Stress and menopause are probably one of the worst duos for women wellness. Stress is bad for our hormone balance and even more during the menopause journey. Menopause is by itself a “Perfect Storm” to our body and mind. The reproductive hormones: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone start fluctuating like a rollercoaster. Other hormones get out of balance trying to restore harmony in our body, especially when we have a frenetic lifestyle. This can result in a total CHAOS with our stress, sleep, blood sugar and thyroid hormones being unbalanced. Therefore, we experience so many and intense menopausal symptoms.
Whilst the menopause is a natural aging process, our frenetic lifestyle intensifies the menopausal symptoms and the health risks. If we do not slow down our pace, especially during peri-menopause and menopause, learn to reduce stress from our lives, take time to un-load, we experience strong menopausal symptoms and potentially risk a burn-out or serious health risks.
Stress and Menopause
When we are stressed over a long period of time, our body goes into survival mode and needs higher level of cortisol, the stress hormone. High levels of cortisol intensify the menopausal symptoms and:
- Suppress our immune system. This is why we are more often ill.
- Increase the blood pressure and risk of cardio-vascular diseases.
- Increase the blood sugar with the risk of developing diabetes
- Mood swings and depression as the serotonin hormone is negatively impacted
- Poor sleep as melatonin hormone is affected, resulting in chronic fatigue, and disrupted cellular regeneration.
- Reduce the bone density and increase risk of osteoporosis.
Do You Get Stressed Easily?
What about taking a serious step to start reducing some stress from your life? Start by identifying the different sources of stress in your daily life and see what you can start changing.
If you like to have a personal consultation to better understand where you stand with the menopausal journey and how to re-address stress, just contact me.
