Why Perimenopause Anxiety Feels So Intense

If you're noticing that you're starting to feel more anxious than you've ever been before,

You're definitely not alone.

If you're a woman in your 30s,

40s,

Even 50s,

You may be experiencing perimenopause or menopause.

Remember,

Perimenopause can start as early as 35.

And the hormonal changes that happen during this time can really wreak havoc in our systems and in how we're living our lives.

So this might look like waking up in the middle of the night.

I'm hearing that from so many people right now.

They're kind of waking up at that two o'clock,

Three o'clock hour,

Feeling emotionally flooded more quickly than you used to,

Increased irritability,

Overstimulation,

Rage,

You know,

Really not having the tolerance to be patient or be understanding of others that you used to.

So again,

You're not alone.

In this,

This is definitely due to a hormonal shift that you're experiencing as part of that change in our lives.

And so one of the reasons that this can feel so confusing is because many of us have struggled with anxiety before,

But now all of a sudden it just feels different.

We're having a lot of women become diagnosed with ADHD,

Autism,

OCD,

All of those things along that neurodivergent spectrum as we enter into perimenopause and menopause because those old coping skills or masking skills are no longer really available to us.

When our hormone levels change,

Estrogen,

Progesterone,

Testosterone,

We forget that these things are not just part of our sex hormones or our cycle,

But these things are important hormones that help neurotransmitters,

Stress hormones,

A lot of different activities that happen within our bodies are supported by these hormones that suddenly,

Out of nowhere,

Are changing.

And so recognizing that this is a totally normal experience and that yes,

You are in fact changing,

That you may need to kind of interact with things differently in your life than you have before and develop different skills to do that.

This is something that I've been dealing with for the past,

Gosh,

15 years now almost,

And something that I really support a lot of my clients around.

And recognizing these changes has been one of the biggest contributors to me being successful in this and actually being able to feel like I can live my life again.

And so one thing that I would suggest would be to simply name the experience.

So some mornings I wake up and I am just not at my best,

Right?

Maybe I had a difficult night's sleep.

Maybe yesterday was just a really tough day.

Maybe it's just somewhere in that phase of my cycle where my hormone levels are really different than they might normally be,

And so I wake up feeling anxious,

Angry,

Irritable,

Tired,

Whatever that is.

Last night I went to bed and could not quite figure out why my anxiety levels were feeling so high.

And so I simply slowed down and named it.

Took a little bit of a minute to listen to some music and to try to check inward to see what was going on.

And to be honest,

Nothing really came up.

And so I just took the moment to acknowledge,

I'm feeling really anxious right now,

And I'm not really sure why,

But that doesn't mean anything in terms of what I do with that anxiety.

So if I'm feeling the anxiety,

Whether I know why or not,

I know how to help care for myself.

Slowing down,

Naming it,

Letting the people in my household know I'm just feeling anxious today and it has nothing to do with you can be really helpful ways of doing that.

So I know it sounds so simple and it really is,

But slowing down,

Naming the emotion,

Checking for why,

But not getting too hung up there.

And whether you know the why or not,

Doing whatever you need to do to take care of yourself.

That may mean if I'm feeling anxious,

Maybe reducing my caffeine intake,

Going for a bit of a walk,

You know,

Doing something to really help settle that nervous system.

So we also have tons of meditations available here on Insight Timer.

You can head over to my page.

I've got several meditations specifically focusing on resetting the nervous system and dealing with anxiety.

I also have a course on menopause that you might find interesting.

So thank you so much for stopping by.

I hope that you'll check it out.

Check out some of my other videos and I look forward to seeing you again soon.