Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be taking a look at why menopause symptoms can be worse in the morning.
This was something that I was asked recently, with the woman questioning why her symptoms always seemed worse in the morning. So I thought I would do a blog focusing on some of the more common symptoms and why they can end up being worse first thing in the morning.
Common symptoms that can be worse in the morning
Common symptoms include anxiety and stress, and the minute you wake up, if you start to get anxious, this can then trigger hot flushes or sweats.
Other symptoms that can often feel worse in the morning include joint pain, fatigue, and low energy, as well as brain fog low mood or mood swings, nausea, and dizziness.
Why can these symptoms be worse in the morning?
Now, why do these tend to be worse first thing in the morning?
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Stress and anxiety
Feeling stressed or anxious can often be worse in the morning if your blood sugars have dropped too much during the night, and that can trigger palpitations and it can set the whole nervous system off.
The other thing that's so common, which so many people don't think of, is how are you woken up in the morning. If you are fast asleep and suddenly, your alarm goes off, because your nervous system is already in a very fragile state, that can set a total panic attack coming in. And then when you wake up, the anxiety can follow that, too.
Joint pain
Joint pain feeling worse in the morning can be caused by several things, but one of the main issues is dehydration. And for so many people, they just don't realise that if they haven't drunk enough water during the day and certainly not enough water in the evening, then by the time they wake up in the morning, their joints are really dehydrated, and it can take quite a while before the suppleness and the pain starts to ease.
The problem with drinking in the evening is that if you drink too much, you then end up being woken up in the middle of the night, needing to go and empty your bladder.
So the secret is to drink as much water as you can during the day so that you're hydrated all the time. But then, have just a little shot glass of warm water just before bed. This will often be enough to keep you a little bit hydrated during the night, but without putting a lot of pressure on your bladder.
Fatigue and low energy
If you are waking up and you still feel tired, this is very often just caused by the fact that you haven't slept well. And unfortunately, falling oestrogen can interfere with our sleep pattern. It keeps us at a much shallower sleep, which means we get disturbed much more often, either by what's going on in our own body or by all the noises that are going on around us during the night.
Low blood sugar, again, can be another issue for fatigue. If your body is starved of nutrients because you've not eaten enough, how on earth is it going to suddenly burst into energy when you get up first thing in the morning when you haven't even fed or watered it?
So one of the things that can help is to have a bedtime snack. Now, I know, some schools of thought say, "Don't eat before you go to bed." For me, from my experience and what I've seen for a lot of other women going through the menopause, is that your body needs that extra little meal before you go to bed.
So about an hour before bed, a good protein or fat-based snack can very often help you to sleep better, and your body will have some nutrients left so that when you have to get up, you're not in a total state of fatigue.
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Brain fog
Dehydration, just like joint pain, is the main reason brain fog can often be worse in the morning. So, again, drink lots of water during the day and have that little shot glass of warm water just before you go to bed.
Low mood
Experiencing low mood first thing in the morning can often be caused by low blood sugar levels So, as I mentioned above, make sure you have that good snack before you go to bed. Dehydration can also affect our mood, so again, remember the water.
Nausea
Again, nausea in the morning can be due to low blood sugar levels. So, as you can see, as well as dehydration, low blood sugar can really impact how you feel first thing in the morning.
But nausea can also be caused by a struggling liver, so you could look at liver herbs like dandelion or artichoke to take maybe for a month or two just to help support liver function.
Dizziness
Dizziness, again, can be caused by low blood sugars and dehydration, so that snack and little drink before you go to bed can be really helpful.
The other thing with dizziness is that for some people, their blood pressure can be really low while you're asleep. If you suddenly get woken up, by the alarm or something else going on, that can set your heart rate off or you sit up too suddenly, then that can cause dizziness.
So if dizziness is one of your early morning symptoms, then when you wake up, it's important just to keep yourself lying down for a few good, deep breaths, then sit up slowly, have a few deep breaths, then put your feet on the floor and have a few deep breaths, and then stand up. And you might find that that's just enough to stave off the dizziness first thing in the morning.
What else can help your menopause symptoms in the morning?
There are lots of extra things you can do to in the morning to help yourself during menopause, and I go into more detail about these in my blog '6 things to do in the morning to help your menopause', but here are two important things I recommend you do:
Replenish your body
Remember, definitely, that little snack and the water before you go to bed. Don't skip breakfast because so many women get up, rush around, they're out the door with a cup of coffee and then they wonder why their symptoms that they had first thing in the morning are continuing into mid-morning.
If you have breakfast and a good drink of water when you get up, very often that settles your blood sugar level, it helps with the dehydration and your body will just thank you so much for that.
Plan ahead
The other thing to do is just plan your morning the night before. I have a very bad habit of waiting until the morning before I decide what to put on because I'm one of these people, I don't like everything to be too regimented.
But getting the clothes out that you're going to wear the next morning, have a little list already written the night before as to what you've got to do when you get up or the things, the tasks that you need to do in the morning, can help because you're not suddenly awake panicking about what you've got to do in the morning.
So, a little bit of preparation the night before can make a huge difference in how you feel first thing in the morning.
I hope this has helped. If any of you have other really good tips that helped yourself to get going first thing in the morning or if you have any very specific symptoms that you're wondering why they're worse in the morning, then please ask and I will be happy to help.
Until next time, take care.
