Causes of dizziness during perimenopause and menopause
We know that falling oestrogen can have a huge impact on many different systems within our body, and once these systems are affected, they can trigger dizziness. So, it's not directly the impact of the hormone, but it can be the effect on the other systems that make you much more likely to end up with dizziness.
So, let's have a look at these.
1. Dehydration
Dizziness can be a symptom of dehydration. Remember that falling oestrogen levels make it harder for your body to stay hydrated, so you need to drink plenty of water every day. You're looking at about 1.5 litres, spread throughout the day, and just remember that tea, coffee, fizzy drinks and juices don't count in this instance.
2. Low blood sugar
Again, we know that falling oestrogen can impact insulin control, making your blood sugar level go up and down much more erratically. And if your blood sugar plummets, that can lead to dizziness -, often happening very quickly.
So, for this one, it's really important to eat regularly. Make sure you keep your blood sugar stable. Healthy fats are really important, and are the best food for keeping your blood sugar stable; just having a small amount of healthy fats with each meal can make a huge amount of difference to this yo-yo effect of the blood sugar level.
3. Blood pressure
Either high or low blood pressure can affect you. We know that in menopause, and especially post-menopause, high blood pressure can be more common. There are different symptoms associated with high blood pressure, but dizziness does tend to be one of them.
For some people, it's more to do with low blood pressure. The signs of low blood pressure can be things like if you pick something up and stand back up, you get dizzy. If you're sitting quietly and then suddenly get up out of your chair, you get dizzy. Or if you get dizzy after you've been sitting in a hot bath, these situations tend to indicate low blood pressure.
So, for this one, it's always a good idea to get your blood pressure checked regularly. Don't go mad. I've had people who have one of these home blood pressure machines and they're taking their blood pressure every day or once a week, and it's causing a lot of anxiety. In normal circumstances, your local pharmacist should be able to take your blood pressure, and once every six months is adequate.
4. Poor circulation
We may tend to get less active as we get older, so our circulation can decrease due to this.
We also know that falling oestrogen levels can affect the integrity of the veins, so it can actually have an impact on the veins and the arteries themselves, and that can then lead to poor circulation. If the arteries going up to the head are impacted, there's less oxygen going to the brain which, again, means that you can get dizziness.
If you're sitting at a desk for hours on end, and especially if you're hunched over, that's going to impact on the circulation to the head. And in those situations, very often, it will be once you stand up, you end up getting really dizzy.
For this one, regular exercise is important. It doesn't have to be manic stuff. Just a good brisk walk can make a world of difference. And if you're sitting at a desk, just make sure that you get up on a regular basis so that you're not being affected by your posture.
5. New medication
If you have just started a new course of medication, check the patient information leaflet to make sure that dizziness isn't one of the known side effects. Some forms of HRT can cause dizziness as well. So again, either check the patient information leaflet if you have it or speak to your local pharmacist as they will be able to tell you if this is a common side effect and what you may then need to do next regarding the medication.
6. Certain food and drinks
It tends to be the things that we love that can be an issue. Caffeine, high-salt and sugar foods, fizzy drinks and, interestingly enough, artificial sweeteners can cause dizziness.
So, if you tend to have a lot of foods and drinks that contain artificial sweeteners, maybe you need to look at your whole daily intake. Sometimes, we don't even know what's in there. I find that if I do end up taking something with them in, I just get a funny taste in my mouth. And then when I go and read the ingredients list, there they are in there. So, if you're not sure what you're eating contains artificial sweeteners or not, just check the ingredients list before you take it.
7. Anxiety and poor sleep
If you get really anxious, it can give you panic attacks, and a panic attack can then lead to things like dizziness. Poor sleep, which is common during perimenopause and menopause, can also contribute to dizziness. You only need a few nights of poor sleep, and that can have a huge impact on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being the next day. So definitely, if you're not getting enough sleep, you're going to be fatigued, you're going to be very tired, and that can then trigger dizziness.
8. Blocked ears
This is a really interesting one because it's one that I hadn't actually thought about, and it just happened to be one of you lovely ladies commenting on one of my subjects about their ears that alerted me to this. They had developed dizziness, but couldn't figure out what it was until they ended up going to get their ears checked. They had a lot of impacted wax in their ears and, once the ears were cleaned out, the dizziness disappeared.
So, if you have had any kind of ear infection, maybe a bad cold, sometimes it can actually take a good few weeks for that bunged-up feeling to disappear. If the ears are affected, that can affect your balance. Your balance can then cause dizziness. It may be an idea now and again to get your ears checked to make sure there isn't a big buildup of wax.
What else I recommend…
If you're getting dizziness at the same time or roughly the same time every day, that very often indicates that it's either something you're doing or not doing is going to be a trigger.
So, keeping a symptom diary for a couple of weeks can be a really helpful tool. You just put down everything that you eat and drink, the times, then check the times when you get dizzy. You may find that you're having a cup of coffee at lunchtime, and that's causing the dizziness later in the afternoon. Maybe you've gone too long without eating, or you're completely dehydrated. Doing a symptom diary for a couple of weeks can be really worth it to identify any patterns or triggers. And then it's really simple. If you do find a common trigger, then you just need to address it, and that can make a whole lot of difference.
Other serious causes of dizziness
Dizziness can also indicate really serious health issues, again, like heart disease. So, in this situation, if you've tried all these strategies and the dizziness is not getting better, if it seems to be getting worse, please don't hesitate to go and get yourself checked out by your doctor to rule out anything a bit more serious.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. It's such a common symptom. If any of you have experienced this, did you find out what was causing it? What did you do to help yourself? As I mentioned, that was such a helpful tip about the ears that I really hadn't even thought about, and hopefully, that might help some of you, so your tips can help other people as well. I will see you soon.
Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.
