A couple of years ago I started having panic attacks. The first time it happened I was out with the dogs & I thought I was having a heart attack. I was horrified. I was practicing yoga everyday for an hour, cycling 15 kms 3/week & walking 3 dogs daily. I couldn’t have been healthier for my age.
I discovered that anxiety & panic attacks can be a symptom of menopause.
I had heard that caffeine & alcohol can exacerbate anxiety. I had already figured out that even one glass of wine & my filter was all off & it just wasn’t worth the agro. I was also very aware that when I felt stressed & anxious, which I did alot in those days, I tended to exist on coffee. So I switched to a really decent swiss-water de-caff cuz I love my 2 coffees in the morning.
I also started applying my mindfulness training.
I know thoughts aren’t necessarily facts & so I don’t have to believe everything I think, so when I started to notice the physical signs that a panic attack was brewing, I would literally stop, ground myself & then gently challenge the thoughts by saying reassuring words like: this is just menopause, this isn’t real, to calm my mind & nervous system.
The interesting thing is that I only had to do this a couple of times & the panic attacks stopped.
I began to understand the impact of stress & fluctuating hormones on the nervous system & how to calm, soothe & balance the nervous system which also helped enormously.
At the beginning of the year though I noticed I would randomly feel really anxious and for no reason. There was nothing going on in my day to day life to justify the level anxiety I was feeling. But there was an undeniable sense of doom & the flutterings of anxiety brewing in my belly which tended to start around 9am & wouldn’t ease until mid afternoon. The sensations were familiar & enough to catch my attention.
Knowing how important energy is & the impact being sabotaged by negative thoughts could have, I I tried clearing & flipping my energy but I just couldn’t shift it.
I didn’t want it to escalate so I tried the anti-anxiety tablets the doctor had given me. That didn’t work at all. I ditched the doc’s drugs, I knew with clarity it was hormonal.
Psychiatrist and UCLA anxiety expert Jason Eric Schiffman explains, ‘there is absolutely a connection between hormonal changes and psychiatric symptoms in general, and women undergoing specific hormonal changes have increased risk for particular psychiatric disorders. With respect to anxiety, women in the perimenopausal period are more likely to experience panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms than other women of the same age who are either pre- or postmenopausal.’
Of course if you are experiencing high levels of stress or negative life events this may make anxiety worse.
So when the familiar nagging dis-ese arose in the morning I gently began reminding myself: this is just hormones, this isn’t real, this is just menopause. Not dismissing it or pushing it away, gently becoming consciously aware & accepting & miraculously those anxious thoughts & sensations have subsided.
Becoming more consciously aware of symptoms when they are a whisper rather than when they are clobbering you around the head is a powerful way to manage symptoms before they end up flooring you.
This becomes empowering as you learn to trust in yourself, know that you have tools & tips that work for you. You are learning not only to soothe yourself but also to heal yourself.
Anxiety is our body’s calling us to slow down & pause, heed the call & give your body what it needs.
This is something I also found myself doing. I was mindful of not trying to push through. Business had slowed down & whilst this was of course a small area of concern, I actually saw it as a beautiful opportunity to slow down & trust I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Bringing a sense of acceptance & surrender to the whole situation created space to ease through it so much more easily & was such a lovely opportunity for growth & more healing.
If you are struggling with anxiety, panic attacks, overwhelm know this is a normal reaction to a threatening situation. It is a healthy brain’s response to your body feeling under threat by the fluctuating hormones which triggers a heightened state of anxiety & overwhelm.
It only becomes problematic when this response is triggered in a normal situation – like on my dog walk, or like earlier this year for no reason at all.
Combining techniques & tips like breath work, yoga poses, meditation, a mindful & conscious awareness, acceptance & surrender have enabled me to manage menopause triggered anxiety as naturally & holistically as possible. And you can too.
Find out more on my YouTube channel – click here to be redirected!