How To Understand Massive Stress and Anxiety in Menopause

To understand WHY managing stress & anxiety is so important during & after menopause - watch the video above or - If you'd rather read than watch a video (I can relate sister) here's a transcript of the video:

Hi! I’m, Dana LaVoie, an acupuncturist & herbalist, with 15 years' experience specializing in women’s health - and I help women use effective, natural remedies for menopause so they can have an easy menopause and feel great afterwards 

Today we’re going to  talk about menopause stress and anxiety - specifically - menopause and cortisol effects and why you become more sensitive to stress during menopause

So if you’ve started thinking that leaving your home and family and job to live in a house in Italy or greece for a year sounds really good and like the only way to avoid biting someones head off, or going into a depression you’re in the right place.  

But first, I want to ask you a question...

How many of you right now are struggling with depression, irritability brain fog, or anxiety? 

Maybe you’ve tried to stay upbeat while dealing with the little annoyances and stressors you used to be able to handle..  but nothing seems to work? 

Or maybe you’re having menopause mood swings

A woman said to me that when she walks into a room now her family gives you this look - like which one are you - the sane loving mom and wife we’ve always had or the crazy one who yells and cries for no reason and who keeps showing up out of the blue all of a sudden? 

If that’s you, you’re going to love this short training.

At the end of this training I’m going to invite you to sign up for a FREE copy of my Guide to taking charge of menopause with natural remedies - so you can learn even more about how to manage stress during menopause. I’ll give you more details later, but for now, let’s get started!

I’ve been working with women in menopause  for 15 years now and I’ve noticed that EVERYONE seems to become more sensitive to stress during menopause. women tell me:

One minute I'm laughing the next I'm crying.

My mood swings are so bad I yell at the top of my lungs.

I have this uncontrollable urge to cry all the time.

The littlest things bother me now and I no longer can bite my tongue.

I can wake up in a good mood, then 30 minutes later I want to cry and scream for no reason..

My family suffers because of my massive crazy mood swings - I go from a great mood, right into psycho in the drop of a dime. I wish I knew how to control them and get menopause mood swing relief!! 

This is so common because - chemically - and physically - you ARE more sensitive to stress during menopause!! 

Here’s why

THE FACTS: Changing hormone levels during perimenopause and menopause - and lower hormone levels after menopause - make us more sensitive to stress.

Plus menopause itself - the hot flashes and trouble sleeping - can be stressful. 

So we have a new stressor in our lives and we’re more sensitive to stress.

Have you noticed that your sensitivity to stress has increased?  When was the moment that you knew something was different?  Please put it in the comments below

Lets talk about WHY IT HAPPENS: Progesterone and Estrogen are two of your biggest female hormones. Progesterone especially - works against and BUFFERs the effects that stress has on our body and mind. Progesterone makes you feel warm and calm - kind of mellow and happy to go along with what everyone else needs.

Progesterone and estrogen levels go down during menopause. As progesterone and estrogen levels go down during menopause - that buffering effect against stress that they have - declines -and so we feel stress more easily and more intensely. It’s like your nerve endings are more exposed.

And after menopause - you still have hormones! If you’re healthy and have healthy ovaries and adrenals your body still makes still estrogen, and progesterone - they’re still there - just at much lower levels. but they’re still helping buffer stress.

But there’s more - especially if your wondering how do long menopause mood swings last - or wondering if you’ll have post menopause mood swings.  

Well, post menopause as your ovaries become less active. .. your adrenals start to make some of your remaining estrogen and progesterone for you to keep those hormones levels up as much as possible! Keeping these hormone levels as high as possible buffers stress and has a lot of other health protective and anti-aging benefits as well  

But - the adrenals also make stress hormones... So, when you’re under stress - the adrenals always choose to make stress hormones instead of making progesterone and estrogen.  So after menopause - the more your stress hormone/cortisol level goes up the more your remaining progesterone declines - making your stress feel well - more stressful.

WHAT IT all  MEANS - basically - here’s what happens when your stress hormone levels are too high during and after menopause

High stress hormones levels (like cortisol)  tends to drive your female hormone levels down even lower

- which buffers stress LESS

- increases peri.. menopausal and post menopausal symptoms

and it messes with your body's ability to make what hormones it needs when it needs them - so its MUCH HARDER FOR YOUR body to keep hormone levels balanced with each other.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE

So what does it feel like? when you have decreased female hormones and increased cortisol levels

you feel more easily irritable, overwhelmed, anxious, & depressed.  Also common are depression, weight gain, exhaustion, insomnia, and foggy thinking.

As well as:

•Insomnia

•Low energy, even if getting adequate sleep

•Frequent colds

•Cravings for unhealthy foods

•Digestion problems like bloating

•Weight gain, especially around the middle

•Low sex drive

•More aches and pains

•Low mood

• A tendency to be overweight

Often women are offered anti-depressants or anti- anxiety meds when this hits - and they don’t realize there are great natural things you can do to help get to the source of the stress!! 

What I want you to do is help your body balance hormones - keeping stress hormones level slower - and keeping progesterone levels higher - you can naturally reduce your stress, your sensitivity to stress. 

Waiting it out and doing nothing can backfire - because it can lead to a cascade of negative effects to take place - letting your progesterone and est levels get too low is not only bad for stress - you lose health protective and anti-aging benefits.  gaining weight around the middle actually increases stress hormones levels and cravings and decreases your feelings of fullness and satisfaction after eating!! 

What you want to do instead is balance your hormones naturally - this will decrease stress hormone levels, increase female hormones levels, decrease your sensitivity to stress, and help your body balance all your hormones with each other! 

If you enjoyed this video, then I invite you to CLICK RIGHT HERE and sign up for your free copy of my Guide to taking charge of menopause with natural remedies. This guide will help you start balancing hormones naturally with 3 of my favorite, most powerful natural remedies. 

I’m also the host of a Facebook group called menopause basics - CLICK HERE to join. Thanks so much for joining me today! 

NOW id like to answer some questions that have come in - and if you have a question - pop it into the comments right now.

I don't have a full transcript of the questions but they were fantastic - here's where you'll find those ?s and answers in the video:

Oh and please make my day and pop in the comments below and let me know how your mood and stress are doing and how you like this video.