Frozen Shoulder and Menopause: What’s the Connection?
Menopause brings many unexpected changes, and for some of us, that includes developing a painful, stiff shoulder that just won’t seem to loosen up. If you’ve noticed increasing discomfort in your shoulder—perhaps struggling to reach overhead, fasten your bra, or even sleep comfortably—you might be experiencing frozen shoulder. But did you know there’s a strong link between menopause and this frustrating condition?
Living with Menopausal Anxiety
The menopause journey brings many changes, and for some of us, anxiety becomes an unwelcome companion. Feeling anxious or overwhelmed during this phase is more common than you might think. In fact, fluctuating hormones, lifestyle shifts, and the emotional adjustments that come with menopause can all play a role in heightening feelings of worry or unease.
Joint pain in menopause
As we navigate through menopause, it’s not uncommon to notice unexpected changes in our bodies. One of the more surprising symptoms for many women is joint pain.
Menopausal Dry Eyes
As menopausal women, we often now talk about how our vaginas become dryer at this time of our lives, but other areas of our bodies can be affected in a similar way such, as our eyes.
Menopausal Weight Gain
For many women and in my own experience a lot of the symptoms associated with perimenopause, and menopause can initially feel like a subtle shift in our overall sense of well being, we just don’t feel like ourselves somehow, but we may not be able to quite identify why!
Menopausal Headaches & Migraines
I first realised that I was approaching the perimenopause when I started to experience migraine headaches. Having never experienced them before it was something of a shock when they started. Looking back, I was fortunate to have only experienced several migraines in total over a period of approximately 12 months.
Unspoken symptoms of menopause
If you are menopausal or not, the chances are you will know someone who is, whether it is your partner, sister, mother, best friend or just the women in the office who is just not themselves these days!
Insulin resistance during the menopause
As women approach the menopause our metabolic health can be negatively influenced by the reduction of oestrogen and fluctuations in the release of adrenaline and thyroxine leading to insulin resistance.
Let’s consider Oxytocin!
You may not be surprised to hear that during the peri menopause and beyond, not only does Oestrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone decline but so do other essential hormones. This includes Oxytocin, often referred to as the love hormone, bonding hormone, or the cuddle hormone. Oxytocin has a positive effect on our mood and emotions and plays an important role in human bonding.
Tackling Menopause and thyroid health
Let’s consider this month, thyroid function, it has a crucial part to play in bone health and metabolism. Low thyroid function is associated with fatigue, weight gain, dry skin and hair, low mood poor concentration and memory and constipation and high cholesterol.