Moodiness

If you fly off the handle for no apparent reason, you may be experiencing moodiness that is sometimes associated with perimenopause.

The good news is that most of these feelings of irritability or depression (to be covered in another article) will dissipate once you are in full-blown menopause.

Reasons for Moodiness

It can be related to the unexpected and unpredictable shifts in hormone levels.

It can be related to other perimenopausal symptoms that make you grouchy such as insomnia and the resulting feelings of fatigue, your weight gain, your hot flashes and your poor concentration.

It can be related to changes that are totally unrelated to perimenopause such as untreated depression, medications, thyroid disorder, alcoholism, nutritional deficiencies, sugar overload, and stressful life situations. Any of these conditions may require you to seek additional appropriate professional help.

Snowball Effect

I have more bad news for you. Your moodiness may cause your other perimenopausal symptoms to increase in severity and frequency such as hot flashes, insomnia and depression. And I haven’t even mentioned that your partner, children, friends and pets may perceive you to be so crazy that they dismiss you and your opinion, or even worse, they may be ready to bolt on you.

What You May Not Realize

What you may not realize is that your hormones, no matter how erratic they are, did not create your feelings. They may intensify the feelings you already have, but they didn’t initiate them.

You may have some issues in your life that need to be addressed, but you have been ignoring them until now. Perimenopause will no longer allow you to put these issues on the back burner.

However, how you EXPRESS your feelings is, in my opinion, entirely under your control. Of course, you can always plead innocence based on insanity as your defense, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Doctors and Moodiness

In severe cases doctors may recommend psychological support or Hormone Replacement Therapy. You have to be careful because some medications may in fact increase your symptoms. I always recommend HRT as a last resort (and only the right prescription, for the right reasons, for appropriate candidates) and only after you’ve tried all the other non-hormonal remedies.

Other Remedies

Exercise. Fitness helps to alleviate all of your perimenopausal symptoms, including your irritability. It does that by increasing your brain endorphins, blood flow, and oxygen in your cells. Exercise also relaxes you, reduces your stress hormones and improves your sleep.

Pause. When you feel the irritability coming on, sit down, take a deep breath- or fifty- and think rationally about how you are feeling and how you will CHOOSE to respond. Do not lash out at your significant others, it is counter-productive and it can be hurtful.

Eat and drink well. Reduce your alcohol intake, processed foods, caffeine, sugar, salt and smoking. You probably didn’t know this, but alcohol and caffeine affect estrogen levels! Eat whole natural foods. Drink water.

Supplements

Vitamin B6. It is known to reduce emotional symptoms. Start with 50 milligrams twice a day and work up to no more than 300 milligrams daily.

Vitex and chasteberry are herbs that appear to balance hormones. It comes in tea (made from the dried berries) and tincture form. It is slow acting and may take several months to start working. If your spouse is about to walk out on you I suggest focusing on the other methods as well.

Conclusion

Remind yourself that these feelings will pass. Your irritability is probably real but it is intensified by the hormonal shift you are experiencing.

Tell your significant others that you are experiencing perimenopause but that you promise you will do your best to treat everyone with respect despite your condition.

Remember that you don’t have to let your feelings take over your life. You have the power and the ability to take a bath, take a nap, take a walk, take a deep breath, go for a bike ride or indulge in other pleasures until the intense feelings pass.

If you're finding these recommendations don't help you enough, then you may consider taking a natural remedy to help you.

I'm not telling you to swallow your words and feelings, I'm just saying wait until you are feeling like yourself again to address any issues that need attention in a sane, kind and helpful way.

Are you experiencing an increase in moodiness?

About 50% of women going through perimenopause experience an increase in moodiness. What has your experience been with moodiness, and how do you deal with it?

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Sometimes, your moodiness can take you all the way to irritability and anger. Find all the help you need for yourself, your marriage and your family at AngerManagementResource.com.

Your menopausal moodiness-while it is not an illness by any means-can benefit from the recommendations Ken Jensen makes on his site on biopolar disorders and how to effectively treat it. He answers the question "What is Bipolar Disorder?" on his holistic self improvement site, revealing some similarities to menopause and safe, comparative ways to make the midlife change easier.

Stress-Relief-Workshop.com - A web site to help you discover how stress could be affecting your life and how to manage it using techniques and coping strategies on a daily basis to improve health andlifestyle.