Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: 20032003 on September 24, 2015, 04:38:16 AM
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How do you calm a nervous stomach? I wake up pretty early every day (most days before the alarm clock goes off) and as soon as I wake up my mind starts racing with all my problems - big and small. Shortly after that my stomach starts working and I need to get up and go to the toilet. I really feel that my anxiety and stress (why is it worse right when I wake up?) causes my stomach to be stressed too. Is this possible, and is there anything to do about it? Maybe some mind exercise that I could do when I wake early to stop my mind racing with all this "stuff"?
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I also have this issue and think it may be due to several factors. Oestrogen levels are at their lowest in the hours between 4am and 8am and low oestrogen causes high cortisol. Cortisol is also the hormone we make naturally at that time of day, and it is what wakes us up from sleep. When the brain senses low oestrogen levels it sends a message to the adrenals to shoot out adrenaline, and this can cause loose bowels. Look here inside this book- type diarrhoea into the search tab and you can read the paragraph called " The Biology Behind The Symptoms"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Menopause-For-Dummies-Sarah-Brewer/dp/0470061006#reader_0470061006
I get this from time to time and it can last all morning - sometimes it goes away all together for a few weeks.
It also explains why so many women wake up at 6am drenched in sweat as they are having adrenal rushes.
Hope this helps
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That's really interesting info, but how can you counteract the cortisol?
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One of the things I find very helpful is that you must have quiet calm evenings, with an early meal- protein rich, with not too much simple carbohydrate and no wine either. Also be in bed by 10 even if you are just relaxing. You want to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the night.
Manic evenings on the phone for example, followed by a late night are a recipe for disaster, especially with alcohol and sweet things like chocolate or actual sweets themselves. We get so tempted to do these things with tiredness and stress, but actually a long soak in the bath in lavender for example is a better option.
This is how I have treated my ME/Chronic Fatigue illness as well. You want to feed your adrenals - incidentally they are the only organ producing progesterone after you stop ovulating, so you want them to do so to counteract oestrogen dominance, which can be a problem in menopause, especially in the later stages before periods finally stop, and oestrogen levels fall away naturally. Perimenopause can actually be a time of too much oestrogen at times, as well as too little- there can be erratic levels and swings from high to low, which causes a lot of symptoms like hot flashes and panic attacks.
Hope this helps. :)
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Usually I do it all wrong... I eat a big meal and then tend to snack all evening long... Lots of sweets too. Plus I do drink wine.... The only thing I do right is going to bed early!
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Hello 20032003.
I just wanted to add that I used to get this too, I'd wake up with horrible adrenalin surges and need the loo. However this hasn't happened for months now, I still feel horrible in the mornings but the panic is much less. I have been using the same type of HRT since that time and my habits haven't changed so I'm supposing that phase has passed!
It would be a good idea to look at your lifestyle but maybe this horrible time will end of it's own accord.
Take care.
K.
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I know it won't work for everyone but what I have found helpful is to accept that this is how it is in the morning. I get up and make a cuppa and then go back to bed with my kindle for an hour until the worst is past.
I think acceptance is the key and understanding that although it's the most horrible feeling it doesn't actually harm you and nothing bad will happen.
Honeyb
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I used to get the anxiety thing just after waking, it was horrible.
For me, what helped was taking things slowly in the morning.
Making sure I had time to do everything, not racing around.
Like HB says, I think acceptance helps a lot.
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I agree with that acceptance seems to be the key. However, for now I tend to focus so much on my stomach and how it does/does not function. I'm SURE this is extremely counterproductive! I just wish I could believe that there is nothing seriously wrong with me, and that it is "just" my crappy hormones playing up! After all, in the last year when I've experienced this I have not gotten any worse. Probably even a little better if I compare to my low point last winter.
On the plus side I've given up morning coffee (I drink tea instead), and it seems to help a little. I definitely don't need the laxative effect of coffee... I have also started taking evening primrose oil a couple of weeks ago, and it seems to help my sore/swollen/itchy boobs, which has taken some weight off my shoulders.
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Have you tried any self help books. A very old fashioned one by Dr Clair Weekes explains it so well.
She might not make it better but she explains it very simply.
When you understand what's happening then you can begin to accept things.
I have struggled a lot over the past three years but I'm a slowly improving picture and the advice from the book has played a huge part.
My anxiety started when I was already on HRT and increasing and changing made no difference at all.
For me, it's just something that's happening.
As Limpy said, slow and steady in the morning. If I have to be up to do something then I actually set my alarm an hour earlier.
I open my kitchen door no matter the weather and stand there wrapped up in my cosy dressing gown and fill my lungs with morning air. I feed the dog and make two cups of tea and go back to bed. If I'm really bad I cuddle into hubbies back and then try and welcome my day.
Anxiety, although I'm sure some will disagree is a learned habit, something happens and then your body expects it to happen over and over. To even begin to improve you have to break the habit and find coping strategies.
Good luck and let us know how things go, but I really would suggest you try and just go with how you feel knowing it will not harm you.
Honeybun
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It's the 'fight/flight' response. All perfectly 'normal' apparently i.e. the autonomic nervous system kicks in. If you watch a bird flying off in flight it does a pooh, something most animals are triggered to hence the need to 'run' to the loo. For a few months this year I had to go to the bathroom the moment I woke and it was usually a 'rush' - I have always been weak in the gut area :'(.
However: knowing that this is 'normal' - goes back to our Cave days when we were hunter or hunted; doesn't lessen the physicality of it all :-\
Now that I take 40mg beta blocka at night unless I am extra stressed I can wake up without anxiety. If necessary I have an emergency tablet to take ;).
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Thanks for all the comforting replies and advice :) !
This morning I had a fairly typical morning, and I wanted to see if you can relate... Went to bed att 22:00 and fell asleep almost immediately (I usually do that). Woke up at 3 am and had to go pee. Went back to bed and managed to get back to sleep fairly quickly, but had to force some thoughts out of my head. Had a nightmare about a horse I once owned and woke up half stressed at about 4:30. And from then on - until about 5:20 when I decided to get up - I tossed and turned. Thinking about everything. I actually FELT my stomach muscles clench/jump at one point... Since I got up I've been to the toilet 3 times, and now I think I'm done...
Does this sound familiar? I'm supposed to start my period in about 5 days, and I'm assuming this makes it even worse!
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I have had a very similar start to the day. I woke up just after 3 for a pee and then just lay in bed drifting in and out of sleep. finally getting up at 5.15. Unbelievable as it sounds I have also been to the toilet 3 times since getting up. I am feeling very on edge this morning, hoping it will pass.
I find it very difficult to relax and slow down in the mornings and for some reason have to rush about getting all the housework done before I can relax. I've got the day off today so can take my time but just can't sit still until everything is done. I think it is worse when I am feeling anxious, in my head I feel that everything has to be tidy in case something happens to me and someone sees my house untidy.
Hope you have a good day :)
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Morning :)
I am 3 weeks into changing HRT from 4 pumps of Oestrogel to Everal 75 patch as to get a slower more stable release.
However Im finding I wake early between 5 - 6 with a churning stomach, feel very nervous and a burning feeling in my vagina. I wonder if it's because the new HRT needs to settle. I am trying to persevere >:(
Anyone else using Everal???
Wx
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I think this problem is more common than is reported due to it being of a very sensitive nature which is why this forum is so helpful. At my worst recently I was in a hotel on the way to Scotland. Woke up pouring with sweat at 5am, then several toilet trips later thought I was ok for breakfast- not so I was still full of adrenaline and had to leave the table several times for more toilet trips. This is me at my worst and only happened since peri - now if I am in a phase of this I will take Immodium the night before an event, especially if there are limited toilet facilities such as on an aircraft. However I can be fine for weeks without any problems at all.
All I can say is my worst nightmare is feeling like this in a friend's home, as you don't want to use their toilet as obviously there can be nasty smells associated with frequent toilet trips.
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Do you find that when ever you go somewhere you have to know where the toilets are, just in case. I must know where all the toilets in London are now
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It's more my bladder that concerns me while I'm out. I stay in a pretty rural spot so it's bushes that I'm more familiar with ;D
I hate going to the loo to move my bowels if I'm out as anyone with IBS will say.....It's not a quiet thing to do and I am so nervous of anyone hearing me.
I can honestly say I hate my digestive system and its my worse problem by a country mile. Every thing else I can cope with.
Honeyb
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Yes Toffeecushion knowing the toilet locations is really important. However I am often well enough that I do not even need to know where they are, and can then be caught out by an event that makes me nervous again for ages.
For example my local town is about 3 miles away, and if I go there in the morning for shopping I can either be fine all the time, and not need the toilet, or on a bad day be so ill that I literally go from one to the other all the time. Standing still in queues affects me really badly, as I also have ME/CFS, and have blood pressure crashes where the blood pools in my legs which seems to makes things worse. Heat also makes the bowel issue worse as well.
The worst place for me for the bowel issues is long haul flights as my son lives in the US so I use them frequently. Then I will take Immodium just to be sure I am not in a flare on the aircraft.
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I understand the flying concern. I now pick my seat right next to the toilet, not very nice at times, but needs must.
Anyone ever queued up at passport control in Orlando Airport trying to get out of USA. It is my very worse nightmare. I hate it with a passion. We were there a couple of years ago, while I was having a heavy flooding period and once you are in the queue you are stuck there for what seems like hours. We haven't been back since because it was so difficult for me.
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I very rarely have diarreah all day. As a matter of fact, IF I go to the toilet later in the day my bm is usually very solid. Sometimes even difficult to get out. No wonder I have hemmorhoids, I guess. Anyone else experiencing this pattern of loose stools only in the mornings?
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I am the same. Can't believe we are talking about this ;D
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Me too nearly always first thing when I have an attack - typical for IBS more a problem in the mornings. Yes I know we are talking about these very personal issues, but I think this is why this forum is so important.
My worst attack was three years ago when I still had heavy periods. Day 2 it was in Tucson - my son lived in Arizona then (now lives in Hawaii). We were going to fly home that morning, and my son was driving us to the airport. He is very laid back, and said we had plenty of time, but I thought time was tight. It was 5am- absolutely beautiful day there- sun was just coming up, desert was in the distance, cacti as big as houses lined the route. However- I had period day 2, loose bowels and urgency, and how I got to the airport without having an accident I will never know. I was also very grief stricken leaving my son, as anyone who has a family member living abroad will appreciate. I just got to the toilet in time, only just, and my goodness was I ill. I think it was a combination of heat,rushing, emotions and hormones not to mention different food and eating times. Probably my worst event but there have been more so yes you are not alone. It is more common than you think, people don't talk about this much and suffer in silence.
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Hello again ladies.
I agree that loose bowels are more common than is supposed.
My trusty meno book which is probably out of date, only talks about Diverticulitis and constipation with the menopause but I think the posts on this site indicate that problems are more extensive than that. Also, I was dismayed to learn that a possible side effect of the patch I'm using is diarrhoea and nausea, just what I don't need! Oh well, I suppose that at least confirms that hormones definitely impact on digestion!
Wishing everyone well.
K.
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I have never been sure whether my patches have made my stomach issues worse rather than better.
What patch are you on Kathleen, I have never read my patient info leaflet, I hate scaring myself ::)
Honeybun
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I am the same. Can't believe we are talking about this ;D
I think it's GREAT that we're talking about it :)! In a way it's really weird how it's SO difficult to talk about poop - all people do it. Not to speak of periods. Half the population has/has had/will have them, and still it's such a taboo topic...
This is probably one of the most comforting and supportive forum I've ever been a member of... :) Thank you all :)!!
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Another thought. I wonder if you're more prone to diarreah problems in peri if you've never really had constipation? I've always either been "normal" or lose. Never constipated really. My hormonal reactions previously have been lose stools/diarreah at the onset of my period for instance. But then it's usually the prostaglandins that are blamed, right?
Today I'm still lose with the addition of having had a hot night and a stuffy nose. Being too hot at night and the stuffy nose are PMS symptoms for me. My period is due in about 4 days. We'll see...
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Let us know! I was constipated aged about 9 it was AWFUL. Sat on the loo for hours but was unable to pass nowt :-X
Nerves + no loo close by = have to go NOW >:(
I also find when I eat red meat my bowel slows up, I think the fibres take longer to digest :-\. I know too that if we are travelling and I know I ought to go my bowel shuts up :bang: so I feel like I 'need' but can't!
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Hello again ladies.
honeybun - To answer your question I am using Evorel 50 mcg patches, they are the ones with Norethisterone as the progesterone. Nausea and Diarrhoea are listed as common side effects (affecting less than 1 in 10 people). I did some research on line and I think the same things are mentioned for Femseven patches.
I think you've said that you are on half a patch so presumably any side effects would be reduced.
I have been thinking of reducing but today I am super flushy, palpy, generally on edge and miserable so I will have to re consider that one!
Feeling very fed up today and am of the opinion that with the menopause, no matter what you do, you just can't win!
Wishing you well and hugs to all.
K.
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Do you feel 'better' knowing that it could be a 'side effect'?