Martha Colton

How To Reduce Mood Swings Caused By Menopause?

Updated October 21, 2024

Menopause mood swings happen suddenly and are a pain to deal with and overcome. That’s just one menopause symptom to worry about.

A number of scenarios can provoke a menopause mood swing into occurrence, but there are various ways to limit them.

Medical treatments and therapies can change a woman’s mood in a positive way. There are long term and short term procedures to choose from. Herbal supplements are another healthcare option that can help.

Then, there’s the old fashioned exercise regularly and keep to a healthy diet to boost overall mood. Limiting what stresses you out on a daily basis is also a good idea.

Other ways may include limiting caffeine intake and getting adequate sleep. But, every woman is different, so reading the suggestions and choosing what works for you is best.

Medical Treatments & Therapies

Hormone replacement therapy, implemented in short term bursts, can help alleviate mood swings and other menopause symptoms. However, the method does have some health risks associated with the therapy.

For instance, if you turn HRT for mood swings into a long term treatment, you put yourself at a greater risk for breast cancer, blood clots, heart disease, and stroke.

If your doctor does recommend the treatment, you are able to choose the form of administration. Choices include vaginal patches, creams, and pills.

Another method that may work even better than HRT is acupuncture. According to health care professionals, acupuncture treats menopause symptoms by balancing hormone levels and increasing dopamine and norepinephrine production throughout the body.

Bioidentical hormones is a third option used to combat mood swings. Pharmacists engineer these hormones through the matter they find in specific plants, but this method is not regulated by the FDA.

Menopause mood swings medication consist of some antidepressants. Certain medications can help limit mood swings along with alleviating symptoms of hot flashes and depression. Talk to your doctor about what’s right for you.

You can also ask your doctor about vitamins for menopause hot flashes and mood swings.

And if all else fails, there’s always counseling. Sometimes talking out your menopause problems with a professional is just what you need to feel better.

Herbal Supplements

Natural remedies for menopause mood swings would probably consist of a few specific herbs.

Herbs have been found to modulate hormones, meaning they have a greater influence on the hormones roaming around our body than some other methods of treatment. In addition to this, herbs also balance out the signaling systems during menopause stages.

For instance, ashwagandha and berberine are popular herbs known to ease symptoms of menopause. The two help regulate body temperature, stabilize sleep and metabolism, improve energy, and help in other bodily functions.

If you add herbs to a health diet, take away whatever is stressing you out, and increase regular or daily physical activity, this treatment method will work even better.

Do Aerobic Exercises

Exercise, in general, helps to promote mental and physical health naturally. That’s with or without menopause going on.

Exercise also helps relieve stress, improve mood, limit night sweats, and reduce irritability. There are a lot of wins with daily exercise, and aerobic exercise specifically is even better for the body.

You see, when you do aerobic exercises, endorphins and other feel good chemicals are released into the brain, traveling throughout the body, sending positive signals and improving mood.

If you establish a routine filled with exercises you genuinely enjoy, you’ll be more likely to implement them on a daily or semi-daily basis.

You can also try mixing up your exercise routines in an attempt to challenge yourself and get your body to like additional moves and stretches that it probably wouldn’t have beforehand.

Eat Healthy Foods

A healthy diet is a part of a balanced life, and the same goes for when you’re going through menopause.

Specifically, a diet rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids is great for women experiencing a ton of menopause symptoms. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, and fiber filled whole grains are great additives to the list, too.

What you want to do while you’re going through menopause is reduce your sugar and processed food intake.

Generally, a stabilized insulin and blood sugar level will naturally improve your energy and mood, and foods filled with sugar and processed foods will do the opposite of this.

Plus, taking out sugar and processed foods can help balance your hormonal response. The personality changes during menopause aren’t always very pretty and easy to deal with.

And, the mood swings and irritability could potentially lead to a menopause relationship breakdown with your husband, spouse, or partner. Improved diets are the easiest fix, starting here might be a good idea.

An improved diet can also limit hot flashes, the one symptom almost every woman dreads to experience.

For example, you’ll want to lean on plant foods that are high in fiber. Fiber plays a role in estrogen metabolize and stabilization – plus it’s rich in antioxidants and can automatically reduce inflammation.

Fiber and a healthy diet combined also maintains a mixture of healthy gut microbes in the body, regulating and circulating estrogen to where it needs to go.

Limit Stress

Some women find destressing pretty easy, whereas others have a difficult time with it. But what we don’t realize, is that stress can lead to menopause crazy behavior, and we need to handle it.

Whatever the case may be, it’s time to learn how to deal with stress to omit those mood swings, and other annoying symptoms associated with menopause.

Yoga, meditation, and slow, steady walks seem to help most of us out there. If possible, doing any of these activities outside and in nature is what you should be looking to do.

Nature, for some reason, calms the body and mind. This makes it easier to really let go of stress and anxiety, relax a little bit, find some zen, and be in a better mood.

Deep breathing exercises and specific yoga poses that ease the mind are great to work on, too.

Lastly, to ultimately limit stress, you need to be mindful that it’s there. It’s present. You need to acknowledge it, let the emotions in, allow the thoughts to roam your mind, and battle them one by one.

Don’t try and get rid of them.

Let the thoughts into your brain and then let them out of your brain.

Really process what’s going on up there so that you don’t get overwhelmed by overthinking and you don’t push the thoughts aside so that they come back at a later time.

Guided meditation and deep breaths will help you be more mindful for a good portion of time.

Cut Out Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant; we’ve known that since we were old enough to drink the drink. But, did you know that coffee is the stimulant that blocks adenosine, and that adenosine is the chemical in your brain that encourages your body to sleep?

Women experiencing difficulty sleeping or extreme night sweats might want to stay away from caffeine more so than they already are, or stay away from it entirely.

Try only drinking caffeine early in the morning at first. If that doesn’t work, try reducing the amount of coffee you drink every morning. And if all else fails, it may be time to give up coffee and caffeine altogether.

Plus, hot flashes and night sweats are more common in women that drink coffee regularly.

Get Adequate Sleep

No matter what age we are, not getting enough sleep can lead to irritability and mood swings. Sometimes even menopause emotional crying and menopause emotional instability

However, if we’re going through menopause, those annoying symptoms are only going to get worse with little sleep.

My suggestion would be to develop a routine that encourages sleep. For example, staying away from electronic devices like your phone and the television would be a good start, as screens will keep your mind wandering and your eyes open.

Considering night sweats is a big menopause symptom, it would be a good idea to also cool the bedroom down a little bit before you fall asleep.

If you get cold, you can always add some layers. But being cool is always better for the night sweats.

You’ll want to avoid ambient light, too, as this can keep your mind racing.

As previously stated, it’s best to avoid caffeine close to bedtime, even in the late afternoons. Alcohol should be avoided, too.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, try your hardest not to turn the light on. Stay in the dark and try to focus on your breathing or meditation skills.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is also a good option to lean on. It will help train your behavior, what you do before sleep, and what you do to prepare for sleep to allow you to stay on track with a healthy sleep schedule.

CBT has also been known to reduce the amount of times a woman wakes up in the middle of the night due to menopause related symptoms.

Remember, you’re going to want at least 7 to 8 healthy hours of sleep each night to reduce moodiness, irritability, and other unwanted menopause symptoms.

This is one of the natural menopause treatments that really work for almost all menopause related symptoms.

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