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Hot flashes
Hot flashes can be triggered by everyday activities that may cause stress or irritation. A surge of heat may occur over your face and neck or may work its way up from your chest. Your skin overheats during a hot flash and your body will begin to perspire in order to cool down.
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Night sweats
Night sweats occur when you experience hot flashes when your sleep. These can happen multiple times in one night and are known for disturbing women’s REM sleep, in which dreams appear. Layering your bed covers is a good way to anticipate changes in temperature.
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Fatigue
Fatigue affects most menopausal women as their body attempts to adjust to the hormonal changes within it. Being disturbed by night sweats and hot flashes often causes women to feel drained due to the loss of nutrients in the body. This can be eased by short naps during the day.
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Mood Swings
Mood swings usually occur during perimenopause and are caused by an imbalance between the estrogen hormone compared to the progesterone hormone. This change in balance can lead to annoyance one minute and sadness the next.
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Anger
Menopause can increase feelings of uncontrollable anger, even if you have never experienced this emotion before. Although this emotion may shock you, it is important to face it head on in order to try and understand where it comes from. It may be a reaction to an issue that you had previously buried within you.
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Depression
Menopause is known for causing mood swings and other emotional changes but is not likely to lead to depression. It is normal to feel overwhelmed by all the changes happening in your body and if you do find yourself talking more negative emotions consult your doctor.
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Weight gain
Putting on weight during menopause is triggered by a variety of reasons, one of which is the slowing down of metabolism around middle-age. Fluid retention may also become more unstable during this time leading to some extra weight.
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Change in body shape
The decline in female sex hormones and the rise of testosterone during menopause cause fat in the body to follow male patterns rather than female ones. This may cause fat from the lower body to move upwards toward the stomach and hips.
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Memory loss
The brain needs time to adjust to the changes happening in your body, which can cause an increase in memory loss. A decrease in sex hormones may affect your verbal memory, however, this should adjust in the long-term
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Brain Fog
A vague feeling that randomly disrupts your thoughts may appear during menopause due to a decrease in the hormone estrogen. Healthy lifestyle changes including drinking more water, eating a healthier diet with lots of B vitamins and fatty acids and trying menopausal supplements may improve this issue.