How stress affects your menopause (and its impact is greater than you think)

We have demanding jobs or run our own businesses, care for our families and/or parents, and maintain busy social lives. Meanwhile, our smartphones and tablets bombard us with a constant stream of notifications and stimuli.

We feel the need to always be available and have forgotten how to slow down. All this busyness and overstimulation trigger the same response in our bodies as if we were facing an acute, life-threatening situation.

Genetically, we are still wired like our ancestors from the pre-agrarian era, the hunters and gatherers. Back then, life-threatening situations, such as an attack by a saber-toothed tiger, were a real possibility.

Your brain reacts to such danger by initiating a cascade of responses in your body. The sympathetic nervous system immediately triggers a fight-or-flight response, preparing your body to act and ensure your safety. The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol play key roles in this process.

• Increases blood pressure and heart rate
• Tenses your muscles and redirects blood flow from other organs to your muscles
• Dilates your pupils
• Slows down digestion (because eating isn’t a priority when you’re in danger)

At the same time, the pituitary gland, located at the base of your brain, signals the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. In a dangerous situation, cortisol raises blood sugar levels and boosts metabolism, providing the energy needed to handle the threat.

Overall, this is a clever and logical reaction by your body to prepare you for action.

If you’re always “on” and don’t take enough time to rest, your body triggers this stress response all day long. This leads to chronic stress, which is where things often go wrong for many women.

Your body doesn’t distinguish between the stress of an acute danger (like a car speeding towards you at a zebra crossing) and the stress of constantly being in action mode. While the response may be less intense than in an acute danger situation, it is still ongoing. This means your body produces cortisol over an extended period, which negatively impacts your health and hormonal balance.

Prolonged cortisol production comes at the expense of other vital bodily functions. For instance, digestion slows down, meaning your food isn’t properly broken down and nutrients are less effectively absorbed. These nutrients are crucial for hormone production. Many women experience digestive issues such as acid reflux, bloating, and intestinal discomfort.

Your body also craves more carbohydrates to ensure it has enough energy to fight or flee. After all, your body assumes it needs energy to get to safety.

If this continues for too long, your body struggles to maintain stable blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, or support your immune system effectively. The result? You feel physically and mentally exhausted and restless.

Cortisol has far-reaching consequences for your long-term well-being. If you remain in action mode for an extended period and don’t take sufficient rest, cortisol levels rise to the point where they disrupt your hormonal system. Your body simply isn’t designed to operate in this constant “rush and urgency mode.” So, what exactly does the stress hormone do to your sex hormones during menopause?

The adrenal glands, which produce cortisol, act as your backup system after menopause. They take over the production of essential levels of oestrogen and progesterone once your ovaries stop doing so. This makes it even more crucial to care for your adrenal glands after menopause than before.

However, if you’re constantly under pressure and stressed, your adrenal glands face a dilemma: which hormones should they prioritise with the available resources? From an evolutionary perspective, survival always comes first, so your body prioritises cortisol production over oestrogen and progesterone. The result is a hormonal imbalance.

While your body is doing what it deems necessary, this isn’t always ideal in today’s world.

Often, you may not even realise that you’re constantly in action mode. After all, you’ve been living this way for years. The busyness and restlessness have become your norm.

However, you might notice that your symptoms improve during a holiday. This alone is telling: when you’re relaxed, your body has the opportunity to focus on producing sex hormones instead of cortisol. The difference is often noticeable straight away.

Other signs that your nervous system is overactive (and that you should take more breaks):

• You’re irritable and easily annoyed
• You need coffee in the morning to wake up
• You laugh less often than you used to
• You feel like you’re not in control
• You frequently feel stressed over minor issues
• You have significantly less interest in sex
• You’re perfectionistic and struggle to accept when things don’t go as planned
• You have trouble falling or staying asleep, or you struggle to wake up in the morning
• You rely on your evening glass of wine as your only moment of relaxation

Do you recognise several of these signs? By incorporating more moments of rest into your day, you can help your body recover and bring your hormones back into balance. Even small changes can make a noticeable difference.

How to calm your nervous system:

• Schedule a daily rest moment in your calendar. It doesn’t need to take much time. Start with five to ten minutes of something relaxing, such as deep belly breathing, meditation, dancing, or a short walk in nature.
• End your warm shower with cold water. Cold water is an acute stressor for the body, which helps counteract chronic stress. If it feels challenging, start with your feet and calves and gradually work your way up.
• Write down what you’re grateful for every day. Research consistently shows that gratitude has a healing effect on our health. It provides immediate positive energy, which benefits your nervous system. Each evening, jot down what you’re grateful for. It could be anything—a pleasant chat at the supermarket or enjoying a salad on a sunny terrace.