Anxiety and Menopause

[lmtoct]

Hi,

Anybody else out there suffering from anxiety since entering the menopause? Feel rubbish most days and have managed to convince myself will have heart attack or stroke one day as I cannot control the feeling that my heart will give out with all this stress! Any tips or fellow sufferers? xx

Anxiety is a symptom of menopause.
have you considered HRT? The NICE guidelines that came out 1st June suggest drs do take this into account when prescribing HRT.

Other options include CBT - you might have to find a private therapist- or counselling. Also Mindfulness- there is loads online including an 8-week course that you do online- think it's Bangor uni.

Do you feel anxious about anything specific- eg travelling, meeting people, work? If you do then CBT could help those.

Thanks for getting back to me, I cannot take HRT as it causes my blood pressure to rise. I am taking a look at Mindfulness, I would say my anxiety is about the problems that the menopause is giving me.

No sleep, heart missing a beat, night sweating and thinking that I am seriously ill, it's just horrible

HRT does not often cause a rise in BP- that is very rare. If it does, then your BP ought to be managed- with lifestyle ( more exercise, less salt, weight loss if appropriate) and drugs- but high BP is not a reason to avoid HRT.

If you look at the new NICE guidelines - there is a link here a few posts down- then you can find the part about drs not having to refuse HRT due to high BP- it's round about pages 14-15.

There is more about it here. sorry it's the Daily Mail but this was written on the same day that the new NICE guidelines came out.

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3106691/You-HRT-menopausal-women-high-blood-pressure-doctors-told.html

If you use patches or gel for your HRT then high BP is less likely to occur anyway.

Yes I suddenly started suffering with anxiety for no reason, and I now know it was the start of my menopause symptoms. Really odd as usually I am a very calm and collected sort of person.

I started reading about menopause on the Internet and soon realised that sudden anxiety is a classic menopause symptom. Up until I read that I'd had no idea.

Hell yes. You can control some of the symptoms with herbs - sage tablets have really helped with the night sweats for me, and magnesium is also good for the heart palpitations. But the anxiety is still difficult.

Meditation/mindfulness definitely helped for me, as does going out for a walk every single day. But it's also worth looking at vitamin deficiencies, esp B12 and vit D, and thyroid as these can cause anxiety too.