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Mood swings and menopause: an unfortunate union
One minute you feel so cranky that you want to rip your poor innocent husband’s head off and the next minute you start to cry for no apparent reason. Your co-workers and your kids (or maybe both) drive you nuts. It feels like anything and everything brings a new round of tears. What’s going on?
As part of the menopause experience you’re complex neurotransmitters, your mood regulators, get a real workout. Neurotransmitters are complex chemical messengers that coordinate communications between neurons, which in turn affect every cell, tissue, and system in your body.
It would be difficult to overstate the complexity of your vast network of specialized cells that make up your nervous system. The average human brain houses over 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) with each connected to 10,000 or so other cells.
If you do the math, that equals about 1000 trillion connections in your brain! No wonder during perimenopause and menopause things can go a little sideways when your hormones surge. Mood, appetite and sleep are just a few of the functions regulated by neurotransmitters.
Ready to start to get a handle on some of this stuff? Learn about what’s going on with your brain chemistry and more in this week’s episode.
In this episode
- PMS vs. perimenopause and menopause – there is a difference
- When mood swings get serious; when to watch out for true anxiety and depression
- Stress management strategies
- Sleep Cycles – circadian rhythm, cortisol and melatonin
…plus more
Podcast details
Prefer to read this episode instead? Click here to download the transcript of this week’s episode.
Rhonda’s Quick Stress-Relief Breathing Exercise – 7-7-7
- Fill your lungs with a deep breath for a count of 7.
- Hold that breath for a count of 7.
- Release that breath for a count of 7.
Do this breathing exercise multiple times a day to relieve stress. You can be seated in a comfortable position or standing.