One of the most challenging aspects of menopause I have experienced is sensitivity to temperature. A few years ago I would notice myself taking my sweater off and then a few minutes later putting my sweater back on. Sweater off; sweater on; sweater off. In the span of an hour, I might do that do that six times. Same with sheets--sheets on, sheets off, all through the night. In the car, windows down, windows up, air on, air off, sometimes simultaneiously stripping off an outer layer only to put it back on a few minutes later.
According to Gennev.com which bills itself as a "Unified Women’s Healthcare company, is a women-founded, clinician-built menopause care platform," these hot and cold flashes are part of hormonal upheaval during menopause. "As estrogen levels drop, the hypothalamus--the part of your brain responsible for regulating your body temperature--gets overly sensitive, and therefore temperature regulation can be unstable."
What's tricky is how to respond to it without become murderously irritated. Gennev offers some suggestions, like limiting caffeine, alcohol, sugar, spicy foods, and nicotine, essentially everything that makes life worth living. And of course there is the option of hormone replacement therapy, which is becoming more and more prevalent.
But they also suggest practicing relaxation, though they recognize that that is "easier said than done." Instead of feeling like relaxation necessitates an hour-long yoga class or meditation session, start with just a minute or two, they suggest.
I've been trying to do that recently. I'll notice myself grinding my teeth or trying to control temerpature and filling with ire. I'll notice and I'll stop. I'll take a couple breaths. This happened when I was driving the other day and all of a sudden, after realizing I was becoming so agitated, I became immensely calm. It almost felt as if I were not driving but gliding along. I just tapped into some other feeling of being in the world. It might sound silly but for a moment I imagined I was a flying a fighter plane, completely immersed in that, fearless and calm. Maybe a little Luke Skywalker. Maybe a little like the force was with me.
I want to feel what I feel. And if agitated and irritable and hot / cold / hot / cold is where I'm at, I acknowlege that. I don't want to move through the world so agitated. I don't get to choose how I feel, but I can choose how I react to it.
Lately I have been learning about relaxation and means for achieving it. I'm seeing the importance of it in my life, more so than stretching, calisthenics, yoga, meditation. Maybe if I can really get good at relaxing, a lot of other things will fall into place, and I'll groove and flow with things I really care about, like writing and surfing.
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