Dry throat during perimenopause and menopause
This is an area that I've had a lot of questions about, but it tends to be overlooked as a menopause and perimenopause symptom, and a lot of you are wondering what on earth is going on.
One thing before I go further into this topic...
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Now, let's get back to the topic…
We know that as oestrogen levels fall, the mucous membranes of the body can dry out. Our mucous membranes are areas of the body that are very mucousy. They're plump. They're full of water. And that includes things like the vagina, the digestive tract, your lungs, your bladder, and also the mouth and the throat.
What can happen is that, as oestrogen starts to fall, the mouth and the throat can start to dry out. You may end up producing less saliva as well, and obviously that's going to affect the mouth too, especially when you're eating - your food isn't getting mixed with enough saliva, so it tends to get a little dry. You may find that because you're not producing enough saliva, food is getting stuck in the throat. You might find it more difficult to swallow.
You might find your throat is kind of scratchy. It's a little bit irritated. You might find that you tend to get more of a cough.
What can help?
In this situation, we would look at supplements such as Sea Buckthorn Oil. Stay well-hydrated because dehydration will make any dryness worse. So, drink plenty of water, generally.
The other thing is that when we're stressed in menopause and perimenopause, we tend to eat a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods, and this can be part of the issue. Carbohydrates need a lot of saliva in order to process them. We also tend to eat really quickly, and if you're eating a lot of dry food and you're going chomp, chomp, swallow, you're trying to swallow big lumps of food, and that can be part of the problem as well.
Other throat symptoms
While dryness is one of the main throat symptoms you can experience, there are several others that can occur. Here are a few more to be aware of:
Trouble swallowing
Again, as I mentioned above, you may have trouble swallowing. With this particular one, make sure that you chew your food really, really well. We recommend 20 times per mouthful. You want to mix it with as much saliva as possible, and that will make it much easier and smoother to swallow, especially if you have this particular issue.
Globus (sensation of a lump in the throat)
There is also something called Globus, and it feels like there's a lump in your throat. It's stopping you from swallowing. You might find it really uncomfortable. What happens here very often is that because the tissue starts to dry in the throat, it can start to close up, and that can feel like there's a lump there when there actually isn't anything.
This particular one can often be caused by stress. And very often, what happens is this situation happens once, and you feel like there's a lump in your throat. Then the next time you go to eat, you're already anticipating that this is going to happen. It sets off the stress response, which closes the throat even further, making it more and more difficult to swallow. So again, in this particular situation, we're looking at Sea Buckthorn Oil. Chew your food really well with this one too.
If your food is quite dry, just have a little bit of water with your food. Don't drink too much, because then you end up diluting your stomach juices, and that can end up causing indigestion; so, just a small amount of plain water if you need it. Drink plenty of water at other times of the day to help with general dehydration.
If stress is an issue, if you find you're getting really tense when you're sitting down to eat, then you could look at the herb passionflower, which is known to help aid relaxation. Remember, we have that in our handy little spray - Passiflora Complex Spray.
Voice changes
Falling oestrogen can affect the vocal cords. So, for those of you who are singers, the vocal cords can get less flexible and stiffer, and you may find that you're not able to hit notes at either end of your range as well as you did before. You may find your voice wobbling. You may find that you can't hold a note for as long as you used to be able to.
In normal circumstances, you may find that the pitch, tone, and clarity of your voice can change as well. So, for this particular one, again a Sea Buckthorn Oil supplement can be really helpful. Just watch though, if you're starting to get swelling in the throat as well, which is affecting your voice, this could be due to thyroid issues. So, this is one you need to get checked out by your doctor, just to make sure that there's nothing else going on.
Constant throat clearing / Phlegmy throat
You may also find that you're getting constant phlegm. You have to clear your throat a lot. You may find there's that post-nasal drip. There's something constantly going down the back of your throat.
What can happen in this situation is that falling oestrogen can affect your immune system, so it can make you more vulnerable and susceptible to all sorts of little infections that may be going around. And especially in winter, you can end up literally getting one thing after another. Obviously, that can then create all the phlegm and mucus, even if there isn't a cough involved.
For this one, the herb Echinacea is known to support immune function. You could try that maybe for a month, just to help your immune system generally.
Check your diet with this one because, believe it or not, a lot of phlegm and mucus can be caused by high-carbohydrate foods and also constipation. So, if you're getting constipation and a phlegmy throat, you need to address constipation as well. Drink plenty of water. Again, that's going to help with constipation generally.
With this particular set of symptoms, you can see that most of them are just caused by falling oestrogen levels , but there can also be issues that are completely unrelated. So, if these simple tips don't help at all, please just get this whole thing checked out by your doctor.
I hope you found it helpful. It's one of these ones that a lot of you seem to have problems with and are contacting me about. But it tends not to be picked up on a sort of day-to-day basis. If you've had this issue and you found something that's really helped, what did you do? Please share your stories. You know that I love reading all about them.
Supporting yourself through perimenopause and menopause
One extra thing before you go! Another way to support yourself at this time is to take a perimenopause and menopause supplement, such as our Menopause Support tablets. If you haven't tried Menopause Support, why not request a free sample today to see how it can help you?
It contains soya isoflavones, which are a source of phytoestrogens, as well as the essential mineral magnesium, which can help to support you in a number of ways, including helping to reduce fatigue, the most common symptom of perimenopause and menopause, according to our online symptom checker (correct as of 04/24).
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Until next time, take care.
*UK residents only. One sample per household.
