What causes morning sickness in menopause?
Firstly, what does it feel like? When I say morning sickness, I mean feeling kind of nauseous, queasy, and a little bit lightheaded as well. So, what can cause this?
Hormonal changes
As with pregnancy, during menopause there's a different balance between the main sex hormones, and that can make you feel sick. It can happen all during the day. Some women experience it during or after a hot flush but, today, we're looking specifically at nausea in the morning.
It can happen very often in perimenopause too, especially when your hormones are really fluctuating just before a period. You may find you get nausea along with exaggerated PMS symptoms as well.
But there can be other causes, especially when nausea is experienced mostly in the morning. There can be little things that you may be doing or not doing that can be contributing to or actually triggering these symptoms.
Low blood sugar
If you think about it, in the morning you've probably gone at least seven or eight hours without anything to eat at all, so your blood sugar levels will be low. They can go all over the place in the perimenopause and menopause anyway - they're a lot less controllable.
You can find that when they dip, then that will trigger feelings of nausea. And if you're one of those people that really doesn't like to eat in the morning, you're going an extra-long time without eating, and that can prolong this feeling of morning sickness.
Dehydration
Again, you've been going at least eight hours without anything to drink, and if you're getting night sweats, they are going to really dehydrate you as well, so you're going to have a double whammy. And again, dehydration will give you that feeling of being a bit nauseous, and also, that kind of dizziness or light-headedness just as you wake up.
Digestive problems
If you're suffering from things like acid reflux, if you're getting a bit of sluggishness, feeling bloated too, all of which can be common in perimenopause and menopause, then that can be all compounded.
Anxiety and stress
If you've been rushing about all day, if you're getting that nervous tummy, then your nervous system is being brought into play. And if it's a bit on edge, then very often, the minute you wake up, your nervous system goes into flight or fight. You might find that you get palpitations, you might get a bit of a headache, and then you get that rush of nausea. This can all be connected to being just a little bit more anxious and stressed.
Lack of sleep
Let's face it, lack of sleep is probably one of the main issues for so many women in perimenopause and menopause. If you're waking up really tired and fatigued, feeling really low, that again will impact everything and trigger the nausea.
What can help ease morning sickness?
So, what can you do to help yourself? Here's a few simple things that I recommend:
Don’t rev up your nervous system: It's such a common thing. We wake up. We've got a busy day ahead of us that the minute the alarm goes off or it's time to get up, we jump out of bed. That's really revving up your nervous system and that, as I say, can be a big factor in the nausea. So, when you wake up, maybe even set your alarm for five minutes early, so that when it goes off, you are just doing some deep breathing. You're calming and stabilising the nervous system before you jump out of bed.
Also, look at your alarm. What kind of alarm do you use? If it's a loud beep, beep, beep, that can trigger the palpitations. I've got a setting that just plays bird songs as my alarm. And it's lovely because I just lie in bed for five minutes listening to bird songs before I get out of bed and that helps to stabilise my nervous system.
Drink a glass of water to hydrate first thing: Have a glass of water by your bedside. So, again, when you wake up, don't jump out of bed. Do the relaxation. And then when you sit up, before you get out of bed, have that first glass of water that's going to hydrate you really nicely. And that's going to set you up for the day as well.
Have a good breakfast: If you find that you get the nausea in the morning and it lasts a little bit maybe into midmorning, it may well be that you haven't eaten enough for breakfast.
Don't go for these packet cereals because they're nothing but simple carbohydrates that will just rev up your blood sugar and crash, and that can cause nausea as well. Have a good breakfast with complex carbohydrates or a bit of protein, and a little bit of fat as well if you can stomach that first thing.
Avoid large meals late at night, but don’t go to bed hungry: Don't have a big meal just before you go to bed or later in the evening. The problem here is that if you have a big meal later on, your digestive system is revving up whilst you are trying to get to sleep. That is going to stress your liver. And liver stress can trigger nausea in the morning. So, have a good meal in the evening but have at least three to four hours before you go to bed.
The other thing is though don't go to bed hungry because if you're hungry when you go to bed, that's an indication that your blood sugars are already dipping even before you get to sleep.
Support your liver: It's really interesting because they do say that if you wake up between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., that’s when your liver is at its busiest. And if the liver is really, really busy, just the energy that's going on with the liver function can wake you up.
So, if you're waking up at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. and you're also getting nausea first thing, it may just be a good idea to do a gentle liver detox too.
You can also look at the herb Milk Thistle. You can look at herbs such as dandelion and artichoke as well because they help to support liver function generally.
Drink some ginger tea: If you find nausea is quite bad first thing, make a cup of ginger tea before you go to bed. Yes, it will be cold in the morning but, at least, you're getting the ginger into your system first thing, and ginger is really good for calming that kind of queasy feeling down.
When to get it checked by your doctor?
If you're being sick all the time and I mean being sick, not just being feeling nauseous, if you're vomiting, if you're being sick on a regular basis, if you find that you can't keep your food down, and if you are ending up losing weight because you just can't keep your food down, then it's time to see your doctor.
There may be other issues going on. It may well be that you just need to balance the hormones a little bit better, but this is the point, please check with your doctor.
I hope you found this one helpful. There are so many things you can do just to help yourself with this one.
If any of you have had any really good tips that have helped you with the morning sickness, please share.
Until next time, take care.
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