The Widow's Handbook: winner of the Helen Bailey Award 2022
  • Home
  • About
  • Personal stories
  • Resources
  • Other widow blogs
  • Home
  • About
  • Personal stories
  • Resources
  • Other widow blogs
Picture

Grief and the menopause

31/5/2023

0 Comments

 
There isn't much information on the issues associated with the combination of grief and the menopause. So this is going to be rather shorter than I hoped it would be.
 
The symptoms of the menopause, such as lack of sleep, loss of self-confidence, low mood, anxiety, brain fog, weight changes, emotional overload, exhaustion and flare ups in other health conditions, can overlap with many of the experiences in grief and blur in together. This can make it harder to work out what is grief and what is the menopause and makes both feel worse. The stress associated with grief may also worsen menopause symptoms, and there is a possibility that stress could even bring on an earlier menopause.
Picture
There can be grief associated with the menopause itself, which could complicate the grief of bereavement. Menopause can bring up thoughts of the loss of youth and of aging, which may trigger grief about the loss of a partner.
 
For people who are grieving, the menopause can highlight the secondary loss of the chance of conceiving and carrying a baby. This can be especially hard for those who were trying for children at the time of their partner's death. The menopause also comes at a time where people may be caring for aging parents, or grieving their loss and missing their support.
 
The fact that the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause and the symptoms of grief are so hard to separate may also mean that women (and trans and non-binary people) don't seek help for menopausal symptoms at what is already a difficult and overwhelming time.
 
Coping with grief and the menopause
Like grief, there is no one solution to the menopause. Be aware that the menopause may be masking or adding to your grief symptoms and be gentle with yourself. If you are struggling with the menopause talk to your doctor – there are options that can help you deal with the physical and psychological symptoms. Grief is bad enough without the menopause making it worse.
 
HRT can help with some symptoms (I have just started with HRT patches to see if they can help with my fluctuating body temperature and disturbed sleep).
 
The Menopause Charity's website has information, news and expert advice, and the NHS website has a section on 'Things you can do'.
 
0 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    I was widowed at 50 when Tim, who I expected would be my happy-ever-after following a marriage break-up, died suddenly from heart failure linked to his type 2 diabetes. Though we'd known each other since our early 20s, we'd been married less than ten years. ​

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    February 2025
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    February 2019
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Anger
    Animals
    Autumn
    Being Happy
    Birthdays
    Bonfire Night
    Brain Fog
    Breaking News
    Celebrating
    Change
    Christmas
    Clearing And Decluttering
    Competition In Grief
    Complicated Grief
    Dating
    Death Abroad
    Depression
    Disenfranchised Grief
    Eating
    Envy
    Exhaustion
    Finances
    Flashbacks
    Food & Cooking
    Forgetting Them
    Friendships
    Funerals
    Grief Attacks
    Grief Hijacking
    Grounding
    Guilt
    Halloween
    Health Anxiety
    Health & Illness
    Helen Bailey
    Holidays
    Hope
    How To Help
    International Widow's Day
    Intrusive Thoughts & Memories
    Jealousy
    LGBTQ+
    Loneliness
    Losing Who I Am
    Making Plans
    Menopause
    Milestones
    Models Of Grief
    Moving Forward
    My Story
    National Grief Awareness Day
    Neurodiversity
    New Normal
    New Year
    Nightmares
    Pain
    Physical Symptoms Of Grief
    Psychological Symptoms Of Grief
    Regret
    Sadmin
    Secondary Losses
    Second Year
    Self Care
    Seven Deadly Sins Of Widowhood
    Sex
    Six Months
    Skin Hunger
    Sleep
    Subsequent And Previous Losses
    Sudden Death
    Survivor Guilt
    The Widow's Almanac
    Things Not To Say To A Widow
    Things You Learn As A Widow
    Timeline
    Valentine's Day
    Wedding Rings
    What If
    Widow Brain
    Widowhood Effect
    Widow Humour
    Widow's Fire
    Widow's Stories
    Winter
    Work
    Writing
    You Are A Widow

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly