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[Tempest]

It's going to be a bumpy ride, but hang in there. Everything is going to be ok......😊

https://bigthink-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/bigthink.com/world-in-mind/menopause-estrogen-and-the-brain.amp?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCCAE%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fbigthink.com%2Fworld-in-mind%2Fmenopause-estrogen-and-the-brain

xxxx

[Annie0710]

You always come up with interesting write ups !

I lost my career to meno brain/fog ! Xx

[EleanorB]

Thanks so much for posting this. Having asked for an mri and dementia tests a few months ago (All, fingers crossed it stays that way, normal) it is reassuring to see memory problems during meno described as serious . Also comforting to know this will, fingers crossed again, pass. How did I get to late forties without a clue of what was in store. I was anticipating the odd hot flush. I have been unable to work for months  due to memory/brain fog issues.

[Tempest]

Glad you've found the article useful, girls! Sparkle - i'm so glad you're seeing light at the end of the tunnel, as you've persevered with this throughout.😊❤❤❤ xxxx

[Florence69]

A very interesting read, thanks for this tempest.
I like the thought that the brain resets itself, hopefully this works for the debilitating anxiety as well as the brain fog which has caused me to give up work. I never dreamt I would have to ‘ retire due to ill health ‘ at the age of 48 !!
X
Flo

[SueLW]

I can so relate to that Tempest and now that hormones aren't fluctuating wildly like they were in peri I feel as though my brain has reset itself. 😊. Thank you. X

When you say your brain has "reset", do you mean you can think and learn and remember properly again?

Are you using HRT?

[Tempest]

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

[Mustard1]

HI Tempest,  I am very keen to learn more about the inflammation part.  My periods stopped 9  years ago and I was on Kliofem - all was well until January 2018 and literally overnight everything changed.  Doctor said I had had a stress breakdown - which was bizarre as I wasn't stressed and have been fortunate not to suffer from depression or anxiety apart from anxiety during puberty, before my period started.  He gave me diazepam and citalopram (I am still on the citalopram but weaning myself off very very slowly as the 20mgs did not work at all).  Fast forward to March and I saw a menopause doctor who believed my oestrogen receptors had stopped working and gave me EverolConti 50 - after 2 weeks - things were greatly improved; after 5 weeks they went back;  the Meno doctor then suggested to add in a pump of estrogel - which I did.  I am no better.  Since July I have had a lot of bleeding which is bizarre and I spoke to my Meno doctor yesterday and she suggested another pump of estrogel.  I am very interested in the whole subject because I cannot continue like this.  I have lost myself.  Truly irrational anxiety over sleeping for anything I might enjoy - so of course trying to avoid things I used to enjoy!  And depression - is the anxiety causing the depression - I am at a loss.  M xxx

[EleanorB]

I think what's so hard is not knowing when it will pass. I went 11 months 3 weeks without a period then had a vague, barely there few days of feint signs of a bleed, like the end of a period. So I don't know if i'm No longer peri or not. My symptoms have actually worsened with my period stopping. If someone could say the fog and memory issues will be gone in another six months the whole thing would be bearable. It's the thought of not knowing and potentially years of this and the implications for my ability to get back to work that are so concerning and upsetting.

I'm really curious about others who have struggled with brain fog and work. What does it actually feel like for you? I know other menopausal women but most I know are doing ok so I feel very alone with this level of symptoms. I am also a migraineur so I think that and the loss of oestrogen combined are creating a real cognitive mess.

My first foray into hrt was a disaster. Need to try again with something different.

[Florence69]

Please do post the article tempest, it's the first I've heard of inflammation being the culprit. It will probably go over my head but I might get the gist of it. This has got me thinking of my mother who for as long as I can remember suffered with ‘her nerves', she never went anywhere on her own and never did public transport then on reaching her late 60's had a new lease of life and was jumping on buses and going all over! Sadly she is in a nursing home now with dementia so didn't get to enjoy her new found freedom for long. Could it be down to her brain resetting or was it the start of dementia ?
X
Flo

[Annie0710]

I'm really curious about others who have struggled with brain fog and work. What does it actually feel like for you? I know other menopausal women but most I know are doing ok so I feel very alone with this level of symptoms.

Hi Eleanor

Prior to peri I'd been on hrt (oestrogen only) for 13 years after my ovaries failed following a hysterectomy. I felt great and never gave hormones a second thought.  At 38 I'd studied manual and computerised bookkeeping at night school whilst working days full time.  I finished my course before the others and passed easily.  I bagged myself a bookkeeping job with a smallish firm and the boss let me loose on his accounts and business.  Before long I was doing all admin, accounts, wages, PA and HR

Peri hit 7 years later literally overnight.  I sat at work and couldn't get my head around the month end accounts, I couldn't work out why it all seemed to foreign and went for a break, but I could hardly walk, my thighs felt like lead and it felt I was walking through treacle.  I returned to my desk and tried to calm down.  It all went downhill, I loved that job and knew it inside out but suddenly it became my enemy.  I'd call in sick actually driving to work as I'd feel nauseous and lightheaded. My impeccable sick leave history was now a mess, where I was off more than I was in.  One morning I sat on the bed and cried to my hubby that I couldn't cope with the job so I left and took 5 months out of work.

Testosterone replacement has been my rock, it got my thoughts and concentration back to an acceptable level and I now work in a very stressful and fast-paced payroll role a couple of full days a week.  My anxiety is still there but it's managable.   This week though I felt foggy again and it really showed in my work, silly errors. 

Some women can get through this phase when it hits them, others can't and in the end I had to admit defeat x

[EleanorB]

Hi Annie

Thanks so much for replying to my question. It does help enormously to hear that others have been through this and come out the other side. Sorry to hear you are having a bit of a brain fog blip, I hope it is just that. I know as someone who had migraine for many years that I mostly got it under control with drugs (before menopause) but would get the occasional set back that would pass.

I worked whilst retraining for a job I absolutely love for the last 4 years. I worked so hard and qualified recently coming top of my class, but was aware my brain was going downhill and was just hanging in there to finish before things got worse. I want to be planning for my new career, setting up as a freelancer, but at the moment I am just too ill to work and hoping that I can get a treatment going that allows me my life back. I so related to you doing something you love and having to give it up. I know that feeling so well of finally thinking this is just defeating me. I just can't do what I have to do anymore.

[Annie0710]

Eleanor is it possible to take some time out then resume when you're ready?  I was already falling off the merry-go-round of life when I decided to jump instead of fall flat on my face ! X

[EleanorB]

Hi Annie,

Sorry only just saw this reply as it had gone to a second page. A testament to the state of my brain at the moment.

I have stopped work for now but it will start to be a big strain soon as I am single and solo income.

I may start a different thread about this but my experience with estrogen and progesterone has left me thinking they're not for me. I just read a study that showed a similar thing to your experience, namely that testosterone helps brain function at this time. Any idea if it's possible to only take testosterone?

[Annie0710]

Sadly it's not advised, as you ideally need good oestrogen levels to balance the hormones otherwise you'd be testosterone dominant along with the unfortunate side effects x