Coping with haywire hormones in Lockdown

Are you finding the anxiety, bloating, insomnia and mood swings of the second half of your menstrual cycle are much more prominent at the moment? 

The strangeness of life in Lockdown, however you are experiencing it, is likely to be having an impact on your hormones. 

Our brains and our bodies like equilibrium.

They like routine and predictability. Even if we do not. 

And that routine is a bit off for many of us. 

  • Meal times

  • Sleep and wake times

  • Working patterns

  • Activity levels

  • Social activities

  • Downtime

All this has changed enormously. 

And our hormones may be telling us about it. 

Stress has a huge impact

Changes like this mean that we are likely to be feeling more stressed, producing more cortisol and running on adrenaline at times. All this has an impact on hormone production because our bodies will prioritise making cortisol over the making of our sex hormones (oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone). 

We generally struggle with pre menstrual or perimenopausal symptoms as a result of the decline of these hormones in the latter half of our menstrual cycle. For many women this gets worse through our perimenopausal years (from our late 30s to mid 50s give or take a few years). But when you add additional stress into the mix….well, the result isn’t fun.  

It’s like you’ve been replaced with another version of yourself for a few days. 

But, you can work with this

And you can make it better, honest. Even in lockdown.

You can start by tracking your cycle (see more on this blog https://www.wildcountrywoman.com/blog/knowyourcycles). I use tracking to let my family know when they need to give me a bit more space. I can also adjust and improve my nutrition/sleep/movement/relaxation practices to help me manage the ebb and flow of energy through the month.

I often guide my 1:1 coaching clients through this, and now have a fantastic online Feel Good Forties course which guides you through understanding your hormones and using sustainable lifestyle change to improve your experience of both PMS and perimenopause. Find out more here https://www.wildcountrywoman.com/feel-good-forties.


Photo by Stacey Gabrielle Koenitz Rozells on Unsplash