Hi, Flo!
Rest assured that both the fog and anxiety WILL pass - regardless of if you use HRT or not. Menopause is one giant 'withdrawal syndrome', as is covered in the article and as I mentioned in an older post in which - believe it or not - I posted details of drug withdrawal syndromes to illustrate the point that most of the symptoms are very, very similar to drug withdrawal (I thought it might stir up controversy, but it did illustrate the point perfectly)!
The anxiety is akin to a form of 'drug craving' as the brain has become used to the presence of estrogen - and now you are going through withdrawal from this very powerful hormone, with peaks and troughs along the way (as well as progesterone and declining testosterone).
This also explains the phenomena of post partum depression and anxiety which improves once hormone levels recover, and PMT and PMDD which are thought to be a particular sensitivity to the fluctuation of cyclical hormones.
The hypothesis that estrogen boosts seratonin and norepinephrine and thus lack of causes depression and anxiety is pretty much dead in the water now with the emergence that levels of seratonin and norepinephrine are not responsible for anxiety and depression. Psychiatry at present is in a rush to explore alternatives to the causes of these two debilitating conditions, and depending upon the cause - some of which is situational and 'learned behaviour' - the exciting research is being conducted in the field of inflammation being the culprit, not neurotransmitters! I can post more info. if anyone is interested - but i'm very aware that i'm waffling a bit!😉
The 'symptoms' we are left with post menopause can be explained by ageing - but our minds very much DO recover. I bet everyone knows at least one lady in her 70's, 80's or even 90's who is still as sharp as a tack - which proves the point. I know my MIL is at 80 - she can run rings around me at the moment, both physically and mentally! Alzheimers and dementia are not caused by lack of estrogen - the picture is much more complex than that and is dependent upon genes, lifestyle and environmental factors as well as other factors that are still being researched.This is also true of osteoporosis - lack of estrogen is not the 'absolute' cause. 😊❤❤ xxxx