Why does menopause make me feel so bad?

Today's topic:

Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I look at the reasons why menopause can make you feel so bad.

With over 34 known menopause symptoms, not to mention all the unusual ones which are less known, it is no surprise that your body and mind can struggle if you experience even just a few of these symptoms.

Why does menopause make me feel so bad?

Menopause can take its toll on you, both emotionally and physically and certain symptoms can put added pressure on your body and mind, causing you to feel so bad. These include physical symptoms such as poor sleep, fatigue and aches and pains, and emotional symptoms such as low mood, angry and anxiety.

Today, I take a look at some of these common emotional and physical menopause symptoms, explain why they make you feel so bad, and offer my advice on how you can help yourself feel better during menopause.

Physical symptoms that can make you feel bad

There are a few common physical symptoms that can cause you to feel bad, and also makes other symptoms worse, these include:

Hot flushes and night sweats

We know that low oestrogen can affect libido. There can be vaginal dryness which can cause pain and discomfort during sex. It can be due to losing body confidence.

A lot of women tell me they don't want to have their partners see them naked.

It can be fatigue as well. If you've had a really busy day, the last thing on your mind is being intimate with your partner. You just want to sleep, never mind anything else.

Poor sleep

Night sweats, very often, will keep us awake and that will affect our sleep, and poor sleep is already a common problem during menopause. You only need one night of bad sleep and that can have huge repercussions on both your physical and emotional stamina on the next day.

And that can then make any other symptoms that you are experiencing feel worse as well. The problem is in menopause, it's not just one night. I speak to so many women and they are struggling with sleep for weeks and weeks and months and months sometimes. And this can have a huge effect on every single area of our life, especially how you feel physically and emotionally.

Fatigue and tiredness

There is fatigue and a lot of women tell me that their fatigue feels almost as if they're recovering from a bad dose of the flu. They feel achy, with no energy or enthusiasm to do anything, and just getting out of bed and getting up can be difficult.

We know too that you can feel just tired every day, not necessarily fatigued but you can just have very little energy. And this is because of all the changes that are going on, if you think about all the hormonal and physical changes that are going on, sometimes, our bodies just can't cope with all the extra work that we are expecting it to do here.

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Aches and pains

You can experience lots of different aches and pains during menopause. For some women, aches and pains can come and go. It could be things like headaches. It can be muscle aches and pains just appearing out of nowhere. It can be breast pain that can happen roughly every month. And these can be difficult enough to deal with.

But you can also get joint pain and this is a very, very common menopause symptom.

And of course, if you've got joint pain, that is going to affect other areas, too. It's going to affect your sleep because you're going to be too uncomfortable or sore. It can also make you feel very down, very low because you can't do things like exercise or you might not be able to move about as much as you did before.

Emotional symptoms that can make you feel bad

Menopause can be an emotional roller-coaster, so it is no wonder you can end up feeling so bad.

For me, I found that my emotional symptoms really drained me of energy, probably more than the physical symptoms that I experienced.

And we know that if you are under a lot of emotional pressure, that can compound your physical problems, too. If we're tired, if we're rundown with all the emotional issues that are going on, then it can make it much more difficult for us to cope physically.

The main emotional menopause symptoms include

• low mood
• mood swings
• anxiety
• anger
• irritability
• impatience

Very often, a lot of women tell me that they feel so guilty because of their mood swings for example if they are a bit snappy with family and friends, they feel guilty afterward. That then puts more pressure on them and they start to feel more guilty and that just compounds everything.

So, as you can see a lot of these symptoms, can end up triggering what we would call a vicious cycle of symptoms, emotional issues, then symptoms get worse, and so on.

How can I feel better during menopause?

So, what can you do in these situations, and what can help you feel better? I've posted several blogs on all of these issues on their own so if you need to go into them in more depth, then just have a look through my previous blogs or browse my YouTube playlist. But the main things you should do are:

Drink plenty of water

Dehydration will make every single symptom worse, especially if you're getting flushes and sweats because that will compound the dehydration.

Look at your diet

There is so much research now into the fact that a good diet plays a huge part in how well you can go through menopause. And it's a good idea, now and again, just go over your diet.

I'm the same as everybody. I like to eat healthily but over time, if I'm busy, if I'm rushed, that incentive to eat healthily can disappear and, you know, I can find myself eating things or drinking things that are not too good for me. And that will then make things worse, too.

So, having a wee check of your diet regularly just to make sure that you're doing the right things can sometimes make a huge difference here.

Exercise regularly

Exercise produces happy hormones, happy endorphins that can lift your mood. Doesn't have to be major exercise and, you know, even 15 minutes of exercise a day, such as a brisk walk outside in some fresh air can lift your mood for quite a while afterward.

Sleep better

If your sleep is getting disturbed, then this is something that does need to be fixed, so look at improving your sleep. Our founder, Alfred Vogel, said that sleep was our best medicine, so it's something we do need to fix if we're not sleeping particularly well.

Take some supportive vitamins and mineral

Look at your B vitamins because they're great for strengthening and supporting your nervous system. And magnesium, it's one of the best supplements you can take, if you only want to take one thing going through menopause.

Vitamin D can also be helpful during menopause. It will help to support your joints and your mood as well, so it's a really important one, especially during the dark winter months.

Take time to relax

And last but not least, remember that relaxation. It's really important just to allow your body to re-energize and to recharge your batteries.

So, I hope you found this one helpful.

If any of you have any tips that you have found have helped you, then please share them because I know other people would love to know.

Key points to take away from this blog:

• The physical and emotional symptoms of menopause can take their toll on your body and mental well-being
• Common symptoms such as poor sleep, aches and pains, fatigue, low mood, and anxiety can all cause you to feel bad, and make other symptoms feel worse
• There are lots of simple things you can do to feel better during menopause including drinking plenty of water, eating and sleeping well, exercising regularly, taking some supportive vitamins and minerals, and relaxing more.

Until next week, take care.