Menopause
Are you struggling with menopausal symptoms?
If you’re a woman, the menopause will be a natural phase of your life..
Sadly, for many women, it’s a phase of their life that is a struggle.
Typically, from your 40s onwards, levels of the hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone (yes, women produce small amounts of testosterone) fluctuate and reduce. All kinds of different symptoms can result, which can be debilitating both physically and mentally.
You’re probably well aware of hot flushes and night sweats being menopausal symptoms, but there are more.
Are you experiencing any of the following?.
- Feeling tired all the time
- Weight gain
- Anxiety
- Mood swings and irritability
- Feeling depressed about getting older
- Brain fog and poor concentration
- Low libido
- Digestive problems
All of these can be signs of hormone imbalances and decreasing hormone levels and what makes them worse is STRESS.
Stress can wreak havoc in the body and the mind, just when you’re facing the physical and psychological challenges of the menopause.
The stress hormone cortisol interferes with the production of other hormones at any time and at the menopause, can make symptoms much worse.
When you’ve got cortisol running round your system, it’s hard to calm down and switch off. It explains why you might feel wired and tired all the time, overwhelmed, unable to think clearly and indecisive.
Cortisol increases appetite for sugar and carbs, makes it difficult to lose weight, especially belly fat, and can cause energy slumps, as blood sugar levels drop.
Cortisol fuels anxiety and disrupts neurotransmitters, affecting mood. That’s why you may find that your younger patient, even-tempered, calm, confident, happy-go-lucky, optimistic self has been usurped by a snappy, bad-tempered, worried, self-doubting, depressed woman. Your emotions might be all over the place and you never know what might set off tears.
Cortisol is meant to keep you alert, so you might find it difficult to get to sleep and to get the refreshing sleep you need.
Cortisol has a wide-reaching effect on the whole body. You might be feeling its negative impact in problems with your digestion, lack of libido and getting more infections, as your immune system is weak.
Not only does cortisol cause all these problems, but it can trigger hot flushes and night sweats as well.
Are these the stresses you’re facing?
Those menopause symptoms are raging at a time when stress may be coming at you from many different directions:
- Work – You might have reached a point in your career where you’re shouldering a lot of responsibilities. But just when you’ve reached a level of seniority and experience, brain fog is making you lose confidence in your abilities and you feel pressure to keep pace with younger colleagues.
- Kids – You’re juggling a busy job with parenting teenagers, who, even if they’re not outright rebellious, are still a challenge and a worry. Or you may be feeling the pangs of empty nest syndrome or even having to readjust when your adult children come back to live with you.
- Relationship – You don’t feel attractive, you just want to go to bed to sleep, sex is the last thing on your mind and that’s causing tensions with your partner.
- Elder care – Your parents are showing their age, maybe suffering ill health and becoming less independent, and you feel you need to do more to look after them.
On top of this, you still have to do all the day-to-day tasks involved in running the home. No wonder you feel exhausted and stressed out!
What if you could get relief from your menopause symptoms, feel more like yourself again and embrace this stage of your life with more confidence and positivity?
Studies from around the world have shown that there are some key factors that make the experience of menopause much more positive for some women than others. A healthy lifestyle – eating healthily and regular exercise – and managing your stress levels can really help.
HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) is often the go-to solution for troublesome menopause symptoms, but some women can’t or don’t want to take HRT. I’ve had clients who were taking HRT and were still having problems with anxiety, stress, poor sleep and other issues.
If HRT isn’t the full answer, what is?
What helps to reduce menopause symptoms and make the menopause a more positive experience?
Mindset has been found to have a big influence on menopause symptoms.
Researchers1 have found that women who had negative attitudes and beliefs about the menopause reported more frequent and severe symptoms. Women who saw the menopause in a more positive light reported fewer and less severe symptoms.
To develop a more positive mindset about the menopause, two things can make a real difference – cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy. The Menopause Society recommends both. However, a recent review of studies of non-hormonal treatments for the menopause presented to the Menopause Society in 2024 concluded that hypnotherapy was more effective than CBT alone in improving women’s experience of the menopause.
How can hypnotherapy help you if you’re going through the menopause?
You might be surprised that hypnotherapy can help when you’re going through the menopause. In fact, the 2024 review of studies of non-hormonal treatments for the menopause presented to The Menopause Society found that: ‘clinical hypnosis interventions consistently demonstrated clinically significant efficacy in reducing hot flush frequency and severity, as well as improving quality of life, sleep quality, and mood. Specifically, clinical hypnosis showed a significant reduction of more than 60%.’
You might be wondering: ‘Could hypnotherapy work for me?’ Find out with the ‘Transforming the Menopause’ programme from Transforming Health.
‘Transforming the Menopause’ Programme
The ‘Transforming the Menopause’ programme from Transforming Health brings together an effective combination of proven solutions for reducing menopause symptoms and enhancing wellbeing. It’s tailored to your individual needs and which symptoms you’re experiencing. It includes:
- Stress management – you’ll get practical tools and techniques to reduce and manage your stress, so that you lower your cortisol levels and get your hormones more in balance. Taking action on your stress means you can feel calmer and more in control, less overwhelmed.
- Relaxation techniques – you’ll learn how to calm anxiety and stress quickly. Experience how relaxation can help you sleep better, regain your confidence and boost your energy and mood.
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy – tackle unhelpful thinking and behaviour that may be contributing to your stress and develop a more positive attitude towards the menopause and what it means for you. As mentioned above, that more positive mindset can positively affect your physical symptoms as well as improving how you feel about yourself.
Hypnotherapy to:
- harness the mind-body connection to help reduce physical symptoms, such as hot flushes and night sweats
- relax both the body and the mind
- calm the nervous system and manage stress
- encourage motivation for healthy lifestyle changes and strengthen healthy habits
- help the mind to take on board helpful thinking and promote a positive mindset
- re-establish refreshing sleep patterns
To find out more about how the ‘Transforming the Menopause’ programme could work for you, contact Anne at Transforming Health today.
Free 30-minute phone/Zoom consultation
To find out more, click here to contact Anne Williams.
Or book a free 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation to discuss your symptoms and find out what could work for you. Just click on this link:
Book a free 30-minute consultation.
Süss H, Ehlert U. Psychological resilience during the perimenopause. Maturitas. 2020;131:48-56.
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