Why do I feel nauseous during perimenopause and menopause?
Nausea was one of the symptoms I was really surprised by. You don't normally associate it with perimenopause and menopause. It tends to be a pregnancy thing. But I have found over the years that so many women experience this at some point along the way.
The main reason is the fact that your hormone balance is changing as you go toward perimenopause and menopause, and it's all to do with the balance between progesterone and oestrogen. So, it is actually a little bit like morning sickness. But what we find in perimenopause and menopause is, very often, it can strike at any time. It can often happen during the day and sometimes when you're least expecting it.
Other factors & triggers
There can be other factors too so we’ll have a little look at those. Once you are aware of what they may be, it's going to be much easier to solve the sickness.
Liver stress
For those of you who have been following my blogs for a while, you'll know that I do place a lot of importance on healthy liver function during menopause, because it can impact lots of different symptoms.
General liver stress is caused by all the hormonal changes going on - nothing to do with liver disease - it's just the fact that our poor old liver is struggling with all the hormonal changes, with stress, with environmental factors, the things that we put on the skin and the things that we eat in the 21st Century.
So, if we have all this added pressure on our liver, plus the fact that falling oestrogen slows our whole digestive tract down, things take a lot longer to digest in the stomach. It takes a lot longer for the liver to react to what you've been eating, and so on. We know that this can be a big factor. If your food isn't getting broken down properly in the stomach, especially if you've eaten quite a fatty meal or a meal with lots of oils in it, then very often that can just sit in your stomach, making you feel sick.
The liver also produces bile, which emulsifies fat. So again, if the liver is really struggling, if it's a bit sluggish, it might not release the bile on time, so you've got this fatty meal struggling through your digestive tract, and that is going to make you feel sick. So that's one thing to be aware of. Do you just feel nauseous maybe an hour after you've eaten? In this case, you need to look at the digestive angle of this situation.
Low blood sugar levels
Our blood sugar control can go all over the place with all the hormonal changes going on. So, your blood sugar can be fine one minute, and it can suddenly dip the next minute. And it could be that dip that triggers nausea. It could be just due to the fact that if we're really busy, we might forget to eat properly. If you miss breakfast, that can be a huge thing.
It can be other things that affect our blood sugar control, so it can be things like caffeine, fizzy drinks, and also high-sugar foods. These all rev up your blood sugar levels, and then you get that almighty crash afterwards. And again, it's that crash that can trigger nausea.
Dehydration
It can be dehydration too. For those of you who have been following for a while, dehydration causes so many problems. If you're also getting hot flushes or sweats, you're going to be dehydrated a lot of the time, and then dehydration can affect digestion. It can affect your nervous system, and that can trigger nausea as well.
Hot flushes and sweats
You might find that you get a feeling of nausea and then suddenly a hot flush or a sweat. It may be the other way around. You get a hot flush and a sweat, and then suddenly you get nausea. This one is very often an indication that your nervous system is really struggling with the production of adrenaline. Again, it's going to rev up your nervous system and that can make you feel sick too. So, anxiety and stress can be a big factor.
Nausea first thing in the morning
If you're getting nausea first thing in the morning when you're waking up, maybe just as you sit up, it's normally three issues. So, number one is that our blood pressure very often rises very quickly first thing in the morning, so that could be a trigger. If you find that you're getting things like palpitations, maybe you're getting dizziness during the day, it might be an idea just to get your blood pressure checked. For some of you though, it could be a big dip in blood pressure. We're all very unique and there's no standard thing here. But sometimes, if there's a big rise or dip in your morning blood pressure, that can cause a problem.
It's very often dehydration, especially if you've been having night sweats or you've been running to the toilet quite a lot during the night. Your body is just completely dehydrated, and that triggers everything.
It can be low blood sugar as well. If you think about it, if you've had an evening meal maybe at 6 or 7 pm the previous evening and you don't eat anything after this, then you're going to be at least 12 hours without any food, and that low blood sugar is apparent first thing in the morning. That can do it.
What can help relieve nausea?
So, what can you do to alleviate this symptom? Here are a few things I recommend.
Support your liver: First thing, especially if you think it's associated with digestion, do some gentle liver support work, maybe for a month or two.
We have got a nice, easy liver plan for you to follow. You can look at a combination of herbs that help to support liver function, so that's things like dandelion, artichoke, peppermint, and boldo. So, all of these herbs can work well at supporting liver function and increasing the production of bile. So, if you're getting that nauseous feeling after eating fatty foods, then herbs such as these can certainly be of benefit.
Eat little and often: Make sure that your blood sugar levels are well supported. And don't start the day on an empty stomach. If you're not keen on having anything to eat first thing, then try a protein powder shake, so that at least you're starting your day in a stable way rather than your blood sugar already dipping.
Try to avoid caffeine: If you must have a cup of coffee, have it after breakfast or have it with food, and don't have that cup of coffee first thing when you get up, because that's going to rev up your nervous system and cause issues with your blood pressure control.
Have a bedtime snack: If you're getting nausea first thing in the morning, then it's really important to have a snack before you go to bed. Not a sugary one - go more for a protein one, so maybe an oatcake and nut butter, half a mini avocado, which is a really good thing to keep your blood sugar stable, maybe homemade protein balls. If you have a little bit of a sweet tooth, then no more than two Medjool dates. It needs to be the Medjool dates for this tip to help keep your blood sugar stable during the night. And have a little shot glass of warm water just before bed to stave off that dehydration.
Support your nervous system: You can look at remedies or supplements that contain things such as passionflower, lemon balm, and magnesium. These can all be helpful for keeping your nervous system nice and stable.
Two of our supplements that can help support your nervous system are Balance Perimenopause Multi-nutrient Drink and Menopause Support tablets, both of which have magnesium in them, which is important for the normal functioning of the nervous system.
Try acupuncture: If everything is revving up, you feel you're revving up, and then getting nausea, acupuncture can be really helpful.
When to get it checked by your doctor
The one thing here though is some women have told me that it's got to the point with the nausea that they're vomiting, they're being really sick, they can't keep any food down. Please just check this with your doctor. There can be other underlying issues that maybe need a little bit of attention, and obviously you can't keep on being sick because you're going to lose any nutrition that you're getting from your food. So, in this situation, please just double-check with your doctor.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. If any of you have had this and have found something really good that has helped you, you know I love reading all your stories. Please share them with everyone else. And until next time, take care and have a lovely week.
You may also find these topics helpful:
Nausea and dizziness during peri-menopause and menopause
7 signs your liver is under pressure during menopause
3 surprising digestive troubles during menopause
GERD symptoms in perimenopause and menopause: What you can do to ease them
