Why do woman get Brain Fog with Menopause?
Until recently, most women identified hot flushes and night sweats with symptoms of menopause; however, many didn’t associate additional symptoms such as exhaustion, low mood, worry, impaired memory and concentration, or a sense of brain fog with menopause. With the recent media coverage from personalities such as Davina McColl openly talking about the menopause these additional symptoms are being discussed and recognised.
More than 75% of women experience menopausal symptoms. Hence, while not all menopausal symptoms are experienced by all women, the majority do, with over 25% reporting severe symptoms. Menopausal symptoms can continue for a long period, with an average of 7 years, and 1 in 3 women experiencing symptoms after that time.
Why do woman get Brain Fog during Menopause?
Menopausal brain fog is characterised by memory loss and forgetfulness. There are several factors that might contribute to this. A decline in the hormone progesterone can induce mood swings, sleep problems, and cause brain fog. A drop in oestrogen can result in hot flushes, confusion, decreased energy, and brain fog.
To compound the issue further, other symptoms of the menopause such as difficulty sleeping and depression can also impact memory and overall cognitive function.
Impacts of Brain Fog
There are three kinds of brain fog. Forgetfulness, impaired information retention and lack of concentration. These symptoms might appear in a variety of ways for various women.
For example, forgetting crucial dates, losing items such as keys or going into a place and having no idea why you're there. And, while you may believe that this is something that happens to a lot of people, it may be more taxing and upsetting when it is such a contrast to how you generally operate. Especially when mixed with a hectic home life and a stressful career.
These symptoms can have a significant impact on a woman’s career and home life. There has been growing media coverage with women calling for work adjustments and recognition when going through the menopause.
What Can I do about Brain Fog
It's commonly known that Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment used to alleviate menopausal symptoms. It replenishes hormones that are depleted as you approach menopause. You can read more about this on the NHS site.
There are also other changes that can help to alleviate the symptoms. Your diet, exercise and sleep can play an important role in minimising Brain Fog.
+Our previous article about 12 ways to help getting a good nights sleep could help to improve the quality and quantity of sleep.
+Any form of exercise that increases your levels of serotonin and endorphins will help to boosting your mood and is generally good for your body as well as your brain.
+ Eating a balanced, nutrient-rich diet is also important for controlling your mood. Food may be beneficial to your general health by providing enough amounts of vitamins A, B, C, D, and E, as well as iron and calcium. Fatty fish, berries, nuts, and whole grains, for example, are regarded to be excellent mood boosters.
+ There is growing evidence linking gut health to brain health. Some evidence points to IBS can also cause Brain Fog. Keeping your gut healthy through diet, exercise and taking probiotics and prebiotics through yoghurt, fermented foods, and supplements can aid with gut health. If you experience IBS and are going through the menopause, you may also want to consider taking a supplement to help manage your IBS.
+ Brain Training. Focusing on your brain health is one of the best things you can do to increase your concentration, focus, memory, and mental agility. By adding brain workouts into your daily life, you will be challenging your mind, sharpening your cognitive abilities, and potentially learning something new and fascinating along the way.
+ Meditation. We recommend meditation a lot in our blogs to help with a whole host of conditions. We relax the mind and slow down the never-ending loop of ideas that might make it difficult to see clearly when we meditate.
+ Supplements. Our formula to help with Brain Fog has been developed using natural ingredients researched by experts and developed by scientists. We only use the purest and most effective ingredients possible to develop high-quality products that are safe, natural and backed by leading scientific studies. The formula contains:
Quercetin. Quercetin has the function of blocking histamine release. Since histamine triggers the response to allergies which can cause symptoms of brain fog, quercetin can help reduce this side effect.
Theobromide. Is a natural cocoa extract and is shown to reduce mental fatigue. Theobromide can also help to improve performance on mental tasks.
Caffeine & Forskolin. Caffeine helps reduce sleepiness by blocking the brain's natural sleep messenger adenosin, Forskolin increases the brain's levels of cyclic-AMP. This signals brain cells to amplify the brain's activity.
Click here to find out more about our Brain Fog Supplement.
To read more and reach out for further help, there are charities such as The Menopause Charity and the help and support is offered through the NHS.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/symptoms
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/