Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I answer the question "Is menopause worse in winter?" Plus, I recommend some winter wellness tips to help you.
During winter, we find that many women come to us, asking about why their menopause symptoms are worse at this time of the year. So, I'm going to look at some of the symptoms that can be affected, some of them that can suddenly appear, and the best tips to help you through the winter.
Why is menopause worse in winter?
So, why are some menopause symptoms worse in winter? Let's take a look at the reasons why some of your symptoms can be affected by the colder weather:
First of all, there's less sunlight so that will affect our mood. It can cause something called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in some women where you can feel low, almost to the point of depression.
If you've got less sunlight, you are producing less vitamin D. Low vitamin D in menopause can cause low mood and anxiety. It can cause joint pain and can affect heart health. It can also affect your sleep. There's a whole range of menopause symptoms that can be affected just by having low vitamin D levels.
The cold air and central heating can be very drying so we can find that our eyes get more irritated and our skin gets drier.
We can get allergies. We can get more issues with having a blocked-up nose or just producing a lot of extra mucus. Our throat can be irritated as well so we can have a constant little cough.
If we're wearing a lot of warmer clothes and suffering from hot flushes during the day, that can exacerbate them. If we need a heavier tog duvet at night, again, that can make this seesaw effect of night sweats: getting too hot, throwing off the duvet, getting cold, and putting it back on again. That can also impact your sleep.
The other thing that we tend to do (and I hold my hands up because I'm the same) is we tend to drink less water in the winter because who wants to be drinking cold water when you could have a nice warming cup of tea. We do tend to drink less and dehydration, as those of you who've been following my blog for a while will know, can impact a whole range of menopause symptoms.
My winter wellness tips
So here are my tips. These are the ones that I use just to help me through the winter as well.
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1. Embrace as much light as possible
The first thing I recommend is to embrace as much light as you can. I live in Scotland and unfortunately, when the clocks go back, I go to work in the dark and when I come home it's dark. I get very little natural sunlight during the day unless I walk around the building a few times at lunchtime. If it's wet, windy, and very, very cold, that's not an option.
For me, it's really difficult to get that sunlight regularly. I will try on weekends to be out walking and to be doing as much outdoor activity as I possibly can, to help get some vitamin D.
You can also sit at a window and get as much light as you can there. If you do suffer from low mood or mild depression during the winter, you can use something called a lightbox. You would sit in front of that on a regular basis, and it mimics the sunlight to help lift your mood quite considerably. It's certainly worth considering if you're having this particular issue.
2. Consider taking a vitamin D supplement during winter
As I mentioned above, I don't get out a lot in the winter so, for me, a vitamin D supplement is an absolute must. I go for quite a low dose, just 400 IU, purely because you don't want to take too high a dose for too long unless you have properly been diagnosed as being very low in vitamin D.
If you take high doses of vitamin D ongoing, it can sometimes cause side effects. You need to be very careful about the most appropriate dose of vitamin D for you.
We also have our lovely Balance Mineral Drink for those of you that may just need a little top up of vitamin D. The Balance drink is good for fatigue as well if you're struggling with the winter blues and winter fatigue.
3. Keep exercising
It is really important to keep exercising because exercise gives you those wonderful, happy endorphins and will also help to control your weight because we do become less active during the winter.
I know, for me, exercise is a challenge. I tend to exercise outdoors unless it's raining so at 5:30 at night in Scotland, in the middle of winter when it's dark and -2°C, it's quite challenging. However, I feel so much better afterward, so I always think it's worth it to get that little bit of an extra boost of those happy chemicals.
If you don't fancy exercising outside, you can look at gym workouts or exercising at home. You can also look at walking whenever you can. Even 15-20 minutes at lunchtime can be great. The different types of exercise videos you can get on YouTube are absolutely fantastic. It's well worth skimming through that to find ones that are going to be appropriate for your particular situation.
4. Stay hydrated
Remember to keep drinking water to avoid becoming dehydrated. I have my water warm at this time of year as I can't cope with cold water in the winter. I just top it up with some boiled water. You can have herb teas as well, just to feel that little bit more comforting.
If you find that your skin or your eyes are getting very dry, then a daily supplement of Sea Buckthorn Oil can be helpful.
5. Boost your immune system
Protect your immune system from all the stresses and strains of menopause. You can look at the herb Echinacea. This is known to relieve the symptoms of cold and flu by strengthening the immune system. We use fresh herb extracts of Echinacea in our Echinaforce drops and tablets.
Vitamin D is also important for immune function. Vitamin C and Zinc are important as well. We have a supplement called Immune Support that contains a good amount of zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin C in a one-a-day tablet, to help to support immune function.
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6. Eat your winter vegetables
Winter vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals that are going to help to support you generally through the winter.
Have them in warming foods - I love soups, and stews, and casseroles in the winter. I make a large pot of soup at the weekend, freeze it, and then I've got something for my lunch every day that's easy to prepare but is going to be full of goodness and is going to give me lots of good nutrition for helping my body to cope throughout the winter months.
7. Don’t hibernate too much!
In menopause, one of the symptoms that can occur is wanting to distance ourselves from others. We want to socialise less. We want to just keep to ourselves and shut ourselves away. If you are feeling like that, then during the winter, social isolation can get worse. If you're already prone to low moods then it can make things worse so it's important to socialise.
If you can't get out much, then you've got WhatsApp and other social media sites to keep up with friends and family as much as you can.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. For those of you that are going to be facing the depths of winter any moment now, if you have any tips on what helps you through the winter, be it supplements, foods, or activities that help to boost you, then please share them with us. We'd love to hear about them.
Until then, take care.
Looking to support your immune system? Well, look no further!
