Dizziness and menopause

Dizziness can be a worrying symptom of the menopause

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It is not uncommon for most women to experience a turn of light-headedness during the menopause. This is due to changing hormone levels affecting our circulation. Recurring episodes of dizziness can become a problem. Here, our menopause expert Eileen Durward approaches the issue and offers a range of herbal alternatives to ease the symptom.

An introduction to dizziness and menopause

During the menopause, women may experience brief, unexpected moments of dizziness, which can make them feel unsettled for a time, even after the sensation has eased. There are three types of sensation that can be experienced with dizziness: the feeling that everything is spinning or whirling; a feeling of loss of balance; or a feeling as if you are going to faint.

Dizziness may occur as a result of another menopause symptom such as anxiety or panic attacks. If suffering from these symptoms, breathing and heart rate levels become rapid and unsteady. This change in breathing can disturb the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, causing dizziness.

Why does menopause cause dizziness?

The exact causes of dizziness, like so many menopause symptoms, are unclear. However, during the menopause, your body goes through huge hormonal changes. These can result in a variety of symptoms including dizziness.

Oestrogen and progesterone are the female hormones that change the most during the menopause, and are the reason behind most of the symptoms. As the levels of these hormones change they can have an effect on circulation and blood vessels, resulting in bouts of dizziness as blood pressure fluctuates.

There are other symptoms of the menopause that can also make a woman feel dizzy, including anxiety, hot flushes, stress or panic attacks. The root of these problems can usually be assigned to hormone fluctuations as well.

In some cases, dizziness may not be related to the menopause, but be triggered by another medical condition or health problem such as low blood sugar, low blood pressure, low iron levels, dehydration, viral infections or ear infections. If this is the case then you will need to seek medical advice to clear the problem.

What home remedies are there for dizziness?

It is worth trying these simple home remedies to see if these ease your symptoms:

Make sure that you are properly hydrated - drink about a litre and a half of water a day. Many people do not realise the importance of keeping hydrated. During the menopause, hormone fluctuations may change your body’s ability to retain water, so you may find yourself having to drink more water
Don’t stand up too quickly – jumping up or moving your head suddenly can lead to a bout of dizziness. If you take things gently for a while, you may find your symptoms easing
If you are anaemic then a natural iron tonic will be helpful
Some people have found relief from adding ginger to their diet to stimulate circulation.

If you still feel dizzy after implementing these home remedies, then it is worth seeking medical advice. Dizziness can be a serious condition, particularly if it doesn’t go away after a few days. Your doctor will be able to confirm if your dizziness is a symptom of the menopause, and may prescribe treatments specifically for dizziness, or hormone treatments, such as HRT. Before taking any medication you should discuss the side effects with your doctor to establish if it is the best treatment for you.

Are there herbal remedies to help me?

It is important to rule out other causes of dizziness and you may need to speak to your doctor in order to achieve this. If it has been established that your dizziness is related to the menopause, the first thing you could do is to use a supplement containing soy isoflavones which can help to stabilise your hormones.

TIP: A.Vogel Menopause Support contains isoflavones from fermented soy, making the active ingredients more bio-available. It also contains hibiscus and magnesium and is formulated as a general supplement to help you through all stages of the menopause.

"Helped to eliminate all the unpleasant moments of my menopause." read more customer reviews

Frequent and heavy periods can lead to excessive blood loss and dizziness. If this is the case with you, speak to your doctor.

38 Comments

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Amanda — 29.04.2019 08:48
Hi I'm thinking I hav started the menopause in the last week, I'm getting flushes,feeling sick,light headed and numbness in my hand, is this normal as this is all new to me.
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- Eileen — 01.05.2019 08:59
  Hi Amanda Please can you let me know how old you are and what is happening with your periods, thanks. You can email me privately if you wish eileen@bioforce.co.uk
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Sam — 20.09.2017 10:20
Hi Im on 1mg elleste duet was feeling great then slowly while Im on my 3rd packet which is reaching my 3 months. My dizziness and lightheadness is staring to creep back in. Should I up to 2mg ? Has my body got used to 1mg or should I try something else. Please can you help as its really upsetting me and I cant go back to that awful place when menopause was taking over my life. Thank you Sam
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- eileen — 21.09.2017 12:23
  Hi Sam You would need to go and see your doctor about this as only they can advise you on how to go from here, we are not allowed to advise on prescribed drug use, sorry.
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Sam — 13.08.2017 14:39
Hi Im on elleste duet for menopause symptoms. My worst symptom is dizziness. Had all my bloods done all ok. Dr thinks the dizziness is caused with the menopause. I also have high BP and I am on Ramapril. Is there anything I can take with the hrt to help me with the dizziness please. Many thanks Sam
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- eileen — 14.08.2017 10:49
  Hi Sam Hopefully the tips above will help with your dizziness but you could try the Menopause Support as well, this is fine with HRT, although it could take about 4 weeks to start showing benefit.
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- Sam — 14.08.2017 15:48
  Hi if the menopause will help with the dizziness then I would definately like to try them please
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- eileen — 15.08.2017 14:08
  Hi Sam You can apply for a free pack www.avogel.co.uk/join
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- Sam — 18.08.2017 05:33
  Hi I have applied for the free pack thank you so much. Has this tablet helped people with the dizziness before ? Thank you Sam
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- Eileen — 18.08.2017 07:33
  Hi Sam it does help some people. Every one is different!
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- Sam — 19.08.2017 18:09
  Hi Eileen I have received my menopause support and started taking the tablets as you said they were ok to take with HRT Elleste duet. I also read that you need to take B12 vitamins . Can I also take feroglobin capsules. I suffer with the lightheadness and dizziness mostly thank you sam
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- eileen — 22.08.2017 10:22
  HI Sam B12 is best taken as part of a vitamin B Complex unless you have been diagnosed with B12 deficiency by your doctor. If you have had a few heavy periods then a short course of Feroglobin should be fine
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June — 09.08.2017 12:52
I get hot and sweaty and dizziness, it's like my sugar levels have dropped as I want something sweet, this seems to help the symptoms subside. I am 48. Any ideas
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- eileen — 10.08.2017 08:48
  Hi June It is more than likely that this blood sugar yo-yo effect is actually triggering the sweating and dizziness and this is really common in the menopause. The falling hormones can affect your blood sugar control and this can become unbalanced very quickly. Unfortunately, sugar is the worst thing for helping this - having something sweet will make you feel better quickly as it raises up your blood sugar levels but afterwards there will be a swift 'crash' making you feel worse so you have more sugar foods and this can keep repeating. The best thing to do is eat little and often but have protein/fat foods as these will keep your blood sugars stable. Foods such as nuts, seeds, full fat plain yogurt (no sugar!), oatcakes and cheese etc make for good, healthy snacks that will not trigger this response.
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Claire — 08.08.2017 19:11
Hi I had an hysterectomy at the age of 39 but kept my ovaries now 44 for the past few years had night sweats but now getting them any time of the day and really terrible at night also since March suffering from low moods no sex drive at All and dizziness Drs ran tests got no vit D and high blood pressure but reading your page I have every symptom on here can't take any form of hrt due to family blood clots but Iam sick of feeling so rubish all the time any help would be a breath of fresh air
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- eileen — 09.08.2017 12:29
  Hi Clare You could try the Menopause Support, this doesn't have the same contraindications as HRT. This is gently known to raise and balance oestrogen so may ease your symptoms. You could also add in the sage tablets as these are specifically for hot flushes and night sweats and usually work quickly. I would suggest one with your evening meal. Check your diet and make sure that you are eating plenty of fresh foods and avoiding high salt and sugar foods and caffeine. Remember to drink lots of plain water as dehydration will make everything worse!
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Bella — 24.07.2017 06:03
Hi Im suffering from dizziness night sweats hot flushes. My dr has done blood test everything is fine. She said it signs of peri menopause which is causing the dizziness and has put me on hrt...will this stop the dizziness, if so how long will it take...thank you.
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- eileen — 24.07.2017 12:45
  Hi Bella If the dizziness is being caused by the hormonal changes then the HRT should help, it is difficult to say how long it may take to kick in as this would depend on what dose and type of HRT you are taking. However, stress, low blood sugars and dehydration can cause dizziness too so make susre that you eat little and often and drink lots of water every day. I assume your doctor tested your blood pressure and iron levels as low levels of both could cause dizziness too.
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- Bella — 24.07.2017 12:45
  Im taking elleste duet 1mg and my Iron levels are good.
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- eileen — 24.07.2017 12:45
  Hi Bella I would say if you don't feel any better after 2 months to go back to your doctor
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- Bella — 23.08.2017 09:20
  Hi Do the menopause tablets help with fatigue as I get very bad fatigue Thanks Bella
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- eileen — 23.08.2017 13:17
  Hi Bella They may do but fatigue in the menopause can be caused by lots of things such as dehydration, poor diet, too much caffeine/sugar/salt, low thyroid function, low iron or low vitamin D so it is a good idea to get this checked out with your doctor, especially if you have had it a while or it is getting worse.
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- Bella — 23.08.2017 19:07
  Hi I have had my bloods checked and everything has come back normal. Can you suggest anything that can help with the fatigue. Thank you
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- eileen — 24.08.2017 12:03
  Hi Bella The changing hormones can really drain the body of energy which can cause the fatigue. Rest and relaxation is really important to allow the body to re-energise but I realise that this can be very difficult to do, especially if you lead a busy life. You may find taking a good female multivit can help to give you a boost (ask for one at your local healthshop) and make sure that you are eating well to give your body all the nutrients it needs just now. Dehydration and low blood sugars are often part of the problem so remember the plain water every day and eat little and often. This is usually a phase of the menopause but I can't stress enough how important it is to look after yourself well!
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