have a few things on my plate ..Thanks so much!
You are welcome.
Hi Lisa,
I think you're right about the food. I posted about cortisol (the stress hormone) a couple of weeks ago; when our estrogen levels drop cortisol is higher causing anxiety pounding heart etc. so it could be due to a drop in estrogen but it can also be due to food as certain foods and drinks increase cortisol levels like sugar, alcohol and caffiene and anything high in carbs.
Hi Kerry, That makes sense...I usually don't drink caffiene and had some yesterday morning and last night had some white wine which I usually don't drink so maybe that triggered my mood today..thanks for your input! It is amazing how our bodies become so sensitive!
Hi Lisa, I really sympathise with you because this feeling is awful, I went to a couple of seminars about the menopause and nutrition and came to the conclusion that I was eating all the wrong foods since I suffer from anxiety, mood swings, hot flushes etc, although I really watch what I eat, Mediterranean diet in our house.........Having said all this, I have just come back from a lovely weekend away with my husband, nice meals, glass or two of wine and do you know what? Not ONE hot flush, no anxiety, no mood swings, no menopause symptoms at all!!!! So...... I am sure it is mainly down to stress...... Which isnt very assuring I know with the hectic lives we women lead, families and jobs 24/7!!!!! Would you be able to try yoga? I have found brearhing exercises do help! Good luck and much love xxx remember youre not alone xx
thanks so much amanda!!! yes I totally agree that 'Clean" eating is the best! There are so many "added" crap in our foods today that it messes with our own body chemistry - Suzanne somers wrote a great book about all of this. I did have a long period of time where I ate all clean food ..no take out, no processed foods even made my own veggie burgers! I have been off this train for a bit so it explains my ups and down days. Will get back on track for sure! Thanks so much Amanda!!
Hi Lisa
yes I had all this, it just hormones up and down and spiking up and down, making us feel this way, some days good and some days bad, I too went through this...
Jay xx
Thank you !!! It was just weird because last night I was sitting at home and I felt so relaxed and at ease and I thought....ahhh maybe just maybe my better days are coming... you know you always hear from other women that at some point through this journey..there is that ah ha moment. I have been in this for over ten years ..so I am getting bouts of these days...just was bummed this am when I was waking up to it all over again..ugh..lol! Thanks so much for your support!!
Hi Lisa
you will be similar to me then, 9 / 10 years peri ... i turned 50 last week.
my last period was Aug last year... so almost a year next month..
in 2013 i had two, and in 2012 i had three..
i dont know if you were the same, but the last two i had I had the worst ever PMT and migraines like no other.. headaches lasted 4 days and nights non stop..
then this year I had the symptoms but no period, but felt very helpless and tearful, achey and anxious and just at a loss each month, then that would lift abit and bang the following month same.. it got so bad i wouldnt go out, felt doom all the time, wanted to hide indoors, see no one..
but a few months ago i started 150mg B6 and yes, hard to believe but its changed my life, all those feelings gone, and wow i feel great, but recently was having day time flushes they came back, plentiful, but i realised that it was after I stopped my magnesium, a few weeks ago, so i am taking that again but in a form where you drop tablet in small glass of water effervescent tabs, and wow the flushes are gone, they were so intense and living in spain and its in the 30's here it was all too much, and the flushes and intense attack of them have gone, so i am feeling pretty dandy, also after taking B6 150mg every mornIng, never miss, all the PMT gone, none, no bloat, no tears, all good.. I do take other supplements too, I took natural Estroven Max for years and thought maybe they had run there course, so Menapol plus was recomended by Joy and i started that, I started by taking two daily so they got i to my system at the start but you can take 1 to 2 daily, and they seem to suit me too.. years ago my doc said I must take calcium and vit D for bones natural route, I took a calcium and magnesium mix from biovea website, then I found Natecal which is Calcium and D3 mix and took those, that meant my magnesium wasnt being taken anymore, and I thought nothing if it, until i twigged the hot flushes returned just after and didnt realise magnesium stops them, we live and learn... but wow i feel so much better after Vit B6 and Magnesium, B6 also turns carbs into energy and assists weight loss, i wasnt particularly over weight, but noticed my waist getting peri muffin abit , but I have lost about 10 pounds in weight and feel great...
good luck hun... Jay xx
I, too, suffer with the anxiety, sometimes downright panic. I have also been struggling with anger. My sister also dealt with these same experiences, so I know we can't all be crazy!! Hahaha
It can cause you to feel like you are coming undone, but it just seems to be the hormonal fluctuations causing these issues. I saw a physician about the racing heart and palpitations and he told me that women "Your age" just sometimes go through these things and wrote me a script for Xanax, which is a sedative. Nice, huh?! I wanted to slap his cheeks, I'm ashamed to admit. Here I was, frightened out of my wits and he figuratively patted my head and sent me home with happy pills. Jerk. I didn't fill the prescription. I saw another doctor who listened to me, ordered some monitoring for my heart and a follow-up ECG and assured me my heart was fit and sound. That helped a lot, however, I still have fears about cardiovascular disease since both my parents have issues with their hearts.
I keep a close eye on things and try to reduce stress and exercise. Diet is still a struggle for me. I have a big sweet tooth!! I have been told that vitamin and mineral deficiencies can manifest themselves in food cravings. If anyone has some insight on that angle, I would love to hear their thoughts!
Good Luck lisa65434! Know that you are not alone in this journey!
Thank you millette...I agree with the doctors handing out sedatives...sometimes it is hard to get through the anxiety but once you really that is what it is.."sensations" and they don't harm you that helps a great deal...good luck to you ...and nice to know I am not alone!!
Glad to hear these replies. Some days I feel like I am losing it. The anxiety, the out and out panic. The fogginess makes me crazier if that is even possible. I have started drinking cammile tea by the gallons hoping it will calm down. And the weird foods have have been craving are nuts. As crazy as it is I have been eating chocolate all day, I am not a chocolate person my go to has always been salty foods. But lately and can go through a bag of candy in a week .
Hello,,, yes I too drink chamomile tea too..it helps if anything I stay away from caffeine and sugar because they tend to make me hyper very easy and then it snowballs into anxeity. I go through bouts of craving sweets...the best thing is to not have it in the house...sometimes I quickly grab a handful of almonds and some slices of cheese to curb the craving because I am more of a "food" person rather than sweets...ugh...we will get through this!!!
Hi and thanks. This too shallpass! The sooner the better
Hi, Like Lisa I find the sugar and caffeine make the anxiety worse.
Hi KLVB
i too crave choc, and have a small bar a day, also eat almonds as good for you, choc isnt, but i have craved it all through my peri ( 9 years) luckily i am not overweight, infact on the vit B6 I am losing weight...
it reminds me of when i was younger and always in PMT i craves chocolate for a few days, as many others do too, hormonal chocolate craves.... 😃 ... take care Jay x
Thanks for the advice. Will have to change from at arms lenght. I always keep chocolate out for my staff. Will have to move so I cannot just stick my paws in. At home on the weekends I may eat one piece because my BF always has around but it is sugar free. Glad there terrible mood swings and other things aren't all im my head.
Hi, I have exactly the same symptoms as you are describing, I'm 56 but have two kids under 11 to get to school and I sometimes do not know how I do it. Anxiety on another level at times, especially when it wakes me at night. I'm trying slow breathing techniques, it's so horrible I want it to go so I can get back to being my normal confident self. I don't know about food triggers but I have been on decade coffee for months and that's helped a tiny bit. Last night was woken by chronic indigestion, don't think I should ever eat bread again !! It's trail and error X