I'm in the mood...to NOT be moody!


One of the worst stops I’ve come across so far on this menopause journey, is  Mood Swing Street. One minute I’m baking a pecan pie, as happy as a pig in slop, the next I am crying like I just lost my entire family in a sharknado! (Don’t get the reference? Check out the SyFy network!) Happy go lucky and without a care or bad thought in my mind at 10:00a.m., and by 10:05 I am thinking about sticking pins in my neighbor because her barking dogs are driving me to distraction.

Sound familiar?

The Mood Swings we experience in menopause are as devastating and soul killing as the ones we went through in puberty, pre-menstrually, and post-baby. Only this time, they come fast, furious, and nothing we do can help them or stop them. Chocolate, which usually works on any bad mood, does no good; taking a breath and a walk will get you nowhere but down the block. Distracting yourself through baking, reading, watching tv, will do nothing but pass time and make your hips bigger. You’ll still be bitchy and feel lousy.

Hormone fluctuations coupled with poor sleep cycles seem to be the blame for most of our out of mind and body experiences during this time. I distinctly remember during puberty, when my cycle was trying to regulate, that when someone looked at me askance, I would go off the deep end emotionally with crying jags and door slamming sessions. My PMS rants are infamous within my circle of loved ones, and memories of various flying food items are well known in my family. And after my daughter’s birth, I remember quite vividly thinking the world would be better off without me.

If HRT isn’t for you, even the phytoestrogen ones, there really isn’t a lot that can be done to prevent or treat these trying emotional upheavals. Understanding love ones is key, as is recognizing when a crying or screaming jag is building up. I’ve found when I am going through an emotional time what works best for me is isolation from people. I really don’t want my husband or my friends to have to put up with my bad mood and bitchy behavior. Being alone with my thoughts and emotions helps me to come to grips with the negative feelings filtering through my system at that moment. It gives me time to center and try to come back to that place of happiness that usually filters through me.


Fluctuating hormone levels and disrupted sleep cycles during menopause can wreck havoc on your psyche and make your emotions labile. How you learn to deal with these mood altering times can make the journey easier on you and the people surrounding you

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