All women with normal ovulation and related reproductive system functions will, eventually, experience a shutdown of those functions - called Menopause.  If you are one of those women who is entering the Menopause phase of life and you also are an Anxiety Disorder sufferer, you should expect complications on both ends of that scale.   The extent and severity of these is both physiologically unique to your body and driven by what you can do to react to the coming expectations in a proactive and health-positive manner.

Because both Menopause and Anxiety Disorder are closely tied to chemical imbalance in the body, some women have been led to believe that Menopause can, in and of itself, cause or create an Anxiety Attack.   Nothing in any clinical or physiology study suggests or documents that.  However, existing Anxiety sufferers with a ‘strong’ hormonal imbalance (not an uncommon thing in Menopausal women) can sustain increased frequency and severity of Anxiety Attacks.  These are two different things.

The other factor that is extremely difficult to measure and monitor is the source of many of the typical pre, intra, and post-Menopausal symptoms that often mirror anxiety disorder occurrences.  Temperature changes, headache, flushed skin, changes in blood pressure - AND FEELINGS OF ANXIETY.  Of course the Menopausal source of anxiety is different than the anxiety source in an Anxiety Disorder sufferer.   For this and other reasons it is critical for the Pre-Menopausal woman to become even more informed about the interaction of these two conditions.

Most physicians will automatically begin to share this kind of information with you as the variances in normal menstruation and other early-warning signs of approaching Menopause occur.  However, if your situation is not characterized by close connection with a family physician, or if your health insurance situation makes it difficult to have this happen ‘automatically’, you should make time and schedule yourself into a free clinic to address these coming challenges and minimize Anxiety Attacks.

Your doctor will undoubtedly share with you the expectations and possible need to alter your Anxiety Medication along with other changes in lifestyle as needed.

You should re-examine your overall physical readiness for the double challenge of sustaining Menopause while fighting Anxiety Disorder.  The Depression-frequency that is associated with Menopause makes it just that much more difficult to deal with both conditions.  Therefore, to ensure that you are as ready as possible, enact those steps - if any - that you have been advised to take but have yet to take regarding diet, exercise, sleep, relaxation and interleave those that are Menopause-specific that have been added.  All of these steps will minimize the effect of this double impact on your system, and minimize a panic attack if and when it happens.