Does Perimenopause Cause Anxiety?

A woman can experience anxiety at any point in her life. In fact, most of us are in a low state of generalized anxiety most of the time. This comes as a result of our demanding lives. However, anxiety may reach a new level when a woman enters into perimenopause because of hormonal imbalances.

Physical and Psychological Reasons

• Anxiety is often hard to specifically describe, although a woman knows something is wrong. She is anxious and fearful. She can't sleep; she is having chest pains and disturbing thoughts. She may experience shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Her mind may be racing, and she may feel panicked, for no discernible reason. According to 34-menopause-symptoms.com, physical causes for anxiety during perimenopause and menopause include the drop in estrogen levels that women experience. When estrogen is present in adequate levels, it controls cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that produces stress. When estrogen declines, cortisol can run amok.
  Psychological reasons for anxiety during perimenopause and menopause are related to life stresses.

Limbic System

• When our hormones are out of whack, it tends to make us less able to cope. The part of our brain that is responsible for orchestrating our emotions is called the limbic system. Our fight-or-flight response, which tells us when to put up our dukes or run for safety, depends on the hormones and neurotransmitters to fuel the mind and body in order to cope with the perceived enemy. If a woman's hormones are fluctuating wildly, this can cause the fight-or-flight response to go into overdrive. When this occurs, everything and everyone can be perceived as the enemy. This makes us anxious. If our brains are eternally on high alert, we never relax and find it hard to rest, which can further contribute to anxiety as well as exhaustion. When a woman's hormones are in balance, she is better able to handle the problems that life tosses at her. If a woman is not predisposed to anxiety in the first place, it may be that her fluctuating hormones will have no impact whatsoever on her ability to cope.

Nothing Working in Concert

• If your adrenal glands get exhausted during perimenopause, which can happen, and your serotonin levels (the feel good chemical) get low, this, along with a poor diet, can throw a woman's system completely out of whack. She can end up having horrible gastrointestinal problems in addition to other aches and pains, fatigue and paralyzing anxiety. Estrogen is linked to serotonin levels, and both estrogen and progesterone are affected by cortisol overproduction as well as by the adrenals. Progesterone, which has a soothing effect on the system, can no longer provide this service when it diminishes.

Sex Hormones

• Women are much more likely than men to experience anxiety, and this is because the sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone, which take a nosedive during perimenopause) play an important role in anxiety. When a woman first stops taking hormone-replacement therapy (HRT), there is a chance that she will experience severe anxiety. In addition, HRT can increase the incidence of breast cancer and heart disease.

What To Do

• The best and the most effective way to deal with anxiety is to change your lifestyle, seek out alternative approaches such as joining a yoga class or trying herbal therapy or seeking drug or hormonal therapy. Discuss this with your physician.