Scary symptoms of perimenopause and menopause Part 2: Fear, Dizziness, and Memory Issues

One thing before I go further into this topic...

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3 more symptoms that can be scary or distressing during perimenopause and menopause

Here are a few more of the scariest symptoms that can cause distress during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Intense fear

This is a horrible one because it can come on suddenly. It can be a deep-seated fear about life and death, and about bad things happening in the world. You can start to be fearful about the safety of your family and your friends. It can become all-consuming. And it can, over time, lead to things like depression.

You can feel this intense fear all the time. It can be an all-day situation causing you to be in this state of fear continually the whole day. It can also be something short-term, so it could be sudden loud noises. You might find that you just can't cope with crowds. You have this intense fear of being squeezed in. It might be an intense fear of going shopping to the supermarket or even things like driving.

So, what causes this? Falling oestrogen levels affect the balance of your brain chemicals, so this is a physical issue. It's not a mental issue. It's not the fact that this is all going on in your head or that you are going mad. So many of you say that when you try to explain to other people, you're just told, "Oh, don't be silly. It's all in your head or you're just imagining it." This is real. It's a real physical change that's going on, and you need to treat it as such, rather than worrying about whether you're going mad, because you're not. This is a physical thing.

You need to look at ways in which you can help to control and overcome the fear, so that would be therapies like Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming Therapy (NLP), or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). These are all therapies that allow you to learn certain techniques that can help you cope better. This makes you stronger emotionally. And it makes you more in control of your emotions rather than the other way around. You can Google these. In most areas, you will find a practitioner who teaches one of these. And a lot of you who've done this kind of thing tell me that you do find it really, really helpful.

Another thing that can be helpful for this symptom is deep breathing. This is good for so many different things during menopause and perimenopause. And I do recommend that you all learn how to do the deep breathing exercises, so if anything happens that's out with your control or where you just feel out of your depth, you can jump into the deep breathing and feel that bit more in control.

You can look at herbs such as Ashwagandha. This one seems to be particularly helpful for the fearful side of things. Remember to drink plenty of water, because dehydration can be an issue, as can low blood sugar levels. So, dehydration and low blood sugar levels can really rev up your nervous system, and that can cause problems as well. Acupuncture can often be really helpful too, so it's worth checking out.

If, however, intense fear is affecting your daily life, if you're really getting scared, if you're not wanting to go out, if you're not wanting to go to work or communicate with other people, then you need to speak to your doctor about this. It may well be that you just need something extra to help you through this particular phase.

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2. Dizziness

This is a really common menopause and perimenopause symptom. It can be caused by a whole raft of issues. It's not necessarily just one particular cause.

The main things are dehydration and low blood sugar. So, if you find that you're getting dizzy quite regularly, do a little diary to track when you experience this symptom. I find diaries are so helpful, because if you're getting dizzy at the same time every day then it's usually something you are doing or not doing around that time. So it may well be that you haven't had a drink of water for ages. It may well be that you haven't eaten anything for ages.

It could be that cup of coffee you had. Coffee/caffeine can cause all sorts of symptoms. I know, for me, if I have too strong a cup of coffee, within about half an hour, the world goes on a little bit of a tilt. So, I'm always aware that if I'm having coffee, then I have something to eat with it so that I’m not getting that sudden hit of caffeine. So, it could be something really simple to fix.

However, there are health issues that can appear in perimenopause and menopause that are not hormonally-based and could be a trigger, such as high or low blood pressure. It could be a vitamin D or vitamin B12 deficiency. It could be anaemia, especially if you're in perimenopause and you're getting prolonged or really heavy periods, you could well be anaemic, and that will make you really dizzy as well.

So, as well as doing a diary to track this symptom and making sure you’re drinking and eating regularly, it’s important to get this one checked by your doctor. If it's any of the health conditions that are causing the dizziness, then these can all be easily treated. It's certainly worth a visit. Get a general health check, and a blood check, which can pick all of these things up. And very often, that's all you need to do.

3. Memory issues

Memory issues affect us all at some point but during perimenopause and menopause, it can become a more common issue. You can be absolutely fine and then suddenly, you're in a bit of a panic. You can't remember somebody's name. You might find that you're forgetting things at work, or that you can't remember the sequence of things. It may well be that you just can't concentrate and that your brain is all over the place. It may well be that you've forgotten a specific route to get somewhere.

This can be really frightening, especially now with all the publicity and the news about dementia and Alzheimer's. So if you experience what I call a "black hole moment," where your whole brain just goes completely blank, this can start to get really frightening. If you then worry about it, you'll become more agitated. You become more uptight, and that's going to affect your memory and concentration as well.

Again, this is a physical symptom. Low oestrogen affects brain function, including the neurons, and the neural connections. Things can take longer to process, so you might think, "Oh, I need to remember such and such." And it just takes longer for your brain to click in as to where that particular name or thing is being stored. So, again, this is a very physical symptom.

Other things that can cause it are dehydration and low blood sugar, so check that you're drinking plenty of water and eating regularly. It can just be fatigue. If you're really tired, if you're not sleeping well, you're not going to be able to concentrate.

In this situation, if you are really worried, if it's getting to the point maybe where family and friends are pointing things out to you, then go to your doctor. A lot of towns and cities now have memory clinics where you can go and you can get an assessment. Put your mind at rest. Then what you need to do is just address things like your water intake, and eating little and often. Give yourself a break. Have time to yourself where your brain can literally just switch off, doing like meditation, mindfulness, or listening to nice music for half an hour. Something that allows your brain to rest and reboot. These things can work wonders, and they can make you feel better physically as well.

I hope this helps you. These things are so, so common, and sometimes, just knowing that these have physical causes and that you're not going mad can be really, really helpful. For those of you who've experienced this, what did you do to help yourself? Or have you experienced any other scary symptoms? What have you done, and what has helped you?

Please share your stories if you're experiencing them. There's going to be hundreds of women out there probably experiencing the same thing, and for all you know, you might be that person to help them too.

Please note this blog does not aim to scare you or cause you further concern, only to give you information and advice to make these symptoms less worrying. Remember knowledge is power! These are also some of the more extreme symptoms that can be experienced during perimenopause and menopause, but not everyone will experience all or even any of them.

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Until next time, take care.

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You may also find these topics helpful:

Scary symptoms of perimenopause & menopause Part 1

Crying, fear, and worry during perimenopause and menopause

Nausea and dizziness during peri-menopause and menopause

3 ways menopause brain fog can get worse