Why superwoman mode can impact your perimenopause
Superwoman doesn’t rest. And this can have a negative impact on our perimenopause experience
Women are amazing at carrying out almost superhuman levels of activity, juggling, caring and achievement.
And there’s NO reason why midlife should mean we stop achieving and working towards our goals at all. In fact, it can be a glorious time to reassess, reprioritise and really find our purpose and create impact.
But we can benefit our perimenopause experience AND our long term health by slowing down a little and prioritising rest over stress.
In my last blog I suggested some small changes you could make to reduce stress and rest more but WHY is this so important?
1. Stress impacts our hormones
The stress response triggers noradrenaline and cortisol. Noradrenaline is the hormone that we get when we have a shock, and gives us a boost of energy and focus to run away, get to safety, or fix a problem.
Cortisol is the hormone that helps wake us up in the morning, and is released by the adrenal glands after than initial boost of noradrenaline in an emergency.
We naturally have higher cortisol in the morning, and it should go down during the day, and be at it’s lowest when we’re sleeping.
It’s a hormone that helps keep us going, but too much of it, when triggered by coffee, multiple stressful events during the day, or indeed a response to longer term trauma and lack of safety can have an impact on our sleep, digestion, and our sex hormones. Our non-essential biology is downgraded in terms of energy and priority when our bodies perceive stress. Which means our reproductive hormones and our digestive system can be impacted by long term stress.
And when we need good digestion AND to support declining hormones in perimenopause, it’s no wonder that stress has an impact.
Plus, declining levels of oestrogen can make us more stress responsive. Just like many of us notice this in the last few days of our menstrual cycle! So high levels of stress when our hormones are naturally low can magnify their effect!
2. Stress changes our behaviours, which in turn impacts our hormones
When we’re stressed, it’s not just our biology but our emotions that are impacted, and these two can drive behaviours that don’t necessarily benefit our hormones either.
If you’re wired and tired at the end of the day and need a wind down wine, or to get lost in a TV series in the evening, these can lead to later nights and poorer quality sleep. Poor quality sleep can make us more stress sensitive, but also impact our blood sugar levels and therefore the choices we make about what we eat. ‘Comfort’ eating is a natural response when our bodies perceive we need energy, and will drive us to seek sweet, easy sources of energy.
Blood sugar highs and lows, lack of sleep, and not switching off, can impact our stress levels, stress hormones and overall sense of wellbeing.
It can become a bit of a self defeating cycle. So it can be helpful to take some things off our plate - by delegating or deferring, or simply deciding they are no longer necessary!
3. Stress changes our brains and our biology in ways we don’t always think
When we are stressed for long periods of time it can encourage us to keep looking for safety, to dodge the sabre soothed tiger, right?
But looking for safety can often mean looking at the world in a negative light, looking for the threat in every situation, trying to avoid additional challenge. A sensible strategy in some ways, but over a period of time, this is a hard way to interact with the world. I know that after an intenst 12 months of supporting my mother as her brain function declined left me feeling very pessimistic and risk averse. I wanted to hide under the duvet! And then, when I made the hard decision to move her into a wonderful residential care home, it took me a while to get out from under that feeling of dread and panic.
Stress hormones have a negative impact on our digestive system, and on our sleep, as well as on blood sugar levels - stress can keep blood sugars abnormally high.
You might find your digestion is impacted, or you notice discomfort when eating certain foods, you may find it hard to switch off at night.
And the thing is - these can also be symptoms of perimenopause - lower levels of progesterone impact our digestion, poor digestion can have an impact on oestrogen levels, sleep can also be tricky - whether due to hot flashes or lower progesterone levels. Our adaptability to stress is impacted by lower oestrogen levels.
So it can become a bit of a vicious cycle.
And leave us wondering ‘is it stress or perimenopause’ and not knowing where to go for support!
It’s hard to get away from the stress of midlife, but it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom!
I KNOW life is stressful. I struggle with managing caring for my mum with Alzheimer’s disease, supporting my kids with their teen/pre-teen rollercoaster. It has it’s unavoidable moments of stress.*
You aren’t failing if you’re feeling stressed.
You aren’t failing if you’re struggling to rest. You may well be caught up in the superwoman myth - that we ‘should’ be able to do it all’.
Which is a lie.
Your stressors will be different. And the impact will be different for you too.
However, it’s possible to mitigate these with small actions, and big ones to help balance our stress reactions and restore a bit of balance all around.
Small actions like ensuring you’re drinking enough water, eating regular meals with a good balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate, taking 5 minute breaks during the day to breathe slowly, short walks in nature focussing on what you can see, hear and smell.
Your small action will be different to mine though, so why not join my workshop on 22nd March at 12:30pm to explore how you find the right actions for you!
Perfect timing to introduce over the Easter break. Sign up via the button below.
* I also acknowledge that I have an enormous amount of privilege here too, which definitely reduces my life load, I live in a calm rural environment, I own my own home, I have a supportive partner and a great community of support. My children don’t have any special needs and we are (mainly!) economically stable.