Scary symptoms of perimenopause & menopause Part 1

3 symptoms that can be scary or distressing during perimenopause and menopause

Here are a few of the scariest symptoms that can cause distress during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Panic attacks

These are awful because they very often come out of the blue. Having a panic attack can be highly distressing for someone who is normally quiet and calm. They can make your heart race. You can sweat. You can end up becoming very pale. You can start shaking. You can become immobilised, or you can be in so much of a panic that you can't think and you can't move. Very often, you can't even think of a trigger, so this just happens suddenly out of the blue. You can be at work, you can be sitting watching TV, you can be in the supermarket. It can happen anywhere.

What causes them?

The main reason for this is that, especially in perimenopause, your hormones can fluctuate dramatically from day to day. So, one day, your oestrogen levels can be up, and you can feel absolutely fine. The next day, they can plummet. And if you get this plummeting effect, where it happens very quickly, it can affect your nervous system and mood, and that can then lead to a panic attack.

There can also be other reasons to look out for, such as dehydration. Believe it or not, dehydration affects your nervous system. You could also be affected by low blood sugar if you haven't eaten for a while.

In this situation, if you're getting panic attacks regularly, it's a good idea to keep a little diary because you might find they come at roughly the same time of the day; then you can link it to the fact that, "Oh, I've not eaten for three or four hours. I've not had anything to drink for a long time."

Stimulants can trigger panic attacks too. So, it can be things like a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, or one of these caffeinated fizzy drinks. Some people find that wine can do it now. You might get a little bit more sensitive to alcohol. It could be just having a really sugary doughnut or maybe something that you don't normally have. That may rev up your nervous system, and then your body just goes into flight or fight, and it thinks there's something majorly wrong when you know there's nothing wrong at all.

What can help?

With this one, remember to drink plenty of water, at least 1.5 litres a day. Eat little and often so that you're keeping your blood sugar stable. Reduce your intake of high-salt and high-sugar foods, and limit your caffeine. Eat healthy snacks between meals. If you know that it’s going to be a long time before you can sit down and have a proper meal, take a snack with you: just a handful of nuts, or dried fruit. Some of these little protein balls can be really helpful.

2. Heart palpitations

Heart palpitations can often be associated with panic attacks, although they can also happen on their own. Again, this can happen anywhere and at any time. It could be due to hormonal flux: your nervous system basically gets stuck in flight or fight. So, the slightest little thing causes your nervous system to think that there's a major panic. It could be something simple such as not being able to find your car keys or being late for work. Normally, this would just frustrate you, and you would try and look everywhere for them or rush a little to get to work. But because you've tensed up just that tiny little bit, your nervous system thinks that there's a major panic or a major threat, and then you go into full palpitation mode.

Low magnesium levels can trigger palpitations, because we need plenty of magnesium for a healthy heart. Again, contributing factors can be dehydration, low blood sugar, or too much caffeine.

For me, the first time I experienced palpitations, I’d just had a really strong cup of coffee in the afternoon. I was driving home, and my heart went into absolute palpitation panic mode, and I really thought I was having a heart attack, it was that severe. But luckily, I figured out what it was, did some slow deep breathing, and had a little drink of water, and I was okay.

With heart palpitations, if they become regular, it's really important to get this checked by your doctor. Don't blame everything on menopause. There could be other reasons. We know that hormonal changes can affect the heart, especially as you go through post-menopause. So, with this one, it's best to get it checked out by your doctor first. If everything is okay, then just look at what you're doing or not doing.

3. Heavy periods/flooding/prolonged bleeding

This is more of a perimenopausal one. When you're on the approach to menopause, your monthly cycle can go all over the place. So, you might find that you're missing two to three periods, and then when you get one, it's really heavy or you're flooding. It could be that your periods are starting to get closer together, they're starting to get heavier, they're starting to get longer.

Very often, it is just the way your hormones are changing. But it's also really important to get this one checked out, for several reasons. If your periods start to last longer than seven days, if you are going through pads or other forms of sanitary protection every hour or two, if it's getting to the point where you're leaking so much that you're staining your clothes, or if you're passing really big clots, this needs medical attention.

Don't be put off. Some of you will come back to me and say, "Oh, my doctor says it's natural, and just wait and see." Prolonged bleeding, even for a few days, once a month, can lead to anaemia, and anaemia can cause all sorts of health issues that can end up being quite serious as well.

So, if you experience heavy bleeding for over seven days, if you’re going through lots of sanitary products, or flooding, it’s very important to get this checked out. It could be fibroids, which are really common in perimenopause and at the beginning of menopause. It could be a prolapse. It could be things like polyps, cysts, or even something a little bit more serious, so please get this one checked out first.

The problem with flooding and heavy periods is that there isn't really anything natural or over the counter that's going to be strong enough to stop this. So, what you would need to do if you want to go down the natural route is to look at seeing a medical herbalist, and maybe getting some acupuncture to help balance everything out.

So, I hope you found these three helpful. I've got another three coming next week, so look out for that blog next Monday.

Have you had any symptoms that have been really frightening? If I get enough of these, I can make another blog out of them to cover all the things that I've possibly missed this time around. Please share your stories. You know I love to read them, and sharing your stories is going to help other women as well.

You may also find these topics helpful:

Types of anxiety in menopause & what can help

Panic attacks at night during perimenopause and menopause

How menopause affects your heart & tips to keep it healthy

Perimenopause periods: what’s normal and what’s not?