PMS, perimenopause and the brain.
PMS can get worse in perimenopause
But it doesn’t have to
In the last few years I’ve become really interested in the impact of perimenopause on our brains. Partly as a result of my own experience of PMS and brain fog, and that of my clients, but also because of the increasing awareness around dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease affecting more women than men.
And because there’s action we can take every day to support this.
I thought it might be worth sharing a little of my own story on this.
About 8 years ago when the kids were still small I started to get really bad PMS.
It was like a red wall of rage at times. Everything would just be intolerable. I wanted to be on my own with no responsilbiities and hide in a darkened room. I could blow up at the slightest thing.
Now I’ve always had a bit of a pre menstrual low, where I felt like the blinkers came off and everything was irritating! But this started to shift and change. Like I wasn’t myself. Or, maybe I was myself and it was a bit scarey.
I took a few different actions around that time which began to help - I changed my job, I started training to be a personal trainer, I spent more time outside and paid more attention to what I was eating. I’d have a couple of months off alcohol and get more exercise in. I also started seeing a counsellor for while too.
All of it helped.
But nothing helped more than understanding more about my own hormones and hormone change.
About their impact on my brain. Understanding my own menstrual cycle helped me understand myself SO much better.
And how my everyday actions impact my hormones (and my brain) and my PMS.
About 6 years ago I started tracking my cycle, which I have found immensely useful as a tool to check in with myself and to monitor my wellbeing.
And I use my experience of PMS to monitor it.
Some months I come to the end of my cycle without any down turn in mood, without any irritability or rage. And I give myself a pat on the back. I’ve looked after myself well.
I’ve just come to the end of another cycle. Cycles that keep shifting and changing in my perimenopause years. This one was interesting. My energy was low and my motivation lacking in the last week or so. I was frustrated more easily and had muscle tension that I usually relate to high stress. I was easily irritated.
If I look back over the month I can see that I didn’t really allow enough self-care
I had also skipped meals a few days because I was busy and ended up eating late in the evening. Not actions I would normally recommend!
I had a few busy weekends and I’d been doing a lot for others and less for myself. I’d allowed rest and early nights, but I wasn’t switching off during the day. I also had more sugar than usual and less regular meals for various reasons. I kept ‘forgetting’ about lunch.
I love that our cycles can continue to teach us each month
Even as they change and shift in perimenopause.
So as this next cycle progresses I’ll be sure to plan my meals better (and pre-make lunches for myself at the same time as I make the kids’), to build in rest and downtime, and ASK for support before I need it!
Blood sugar balance can have a huge impact on our PMS, on brain fog and on irritability. I’m going to cover this in my next workshop on Perimenopause and PMS - it is SUCH an important topic!
Join me on Thursday 12th May at 7:30pm