10 MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS & HOW TO EASE THEM

WHETHER you have just experienced your first hot flush, or have been dealing with multiple symptoms for months and just want help managing them - you’ll know how lifechanging the menopause can be.

But while night sweats and mood swings can be incredibly disruptive to your daily life, they don’t have to mean long term suffering.

Thanks to lifestyle changes there are lots of simple (and free) things you can do to help you gain back control of your body and manage your symptoms with confidence.

Here, we list the 10 most common menopause symptoms talked about by YOU - and how to alleviate them.

1. Night sweats

You go to bed a comfortable temperature and wake up soaked in sweat - night sweats are an extremely common symptom of menopause.

During menopause and peri menopause you experience changes in the amount of sex hormones, oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone that your body produces -  oestrogen and progesterone particularly.

Oestrogen helps to control your body temperturature  so the ups and downs of menopause hormones causes the ups and downs of body temperature.

When we sleep our internal thermostat changes and our body temperature drops - but menopause confuses this and instead makes us overheat.

Take a look at your bedroom set up and sleep routine.

Having a fan nearby and keeping windows open can help regulate your body temperature.

Keeping your bedtime the same for the majority of the week can also help and it allows your brain to develop a stronger routine and recognises when it's time to relax.

2. Hot flushes

As well as during the night, menopause impacts our ability to regulate our temperature effectively during the day.

Hot flushes are a sudden increase in body temperature that can leave you feeling very warm and unable to cool down.

Progesterone increases our body temperature during our monthly cycle however, during menopause it is in decline, bringing our core temperature down.

Couple this with a decline in serotonin and our brain is triggered to think we are hot when we are not.

The most frustrating part of this symptom is that hot flushes are unpredictable and can last a while before your temperature comes down.

Small changes in your nutrition can have a big impact on helping with temperature control.

Spicy food, caffeine, red wine and hot baths, can all trigger a hot flash?

Monitoring how you respond to these foods and drinks can help change the severity of your hot flushes.

3. Brain fog

Have that feeling that a cloud is hanging over your brain?

Are you struggling to get your thoughts together or finding you forget things really easily?

This is brain fog, and it can leave many women feeling like they are “going mad.”

Oestrogen helps the brain convert glucose (sugar) into energy, but during menopause oestrogen declines, impact our energy levels as a result.

Nutrition is your friend in helping beat brain fog.

Add more brain healthy foods like leafy greens, omega 3  oily fish and slow release, whole carbohydrates like borwn rice to your diet.

4. Insomnia

During perimenopause and menopause those changing hormones affect your ability to sleep well.

Sleep is when we repair and recover and our human growth hormone (HGH) is released which helps us burn fat.

Oestrogen - which assists with HGH - declines in menopause and often HGH doesn’t get released as a result.

HGH is usually released between 11pm and 1am so it is really important to get to bed earlier rather than later.

Regular exercise is also a fantastic way to reduce levels of anxiety and clear your mind of worry, so try to fit in a workout, a walk or even a yoga class.

5. Weight gain

It is often dubbed the “Meno Belly” or “Menopause Bloat” but actually this increase in weight gain is down to our fat distributing itself differently as you hit menopause.

Your changing hormones cause your body to store fat around your belly and around our organs as a drop in oestrogen levels takes hold.

It is incredibly important to look at your nutrition to help manage this weight gain.

Keeping a food diary is a great way to start identifying how much you are eating as quite often we are eating more than we need and can burn off so we gain weight.

Becoming aware of what you eat will help you to take the appropriate action to help you lose weight.

6. Thinning hair

Not everyone is affected by thinning hair during menopause, but for those that do it can be a very distressing symptom to experience.

Flucuating oestrogen levels wreak havvoc with our guts thanks to the hormone's ability to cause anti inflammatory and inflammatory reactions.

Hair loss is usually a result of inbalanced gut bacteria so it is incredibly important to monitor your nutrition, and stress levels to encourage healthy hair.

Eat foods like sunflower seeds, almonds, avocados, spinach, chicken, peanuts, brown rice, kale and bell peppers to bring the gut back to life and improve hair loss.

7. Mood swings

During menopause our levels of progesterone fall.
Usually progesterone is the hormone that helps us to feel calmer and more in control of our emotions, so a drop in levels of this hormone can cause mood swings.

Menopausal women often describe feelings of irritability and being unable to control anger or heightened emotions.

One minute you can feel perfectly fine and the next you feel you are flying off the handle in a rage.

Lifestyle changes can be absolutely key in controlling these mood swings.

Stress management should be a priority as stress hormones exacerbate your mood.

Try meditation and Yoga to help bring you a sense of calm.

Weight training and working out can also help reduce stress thanks to it's ability to stop the release of stress hormones, so go walk or do a home workout when you can.

8. Fatigue/low energy

Low energy and general fatigue are often put down to “aging” by women experiencing menopause, but a lack of energy is largely due to the sudden hormonal changes.

Oestrogen falls and cortisol (stress hormone) rises during menopause, putting our body into a state of anxiety - causing us to feel drained of energy.

The good news is that feeling low in energy isn’t something you just have to accept.

Improving our nutrition, exercise and stress management levles can help to improve our energy.

Plant based eating is your friend here as it helps with blood sugar control.

Eat a wide variety of vegetables and reduce your sugar intake, as this causes sugar spikes - and dips - impacting our daily energy.

Exercise also helps regulate energy levels, but don't go crazy, opt for low intensity exercise to give you that boost you desire.

9. Bloating

Bloating is often mistaken for weight gain as a symptom of menopause - but this is actually a totally different process.

When progesterone levels drop your body can retain excess fluid.

If you think back to when you were having regular periods you might remember that sense of being bloated - and this is exactly what is going on here.

Again the good news is that our nutrition can help.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods like avocados, green tea, nuts and seeds.

Also try and keep a food and bloating diary. If you find certain foods set you off and cause bloating in a pattern, cut them out. These foods can be different for different people so really tune in to your body.

Exercise can also be an incredibly useful tool. Try to get in at least 30 minutes of daily exercise and enjoy the impact this can have on relieving a bloated tummy.

10. Joint pain

General aches and pains do come with age however, continual pain that impacts your wellbeing is not something you should expect to have to deal with.

During menopause and perimenopause flucuating hormones making ligaments and tendons less able to hold our joints stable.

This can be a sign of meno-arthritis and it can be extremely painful.

Exercise can really help, especially when it comes to building strength in your muscles and around your joints.

Try building in strength training to your weekly routine. Opt for menopause friendly weights workouts from home.

Are you experiencing any or all of these symptoms?

At RWL we know the importance of focused health and wellbeing support for women going through menopause, which is why we have an entire diet, nutrition and exercise programme dedicated to helping women in menopause improve their lives.

For the month of August 2022 we are also running a brand new “Meno 21 Wellness Challenge” - 21 days of supporting you to look after yourself for a whole 21 days, all with the help of our menopause experts.

Want to get involved?

Here’s what your 21 days to Meno-Wellness will support you to do:

• Eat nutrition that will transform your wellness
• Improve your sleep
• Reduce your aches and pains
• Help you achieve good mood and stress management

Join the Menopause Lounge at RWL Facebook Group for FREE and take part, simple as that.

Enjoy access to tips, expert talks, home workouts and a community of women just like you.

You deserve to feel better so do something for you this month and take back control of your body and mind - menopause or not!


The Meno 21 Wellness Challenge runs from Monday, 8 August until 28 August with a free live Sunday evening chat to start the challenge.