1. Going to the supermarket
A trip to the supermarket can suddenly become a form of sensory overload.
There might be loud music, constant announcements, crowds of people, trolleys everywhere and people bumping into you. Then there's the sheer number of choices you have to make - finding what you want, comparing products and remembering everything on your list.
Before you know it, you've gone around the supermarket twice and still haven't found everything you came in for!
For some women, this can feel more difficult during perimenopause and menopause. Falling oestrogen can influence the nervous system, and some women find that they're less able to cope with multiple things happening around them at once.
2. Putting on your make-up
Oh, you know that feeling. You spend ages putting your make-up on, look in the mirror and suddenly think, “This just doesn't look right. I don't look like me anymore.”
You've got the same make-up and you're using the same routine and the same foundation, but somehow it just doesn't look the way it used to.
It may be that you've noticed changes in your skin, and there's a reason for this. Oestrogen plays a role in skin hydration, firmness and collagen, and hormonal changes during menopause can affect the way our skin looks and feels.
You might find that the colour of your foundation, eyeshadow or lipstick just doesn't seem right anymore. Sometimes, it's not that your make-up has changed - it's that your skin has.
3. Driving
This is a huge one.
You might have been absolutely fine with driving for years and then, seemingly out of nowhere, everything starts to feel much more difficult.
Perhaps you become anxious on busy motorways or at roundabouts where lots of different lanes are converging and you need to work out where to go. Maybe long queues or sitting in traffic suddenly feel incredibly stressful.
You might even find that routes you've driven for years suddenly require much more concentration.
Where do I go? Have I forgotten how to get there?
Falling oestrogen can affect concentration, and brain fog, tiredness and poor sleep can make things even harder. It can also affect your confidence.
Put all of these things together and you can suddenly find that driving is no longer pleasurable — it's just another source of stress.
4. Making decisions
We can be so good at multitasking, thinking about ten different things at once and making decisions without giving them a second thought.
Then suddenly you're standing in the supermarket and you can't decide between two simple brands of cereal!
You might find that you're no longer as decisive as you used to be. Instead of making decisions quickly and organising everything, you're dithering. You can't concentrate and you can't seem to come to a sensible conclusion.
Again, hormonal changes during menopause can affect the way the brain processes information. When you've got too much information coming in at once, it can feel overwhelming.
You might simply panic, stop and freeze because you can't think about anything at all.
This can be even worse if you're tired, really stressed or finding that general life is becoming harder to cope with.
5. Eating in restaurants
This can be another surprisingly difficult one.
Over the years, I've had a couple of women tell me that they feel really self-conscious eating in public, in front of other people.
But there's also the sensory side of eating in a restaurant.
You might be in a crowded room with lots of conversations going on. There's background music, clattering plates and people talking increasingly loudly as the evening goes on.
Then you've got to read the menu, make a decision about what you're going to eat and keep up with the conversation around you.
With all that noise and activity going on, it can become so overwhelming that instead of enjoying yourself, you're simply trying to cope with everything that's happening around you.
All you might be thinking about is getting out and going home.
Hormonal changes can also affect the way some women experience sound, making noise feel louder or making it more difficult to follow one conversation when there are lots of different sounds coming from different directions.
6. Coping with last-minute changes
If my plans change, especially at the last minute, it can send me into a bit of a tizz!
Suddenly, you’ve got to rethink everything. Perhaps you need to change what you’re wearing, work out how you’re going to get there, drive somewhere instead of taking public transport, or meet completely different people. It might sound like small things, but when they all happen at once, it can feel like a lot to deal with.
During perimenopause and menopause, your nervous system can already feel like it’s on high alert. So, when something unexpected happens, your brain can interpret that sudden change as a threat, making it easier to slip into that fight-or-flight response.
If you’re not prepared for what you’re going to do, it can create a lot of anxiety and stress, and it can even upset the rest of your day. When your plans suddenly change, everything can feel out of sync, and that in itself can become another source of stress.
7. Holding a conversation
You might not even realise that this is happening.
You're in a conversation, perhaps in a group, and several people are talking at once. You're trying to listen to different sides of the same conversation, follow what everyone is saying and work out when it's your turn to speak.
You might find it more difficult to focus and concentrate on what everybody is saying. You may also have less confidence to jump in and say what you're thinking or how you're feeling.
You might notice this particularly at work, especially when you're in a group where everyone is expected to contribute.
There's all this extra information coming in, and you've got to concentrate, process it and then respond.
Again, hormonal changes during menopause can affect the way we process information, and that can have an impact on our confidence if we don't feel able to jump in and say what we want to say at the right moment.
8. Watching stressful TV
I can't watch horror films. I can't watch thrillers.
I've found myself in the middle of something and literally having to switch it off because it's just too horrible. I get too emotional and completely swept up in it.
My heart might start racing, and this can be particularly unhelpful if you're watching these types of programmes before going to bed. They can leave you feeling wound up when you actually need to be calming your nervous system down for sleep.
You might find that you can't watch upsetting documentaries either.
Perhaps you can't even watch the news because it makes you want to cry, or makes you want to shout and scream at what's happening in the world.
And it can happen with books, too. I've found that there are some books I can't read anymore simply because they're too scary!
So, what's happening here?
During perimenopause and menopause, some women find that their nervous system feels more easily triggered and can spend more time in a heightened state of alert. When you're watching or reading something frightening, your body can respond as though you're experiencing the threat yourself.
Your heart starts racing, you feel anxious and your nervous system goes into that fight-or-flight response.
Final thoughts
I hope you've found this helpful.
It's so interesting how many different areas of menopause can affect different parts of your health, including the simple, everyday things you've always done without giving them a second thought.
And when you put several of these things together, it's no wonder that sometimes we can feel as though we just can't cope.
The important thing to remember is that if you're suddenly finding everyday situations more difficult, you're not necessarily imagining it, and you're certainly not alone.
I’d love to know if you’ve experienced any of these changes yourself. Share your story in the comments. You never know who else might read it and think, “I’m not the only one!”
Other articles you might find helpful:
10 Strange Menopause Symptoms Nobody Warns You About
Menopause and Feeling Overstimulated: Why Sound, Light, Smell & Touch Feel Too Much
5 Signs Your Nervous System is Overloaded During Menopause (And How to Fix It)
