What causes foggy brain?

You can’t blame everything on hormone levels, says Professor

Hunter: ‘Stress makes menopause symptoms, such as hot flushes, worse, and hot flushes and night sweats can be stressful, too.

There are three aspects – social, biological and psychological – and they all interact.’

We all know how bad things can seem if you’re exhausted, and one in four women going though the menopause report sleep problems. This is most common if you’re being woken from night sweats but stress, age, mood and general health can disrupt sleep, too. Add to this multiple responsibilities and it’s not surprising we start to feel anxiety about not being on top of things.

On a physical level, changes in oestrogen levels can also mean the blood flow to the brain is less efficient, says Kathy Abernethy, a menopause specialist nurse, chair of the British Menopause Society and author of a new book Menopause: The One-stop

Guide (Profile Books).

In your 40s and wondering what sort of menopause you’ll have? Be reassured, not everyone has problems. One in four women sail though menopause without any symptoms, another one in four have persistent problems with troublesome hot flushes, foggy brain and mood swings, and the rest of us, 50%, have some symptoms some of the time.

The menopause has taken place when you’ve had a year since your last period and the average age is 51. The perimenopause lasts between four and eight years and is the period leading up to the menopause when hormones begin to fluctuate. Often we don’t realise this is the cause of symptoms.