Hello again to all my hormonal friends . So what did february bring .
The first two weeks of the month for me wasn't great , my anxitey that I've suffered with on and off for years was sky high , infact I would say the worst symptom I'm finding with perimenopausal life for me is the anxiety. As much as the lack of sleep from last month was bad the anxiety is worse as it makes me feel like my life stops . At one point in was so bad I was talking myself out of leaving the house and thats when I knew I had to control it .
My yoga and meditation do help but as I said in my january perimenopausal update coffee also plays a big part in my anxitey levels so this month I've really started to work on giving it up .
After watching a you tube video on coffee @ pick up limes on the size of cups we drink our coffee in ,it made me realise how much I really drink .
I've made myself a 4 week challenge to see if I can cut down my coffee intake with subsitute drinks
This has been going really well and I can't believe how diffrent it's made me feel , infact at work I forgot to take my tea so I got a coffee out the vending machine as they are really tiny cups and regreated it as it wasn't long before I was feeling on edge and slugish
So I've been going herbal , if you follow me on instagram @zen.mum you will have seen I've started tea time tuesdays were I review a new tea each tuesday and it's a really good way to recommend teas to each other I already have a list of teas some of you have already recomended I try .
I will also be doing blogs on some of my favourite teas in more depth . So stay turned for that if your interested in going herbal .
ANXITEY
Anxiety is a feeling of excessive and persistent worry ,you have difficulty concentrating ,nervousness tension ,fear of dying ,social interraction and difficulty sleeping you can also suffer with a rapid heart rate ,sweating ,shortness of breath , chest pain and reastlessness . It can take over your life basically stop you living your life , you become a compleatly diferent person which doesn’t just affect you but the poeple around you .
The main course of anxiety in menopause is hormone imbalace with the drop in estrogen .
Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time and it’s normal to have concerns about day today worries like your loved ones for example but when it starts to take over your everyday life its not a nice way to live.
There are so many natural ways you can help control your anxitey before you resort to seeking medical help .
CUTTING DOWN ON STIMULANTS
This is something I have already mentioned in my previous blogs but cutting down on coffee , alcohol and chocolate is a good way to start ,try to monitor when your anxiety comes on more, it could be as simple as that afternoon cup of coffee with that chocolate bar . I know since I've been cutting back I feel I can control my anxiety more . Learning to identify triggers and avoiding them is a really big help .
EXERCISE
Practicing yoga or meditation can relive stress and anxiety , it's a great way to learn to control your breathing and clear your mind . Anxiety is always made worse by the thoughts we are having and if you can control our thoughts its half the battle . If you are out and anxiety strikes knowing how to breath though an attack will help you control the thoughts of dread and help you calm yourself . Exercise reguarly also boosts your endorphins that promotes good moods .
OUTDOORS
Taking your excerise outside is killing two birds with one stone , walking is a really good way to control anxitey , not only is it a good form of exercise ,getting fresh air and vitamin D is another great helper to boost your mood and clear your head .
When my anxiety is at its worst my social anxiety really kicks in I find I just can't be around or deal with people and have often found myself wanting to curl up in bed and hide away from the world . One of the things I find helps is taking myself off for a long walk, I plug in my headphones and walk round the block . I find it makes my worring thoughts and nervousness feelings become more easy to handle .
SHARING HOW YOU FEEL
Anxitey is something we shouldn't feel ashamed of and sometimes pushing yourself through a situation can make you worse .
When I feel I can't handle a social situation, for example my best frirend was turning 40 and invited me out for a meal and cocktails to celebrate . The minute she told me I knew I was going to make my self ill over worring about the evening out and I didn't want to spoil my friends birthday . As she is my best friend she knows I struggle and since becoming perimenopausal certain times in the month become very hard, It seems to be night time evens I find hardest , I just get the feeling of not wanting to leave my house once it gets dark . I explanined to my friend how I was feeling , my first recation had been to lie to her and tell her I was working , but I was so pleased I told her the truth as she was so understanding and we went out to lunch a few weeks later to celebrate when I was feeling more myself.
Sharing your anxiety issues is a big help you will be surprised how many people carry thier own anxietys over normal everyday situations .
Being honest about how you are feeling is the first step and people knowing helps them understand why you are acting the way you are ,when you know they understand the feeling of dread can become easier to breakdown , then you can start to try and break down your anxiety and get it under contol with out having to worry about what other people are thinking about the way you are acting .
ESSENTIAL OIL
Essential olis have always interested me but I have never really used them .
For christmas my husband bought me a set of white company shower gels with 7 different sents I was surprised at how a smell can change your mood , after going through them I now have a sent for different times the more fruity ones for up lifting and the white lavender is a good one for relaxing which I like to use on my self care evening routeen more about that another time .
As my anxiety has been at it highest this month I've decided to invest in a air diffuser and essenial oils . I read a few blog posts and followed some essiential oil stockists to learn more about what essiential oils can do .
Essential oils share several properties with the human blood . fight infection , contain hormone like compones , they stimulate antibodies like endorphines and hormones .
When inhaled they go straight to the part of the brain that controls heart rate , blood pressure , breathing ,memory , stress levels and hormone balance . It only takes 20 mins for a oil to effect every cell in the body ,when inhaling it takes only 22 seconds for it to reach you brain .
Over all essiential oils are a great tool to use for memopausal symptoms , especially anxiety .
The oil I've been using is clay sage it is said to make you feel very relaxed some say even drowsy . It controls stress levels and tension and can balance emotional trauma .It also helps with missing periods , soothes nerves ,hormonal balancing by simulating dopaamine and serotonin , antidepressant and helps anxiety when inhaled as in aromatherapy .
I started to use it while I sat on my bed when watching tv or reading and found it really did make me feel calm .
February was also the month of my brother in laws birthday and we were all going out to celebrate it as I was suffering with my bad anxiety I knew I was going to have to work at contoling it so I could enjoy the family celebration .
First I cut down my coffee , alcohol and chocolate . I upped my yoga workout to every morning , After I saw my girls off to school I layed my mat out and prepared my living room as a yoga studio , water ,yoga video at the ready . I also plugged in my air diffuser and sat it at the end of my yoga mat so I could get the full benefit when laying down . I cut my yoga practice down to 15 /20 mins workouts my normal ones are around 30 / 45 mins by cutting them down I found I was more likely to fit them in and if I found I did have more time some mornings I used the extra time to do a 10/15 min guided meditation
I can honestly say this really helped .
On the day of the family party I spent 20 mins before we left sat on my bed with my air diffuser on and practiced my breathing with doing the yoga and meditation everyday it was becoming second nature for me to use my breathing to calm me down .
I also purchased some roller essential oils which have come in handy to carry around . I put some on my pressure points before leaving the house . I can't tell you how nice it was to beable to have a social afternoon without the social anxiety . I am definitely going to be carring on with all the things I've been doing this month .
One of the things I do have a bad habit of doing is when I am feeling good for a while because of the things I've done to stop my symptoms I start to go back to my old ways and then wonder why the symptoms have reapaired . The worst thing about the menopause is because a lot of the symptoms are coursed by hormones changing you think your are alright one week then the next your back to not feeling great . Keeping this journal has really helped as I know if I"ve had a good week ,you know that only one we get a month , the next is not going to be that good .
The last 2 weeks of the month I slept well and had lots of energy I know its not going to last so I'm making sure I don't fall in to the habit of going back to my old ways so that means new herbal teas , happy hormone foods , yoga , meditation and essential oils are my life now if i'm going to get though menopause .
Menopause can also be a time many women will first experience anxiety and panic attacks . To go from being happy one minute to anxious and the feeling of wanting to die is very scary , you genuinely think you are going mad . As I said in my menopausal blog when i spoke about knowing your family history and explained about my mothers experiences of anxiety it really is a major menopaousal symptom and can course so many more problems than the well known hot flushes and night sweats .
I hope I've given you some tips you can used if you are suffering with anxiety and please get in touch and share your expeiences and advice the more we talk about this time in our ife the less we will feel we are going though this alone .
NEXT MONTH
I have finaly got an appointment to see my gp about a hormone test and hopefuly have a bit of a mot please log in next month to see how it goes .
