Mood Swings, Irritability, Anxiety, and Depression

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Are We Having Fun Yet?

“I’m feeling a bit irritable today,” she said… as she hit the gas and drove her car through the front lobby of the bank.

Hand in hand with perimenopausal and menopausal hormonal changes can come mood swings, irritability, anxiety and depression. Feeling off kilter is never that much fun, but there are some steps you can take to put the spring back in your step and reclaim your life.

First of all you need to know that you deserve to feel well!

Some women truly don’t realize that! They think that having the joy sucked out of life, being weary, crabby, and exhausted all the time is how it is. It is not. You can change it. You could even have…FUN!

Many women are still juggling children at home, jobs, spouses, and parents who may now have health care needs.

It really is no wonder we are sometimes tired, cranky, and have absolutely no sense of humor…but we need to fix that if we are going to feel better.

You and Anxiety

Sometimes life feels completely overwhelming and you feel like you are short circuiting. During perimenopause this may get worse. You may have muscle aches, headaches, and your gut may be doing some very unpleasant things. You are a jumpy mess. Your heart is racing, your palms are sweaty, you feel short of breath, and you have an unnamed fear of something… even though you know there really is nothing to fear. It’s anxiety, and it stinks.

In simple terms you are generally suffering from an overload of feelings, emotions, and information. You have information pouring into your body every second of evey day, much of which you aren’t even aware. Your body is constantly registering and filtering things like the feel of your clothing, the temperature of the room, the taste of your breakfast, and the sounds, sights, and smells around you.

Then there are the things you are aware of. The noisy dryer, the squealing brakes, the phone ringing, the television, people talking nearby, and the neighbor’s dog that never shuts up.

When you are anxious, your adrenals - those glands that are responsible for pumping you full of adrenaline in an emergency - kick into high gear. They are thinking there is some sort of danger.

Here’s a short “what happens” scenario:

If you lived in prehistoric times and saw a big ugly (and probably hungry) Saber Tooth cat heading your direction, adrenaline would instantly be released into your system. You would turn into a primitive Superwoman long enough to either fight or run.

With anxiety disorders the adrenaline never seems to get turned off, so you have those same ”fight or flight” feelings while doing something simple like sitting in your bathtub… generally not where you find hungry Saber Tooth cats.

Depression is NOT for the Fainthearted

On the other end of the spectrum, hormonal changes can make you feel as though you can’t seem to get out of the doldrums. Life has turned grey and empty for you. Nothing seems to please you anymore, and everything is an effort. You may feel like a shell of yourself. You may be sad, weepy, with a shot of anxious tossed in. The more you worry and think about how bad things are, the worse things seem to be.

You are Depressed.

You may not even realize that you are depressed. It can really creep up on you.

Diet and Your Moods

Tough Self Love 101:

You are ultimately responsible for your own health. If you abuse your body with poor diet, soda, caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine you will not feel your best, and your body will not last forever. Period.

Think of your car. If you fill the tank with soda and coffee, that car will not get far. You gave it the wrong fuel.

The same holds true for you. People sometimes forget that food is really your body’s fuel! It’s what you run on. Crummy food and drink choices account for more of our perimenopausal issues than we’d like to admit. After all, who wants to give up their favorite things and feel deprived?

Additives, chemicals, growth hormones, pesticides, and food colorings are just some of what makes the American diet appalling. We eat too much junk, load up on sugary sweets, guzzle too many soft drinks, and consume too much processed food. We are toxic time bombs and something’s gotta give.

You must learn to feed yourself whole healthy foods. Then learn to like them.

If you aren’t sure you know what a “Whole Food” is, think of them as foods that come to you pretty much the way nature made them. Unprocessed. No preservatives. You know. Like an apple or carrot.There is a whole world of fruits, grains, nuts, vegetables and proteins just waiting for you to discover them.

So Now What?

Learn to be NICE to You!

OK, so we now know we are overworked, tired, anxious, depressed, irritable, and cranky. In short, we are a regular barrel of laughs. What to do, what to do?

Taking care of yourself is a very good place to start. There are plenty of things you can do on your own, but if you think you should see your doctor about your symptoms, then you absolutely should.

Please don’t allow yourself to be pressured into taking antidepressants or hormone replacements if you don’t feel it’s the right thing for you. You know yourself better than anyone.

Work it, Baby

Do yourself a huge favor and get some exercise. Seriously. It’s great for helping with anxiety and mood issues. You are able to work off some of that nervous energy and raise your metabolism at the same time. It’s just plain good for you!

You don’t have to run a marathon, you don’t even have to walk around the block. If you haven’t done anything physical in awhile, start slowly. Start with seven minutes a day if that’s all you are up for. Shoot for ten minutes a day next week. Build up to even more time as you get stronger and feel better. Just remember to keep moving.

Hey Sunshine!

Get some sunshine! Did you know that your body is a veritable vitamin D factory? Your body will produce it’s own vitamin D if you spend some time in the sun. If you live in the northern USA, you may need to take a vitamin D supplement during the winter months. That’s because there just isn’t enough sunlight at that time of year for our bodies to produce the vitamin D that we require.

Do Some Things Just for You

Do something different. Learn to rev yourself up. Learn to relax. Learn to breathe properly. Breathe in. Breathe out. Read a book. Write a book. Make a new friend. Call an old friend. Watch a movie. Go to the library. Go to town. Go tell Aunt Rhodie. Take up a new hobby. Take a class. Take a hike. Join a women’s group. Crash a men’s group.

Live a little. Do whatever sounds like FUN!