My Remedies for Menopause Brain Fog

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A few year's ago (I was around 45 years old) I was getting seriously worried that my new inability to get through a sentence would completely derail my career development. Now, it happens rarely, lasts less time, and is easily navigated. 

So what's helped me?

Recent huge improvements in awareness of menopause and it's symptoms means that many more women are not just watching out for the traditional hot flushes.  For me, reading Davina McCall's Menopausing, and watching her documentaries on the subject were hugely eye-opening.  No-one had every warned me about 'any' of this stuff!  I became more acutely aware of  symptoms, one of which is generally called 'brain fog'.  

For me, it manifests less of a fog, and more of a void.  I lead a large team at work, and need to train others, lead others, and essentially talk a lot.  I had experienced occurrences of not being able to remember someone's name before, something that felt really normal.  But suddenly, I'd get half way through a sentence and need to refer to a 'table' for example, but, even though I was looking at the table I was talking about, my brain wouldn't give me the word 'table'.  It was like there was a sudden void in my thinking.  A pothole in the road of my thoughts, that the word simply fell through.  And I couldn't get it back fast enough for it to not be noticeable.  Not least because of the look of panic on my face!  Needless to say it was scary. 

This happened a few times, and I didn't, of course, really know whether it was menopause or something else.  I'd been on the pill for many years, and I don't have periods as a result, so I couldn't tell if my periods were altering.  I'd heard about brain fog, and wasn't sure if this is what this was. I had no other menopause symptoms.

So I went to see the doctor, got lucky with a fabulous locum who didn't appear remotely bothered about the usual 10 minute 'slot' you're supposed to keep your consultations to.  She asked me lots of questions, immediately did a base memory test, calmed my fears and suggested a few diet changes, and provided information and options for hormone replacement therapy if that was a route I wanted to go down.  

Now that my fears were calmed, I went away, did some reading, and started taking a specific multivitamin and botanical every day.  (various brands do them.  I've used Seven Seas and Boots own brand.. both as good)  I also started drinking Green tea. 

Very quickly I saw improvement.  But it was still happening a lot, and, after more research, I opted to start Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).  I've been using Estrogen gel every day for around 3 years, combined with the Mirena Coil, and I still take the multivitamins and botanicals. I drink green tea as a preference now, and find Soya milk additionally helps.  

All of these things combined, brought me back to my old self.  And it's definitely not just the HRT on it's own.  If I don't take the tablets, my kids notice... as I'm not quite as 'fast' in my thinking. 

For me, I'm convinced that the green tea and the botanicals tablet specifically are making a huge difference.  It's to do with their ingredients.  They have within them; Flaxseed lignans, green tea and soya beans, which (and I can't pretend to understand the science) appear to help manage estrogen levels in the body and/or mimic the effect of estrogen.  Either way, my brain works better with them, than without.  

You're groan at the next bit... Exercise helps massively.  It shouldn't be a surprise, but when I've not exercised for a few weeks (when I was injured, or ill), then the symptoms slowly worsen.  Not nearly as bad as they were before I started HRT, but they definitely creep back a little.

So my tips are:

• Green Tea  (There are so many flavours to try.  Find a couple and swop out your coffee.  I tend to have Mint Green Tea with breakfast, and one with Lemon and Ginger after my main meal as that also helps me feel less bloated)
• Soya milk (Great with cereal.  Not so good in a traditional cuppa - but you're on green tea now, so it doesn't matter!)
• Exercise (Don't try and pretend it doesn't make a difference to all kinds of health issues.  This is no exception!  Get moving.)
• Multivitamins and botanicals designed for Menopause.  In my experience very effective.
• HRT where appropriate.  See your doctor to discuss options and what's right for you.  This isn't right for everyone. 

How have you experienced menopause so far?  Going through it yourself?  Have friends or family that are?  What's helping? Any other advice?

  

Hitting 50 - my experience and indigence!

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This year I hit 50.  No, I haven't done everything on my mental bucket list.  No, I didn't suddenly put on a couple of stone; I'd already been working at that through my 40s!  No, I don't feel old.  Yes, I still think the 1980s were 20 years ago.

What I do feel, is indignant.  

Indignant that I suddenly got to 50, and the world is insisting on telling me I'm now on the downward slope.  My body is supposedly going to start falling apart, my brain failing.  I'll have less energy.  I'll need to exercise more just to keep my weight stable because my metabolism is going to have a strop.  Just when I feel more like a woman again, now that the kids are officially adults, my body is going to make feeling sexy much more difficult, with gravity affecting skin, boobs, you name it....

When your children need you less

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You experience a decade of being the absolute rock for your child.  They rely on you for food, shelter, nappy changing, cleanliness, getting where they need to go, when they need to go there.  You play with them, dry their tears when they fall, patch them up and help them get back on track.  You get completely used to thinking for them as well as you.  Your diary is full of their activities (not so much your own).  Life, if you also have a paid job, becomes an endless round of time management genius.  From meetings, to school pickups... on and on it goes.  It's thrilling, but exhausting.

During this time you occasionally wish they didn't need you so much.  Their call of 'muuummmm', starts to become more grating and less cute.  They seem to lose things constantly, and require your input so much that you rarely get to drink a cup of tea whilst it's hot, nor go to the toilet uninterrupted.

How to sell your parenting skills in the work place

Parenting versus Managing

There isn't a day goes by that I don't use skills at work that I learnt through being a parent.

Whether I am being encouraging; or expressing my disappointment at someone who should know better; managing conflict and assisting with calm authority, denying gossip; managing good and bad performance; managing relationships (and ensuring the team don't kill each other); teaching office manners, where it's OK to smoke - but "I really wouldn't because xyz", that "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome" are not optional extras, and finally, teaching that punctuality is a key measure by which you'll be judged.

Over and over again I find myself having the same conversations in work as I've had at home talking to my girls as they grew up.

And actually, teaching and training and managing the 6 and 8 year old is often much easier than doing the same with a bunch of adults who all think they know better. Some of which have never been taught how to spell. Some never got into the habit of saying 'thank you'. Some are learning new things and getting frustrated by the slowness of their learning. Many (oh goodness FAR too many) gossip and argue in the same way you'd expect on a playground.

 

Sell your parenting skills to interviewers

So if you are trying to get back into the workplace after having children you can absolutely sell your newly learnt skills in parenting as management skills.

Is there an actual magazine for real women?

20 years ago I used to regularly buy women's magazines.  Cosmopolitan, Red, Company, Elle.  I've bought all of these and more on many occasions.  But as I got older I become less and less enamoured by them.

None of them now talk to me.

On my latest summer holiday I thought I'd pick up a magazine to read on the plane.  A quick look through them in the shop told me they hadn't changed in 20 years.  Still as irrelevant to me - in fact more so!

And I wonder whether there's a huge gap in the market here? Are there loads of people like? Or am I just really weird?  You be the judge.  I'll tell you why I don't like them...