Chat transcript:
Eileen: Brain fog and fatigue are two of the more common symptoms that women come to me with. They don't know how to cope with them. They don't know why they are happening and they're not quite sure of the best ways of dealing with them. So, Sarah and I are going to have a little chat about our own experiences in the hope that these will help you too.
But just to clarify, what is brain fog? It's such an umbrella term and we are hearing it a lot on TV programs and we're reading about it in magazines. So, this brain fog, it's about memory loss. It's about forgetting people's names. It's about forgetting what you were talking about. It's forgetting facts that you may have to know for work. It can also be just that kind of fuzzy thinking, feeling that you're just not quite with it. You don't feel on the ball. It takes you an awful lot longer to remember what you were going to say and, of course, the classic one is you go into a room and then you cannot remember why you went there in the first place!
When we talk about fatigue, that can also be a little bit of an umbrella term; so, it could be plain physical fatigue - you've slept all night but you're just so physically tired, you can't do what you want to do, your exercise regime goes out the window, and you're even having to drag yourself into work.
But it could also be that type of mental fatigue where you just can't cope with day-to-day stuff. Just thinking about what you've got to do on a daily basis can pull you down and just make you want to cuddle down in the covers and not even get out of bed.
So, Sarah, what's your issue with brain fog?
Sarah: Well, for mine, it's hugely cyclical because I'm still getting periods. So, the week before my period, I find it really hard to concentrate. I can't parallel park to save my life, my spatial awareness goes out the window, and I get really tired. I have to go to bed early and I find that my ability to concentrate in the afternoon can be a struggle. I have to work that bit harder to get stuff done.
What have you found to be useful?
Eileen: I'm postmenopausal and it's not an issue now, which is absolutely great. But during menopause, for me, I'd be in the middle of talking to somebody and it felt as if somebody had pulled the plug on my brain. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in there. And it used to really panic me, not so much in my work environment but, at that point, I did a lot of workshops, talks, and seminars, and things, and I was always panicking that I would be doing something like that and just totally forget. I would get that ‘black hole moment.’ That's what I called it.
Sarah: That's quite frightening.
Eileen: But it was so funny because that never happened, and what clicked with me was that a lot of this forgetfulness and your brain being empty is just that, as women, we don't always physically multi-task, but we have to mentally multi-task. So, you know, I'm talking to you but I'm thinking about what I'm going to have for my lunch. You're thinking about so many different things at once. And I think, sometimes, our brains are like computers: if you try and input too much information at once, your computer crashes. And I realised that my brain was being overloaded with all the information I was inputting at once.
The other thing I realised was that when you forget, when you're talking to somebody and your brain goes blank, you immediately start to panic. And the minute you go, "I've forgotten," it sets off an adrenaline response. You might start to get palpitations. You might get a hot flush so you're going to be embarrassed. Everything wrong is happening at that moment. And I found, for me, what helped was seeing it as a joke and saying, "I'm having a black hole moment. Service will be resumed in a minute." And the minute that I laughed and relaxed, it was like somebody turned the switch back on. It's simple things like that I found to be helpful. But I think, to reassure a lot of women with this, it's hormonal. And once your hormones balance out again, it's a phase that disappears for most women, which is good news, I think.
Sarah: I'm finding balancing my blood sugar level is really helping, because I have a tendency to skip breakfast and have a cup of coffee, and that is not working for me anymore. I find if I keep my blood sugar level stable and I just eat small portions regularly, and I don't forget to carry a snack around with me, the way I did when my kids were toddlers, that's a strategy that's working for me. It works for energy levels, to address the afternoon slump, and just to keep the cogs rolling so that I'm not getting dips in energy and in concentration. That seems to be my best strategy at the moment anyway.
Eileen: That's a great tip and I'm always recommending snacks. Healthy snacks are a really great thing. So, what about the fatigue? How are you with that at the minute? Are you okay?
Sarah: Again, it's very much a time of the month thing for me. Those days before my period, I find that I just get very physically tired and I have to go to bed that bit earlier. And I'll feel it when I'm walking upstairs. I'll feel that pull in my muscles. At other times in the cycle, I’ll feel physically sleepy after lunch, particularly if I have a sit-down lunch. I find that I just get waves of fatigue.
Eileen: I didn't really get fatigue because I love my food and I can't go long periods without it. So, for me, eating little and often is something that I just have to do, otherwise I grind to a halt.
For me, it was more the mental fatigue. And again, it's in situations where I was having to cope with too many different things at once. And, you know, you're looking at work, you're looking at family, you've then got other things to do. And, as women, we're so bad at saying no. Somebody says, "Will you do that?" and we say, "Yes”. For me, at work, people would go, "Eileen, will you..." and I would say yes before I knew what it was.
I just find that sometimes, we need to learn to say no in order to preserve our own energy levels - and it's a really hard one. But again, if I feel fatigued, I look at what is going on in my life and think, "Do I really need to be doing this at the minute?" I'll just say no, take a step back, and I'll have a duvet day or something like that just to get my energy back.
The one thing that really is important with fatigue is to know that it can be caused by other health issues in menopause. We know things like low vitamin D, low B12, underactive thyroid, and low iron can cause fatigue. So, especially for people like yourself who are in the perimenopause, if you're getting heavy or prolonged periods, you can become anaemic really, really quickly, and fatigue is one of the first symptoms of that.
Sarah: Absolutely. For me, I have had periods where the iron dipped a little bit because the periods got quite heavy. And one of the first signs would be things like pins and needles and a kind of low blood pressure feeling when you get up off the chair and you get dizzy. And that definitely is a nutrition deficiency that has to be addressed. You can go to the GP and have your blood checked for that.
And if your periods are very heavy or close together, it's a very good idea to get blood tests and get the iron levels checked. And also the thyroid readings, because your thyroid glands can cause some of the symptoms as perimenopause, where you can get cold and tired and brain foggy. So, it’s worth checking.
General nervous system support, I feel, is really important for symptoms like brain fog and fatigue, because your endocrine system is busy, but your nervous system is affected as well, particularly where sleep and stress are an issue.
I think anything that supports and nourishes the nervous system is helpful, such as B vitamins, Avena sativa, and magnesium. I find these are lovely staples to keep in the cupboard or to reach for if you're having brain fog and fatigue issues.
Eileen: Great tips. I hope you found this interesting. To be honest, you know, Sarah and I could go on for ages. One of the reasons we did this is because we do talk about issues that we're facing ourselves and see how each of us cope or are learning to cope with all the changes that are going on.
If any of you out there have any questions about anything we've talked about today, please do contact us.
And until then, I'll see you next week for another edition of A.Vogel Talks Menopause.
Other blogs you may find helpful:
4 menopause brain worries & how to improve brain function
3 ways menopause brain fog can get worse
7 reasons you're always tired during menopause
Types of fatigue in perimenopause and menopause & tips to boost your energy
