Health
2 Lesser-Known Menopause Symptoms & How To Fix Them
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Health
2 Lesser-Known Menopause Symptoms & How To Fix Them
Menopause doesn't just bring hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings, it also changes our bodies and affects our energy.
There are a few ways we can help reduce the negative impacts of menopause, but research is still limited about what will scientifically work. Two major symptoms that play a part in everyday life are fatigue and weight gain.
We spoke to Dr. Sophie Desindes, a professor at the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sherbrooke, to find the underlying reason for both and what we can do to fight them.
What causes fatigue?
"One of the important changes that occurs during menopause is the drop in estrogen in the body caused by the ovaries stopping secreting it," says Dr. Desindes. This steady decline in estrogen can lead to hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep problems, all of which can sap energy. "Women who have heat at night and don't sleep well are more tired during the day," she says.
Annie Voisine, a kinesiologist at the Kinetic Centre in Mirabel, who has several women going through menopause among her clients, notes that "the arrival of menopause worries and stresses many women. This stress can cause physical and mental fatigue and exhaust their energy resources."
Other symptoms related to menopause, such as headaches, joint pain, anxiety, and depression, can also disrupt women's well-being and increase fatigue." Androgens, the male sex hormones that women also produce in small quantities, can also be a factor. With age, their secretion decreases, in both women and men, and this can lead to a slight drop in energy. "However, fatigue symptoms do not affect all women during menopause," says Dr. Desindes.
Why do we tend to gain weight during menopause?
The slowdown in basal metabolism that occurs during menopause partly explains the weight gain observed in many women. "It's because our basic energy needs, just to sit still, decrease slightly," explains Dr. Desindes. Our body needs less energy (calories) than before to function. "Since the ratio of calories consumed to calories burned is unbalanced, if we don't move more and we eat as much, quietly, we will gain weight," she explains.
This drop in metabolism is linked to muscle loss that comes with age, but also to the cessation of ovarian activity. "Our menstrual cycle requires energy quite intensely, because there is always something happening in our ovaries," she says. "At menopause, since this activity stops, we need less energy." This is what causes the metabolism to slow down more in women than in men. "At rest, a menopausal woman burns fewer calories than a resting man of the same age," adds Annie.
The hormonal changes of menopause can lead to a change in our body shape. Fat accumulates on the belly rather than around the thighs and buttocks. This fat, called visceral fat, is stored around organs, such as the liver, kidneys and intestines. “Menopausal weight gain is more related to age than hormones, but the fluctuations in hormones contribute to the redistribution of fat mass, so that age-related weight gain is distributed preferentially around internal organs, which increases abdominal obesity,” says Dr. Jen Gunter, author of The Menopause Manifesto.
"This is something to be taken seriously," warns Annie. "When this fat accumulates, our risks of suffering from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, but also respiratory problems and certain cancers increase."
Other issues, such as genetics, health status and various socio-economic determinants, come into play.
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Adapt your lifestyle
With healthy lifestyle habits, there are many things you can do to improve your menopause. The key is to move more. Physical activity is a great medicine, says Dr. Gunter. “Exercise is healing, especially during menopause,” she writes.
Dr. Gunter explains that exercise helps renew our muscle cells. It’s the best way to slow down muscle loss and boost our metabolism. “It doesn’t prevent age-related loss—even athletes lose muscle over time—but exercise has a protective effect,” she writes in her book.
Tips to change your habits
"To get exercise back on your schedule, you have to find an activity that brings you pleasure,” says Annie. “You can start gradually and increase it over time.” Some of her clients who had no more energy started walking or riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes every day. Getting activity back into their routine gave them more energy to get through their day, but also to move a little more every day.
To feel the benefits of exercise, it's recommended that we get 150 minutes of cardiovascular activities each week, combined with strength training exercises, two or three times a week. Try dance classes, pilates, yoga, pool activities, cycling, hiking, brisk walking—anything that gets you moving.
Having a healthy and varied diet also allows you to get all the essential nutrients to maintain a good energy level. At the same time, it is better to avoid processed foods, rich in sugars and fats, because they can cause energy fluctuations and weight gain.
Taking the time to eat, listening to your hunger signals and drinking plenty of water are other good habits to adopt. “Dehydration contributes to low energy,” says Annie. “It’s a good idea to limit drinks that contain caffeine and alcohol, because they have a dehydrating effect. Plus, they often contain a lot of calories."
Can hormone therapy work?
Dr. Desindes does not recommend hormone therapy solely to prevent weight gain in menopausal women. However, she does not hesitate to prescribe hormones to those whose symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, difficulty sleeping and mood swings, affect their quality of life.
And, good news—it seems that hormones do not cause weight gain. "There is a lack of data, but some studies associate a tendency to gain a little less weight in women who take hormones," says Dr. Desindes. "Hormone therapy will also reduce the accumulation of belly fat." In her opinion, doctors are now more open and better equipped to prescribe hormone therapy. "We need to stop tolerating symptoms because of the fear of hormones," she says.
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