HRT, anxiety and low mood in menopause
NICE considers HRT and CBT when menopausal low mood falls short of a depression diagnosis, and the NHS lists mood changes as a possible effect of HRT.
Mood and mind
Anxiety, low mood, brain fog and memory slips, and what NICE and the NHS say to do about them.
Summarize with:
Guides on this topic
Menopause brain fog and memory: what helps
The NHS lists memory and concentration problems in menopause and perimenopause, often worse with poor sleep. A GP visit can cover sleep, mood and hormone therapy.
Mood and mind: the overview
Mood swings and depression are on the NHS list of perimenopause and menopause symptoms, and a hot flash can arrive with anxiety, palpitations or dizziness (NHS: menopause symptoms). Problems with memory and concentration are on that list too. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries describe poor concentration, impaired memory and difficulty keeping more than one task going (NICE CKS: clinical features).
When mood drops
If depressive symptoms start around the same time as other menopause symptoms and do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of depression, NICE says a clinician should consider hormone replacement therapy. When those symptoms come with hot flashes or night sweats, the same recommendation adds menopause-specific cognitive behavioural therapy, alongside hormone therapy, or without other treatments when they are unsuitable or unwanted (NICE NG23 recommendations). If depression is suspected or already diagnosed, care follows that guideline together with the NICE guideline on depression in adults. Mood changes that hormone therapy itself can cause, and the steps a clinician follows, are covered in HRT, anxiety and low mood.
Memory and concentration
Difficulty concentrating and remembering is common during the menopause transition and in the years just after. The Menopause Society does not recommend hormone therapy to improve cognition after natural menopause (The Menopause Society: mental health). NICE says not to offer HRT to prevent dementia. Broken sleep can make these problems worse. Waking at night is covered in the sleep guide. Memory, concentration and what to raise with a GP are covered in menopause brain fog and memory.
Our editors' view: open the anxiety guide when the feeling will not lift, and the brain fog guide when words and tasks keep slipping. See a GP about either problem when it affects day-to-day life. Aches and hot flashes are written up with the other symptoms. Patches, gels and tablets are explained with the hormone therapy guides.
Questions readers ask
Can menopause cause anxiety?
It can show up as mood swings, or as a feeling that comes with the heat of a flush. If it carries on, a GP visit is how you sort a menopause-related change from a separate anxiety problem.
Is brain fog part of menopause?
People describe lost words and tasks that will not stay in mind. Poor sleep often sits underneath. A GP checks whether something else is driving it when ordinary life is affected.
Does CBT help menopausal mood?
NICE names a menopause-specific form when depressive symptoms arrive with flushes or night sweats. The anxiety guide sets out when it is offered with hormones and when it is offered alone.
Will HRT clear memory problems?
Hormone therapy is used for flushes and for menopausal mood. The brain fog guide explains the limits on using it for thinking or for dementia prevention.
Other topics
- Perimenopause: Perimenopause symptoms and the first signs, how long the stage lasts, and hormone replacement therapy while periods continue.
- Symptoms: Brain fog, anxiety, aches and other changes, and what each symptom usually means.
- Hormone therapy (HRT): What HRT is, the forms it comes in, who it suits and how the risks really stack up.
- Hot flashes: Why hot flashes start, and what the evidence says about home remedies, CBT, soy and non-hormonal treatments.
- Sleep: Why sleep breaks down in perimenopause and menopause, from night sweats to waking at 3am, and what helps you stay asleep.
- Weight and diet: Why weight changes in midlife, and how to eat for energy, bone strength and heart health.
Comments
No comments yet. Questions and your own experience are welcome.
Thank you. Your comment will appear once it has been reviewed.