Climax is a rather difficult period in a woman’s life associated with hormonal restructuring. Climax is usually accompanied by poor health, hot flashes, various diseases. One of the most popular questions is – are there panic attacks with menopause? Unfortunately, this is a very common phenomenon that occurs against the background of hormonal changes.

Panic attacks with menopause: what is it?

If we analyze the cause of panic attacks, then the basis is almost always the experience of stress. The stronger it is, the greater the likelihood of seizures. Thus, the connection between menopause and panic attacks is obvious – during menopause, the body experiences very strong stress, trying to adapt to a new state. Why do menopause attacks occur? The biochemical nature of the occurrence of a panic attack consists in the following factors:

• reduction of carbon dioxide in the blood. This condition occurs against the background of rapid breathing, as a result of which the level of anxiety intensifies, dizziness begins, limbs can become numb;
• rapid breathing occurs, in turn, due to the excessive production of cortisol and adrenaline (which occurs when stress affects a person). These hormones provoke rapid breathing and increased heart rate, constriction of blood vessels. As a result, blood pressure can rise significantly;
• against the background of vascular spasm, provoked by the release of cortisol and adrenaline, there is a negative effect on muscle and fatty tissues. They begin to produce lactic acid, which also exacerbates panic attacks.

The similarity of PA and menopausal syndrome: how can the body behave with PA and during menopause?

The most common neurovegetative symptoms in menopause are unexpected flushes of intense heat to various parts of the body – most often to the head, upper body, chest, face. As a rule, attacks pass quickly enough – they last a maximum of several minutes. However, they bring severe discomfort to a woman, up to a strong sweat. Attacks happen suddenly, for no apparent reason. It is characteristic that similar sensations also arise during panic attacks. The skin becomes hot, the heart also begins to beat faster, the expansion of peripheral vessels is observed, red spots may appear on the neck. But this condition can also be supplemented with headaches, sudden jumps in blood pressure, hypotonic crises, vasomotor rhinitis, tremor in the extremities, convulsive syndrome, dry skin. In some cases, a woman has increased nervous excitability, in other cases, on the contrary, it tends to sleep. Also a characteristic feature of this difficult period are:

• memory disorders;
• irritability;
• low concentration of attention;
• emotional instability;
• chronic fatigue;
• reduced performance.

Against the background of vegetative disorders, tearfulness, hypersensitivity may occur. The patient’s attitude to her condition is also of considerable importance – many women perceive menopause as the end of the world, as the beginning of old age, which is incredibly frustrating for them. Also, sometimes psychotherapists note that some women develop severe depression. At the same time, it is difficult to remove such depression, it is very difficult to treat. As you understand, against the background of all these incidents with the body, the appearance of panic attacks is a kind of regularity. A somatic reaction is most often caused by a general age-related change, disruption of certain metabolic processes, as well as the specificity of the body’s reaction to a decreased level of estrogen.

Gynecological changes are also observed – often dystrophic lesions occur in the vulva, the walls of the vagina become inflamed, the uterus drops or even falls out, and problems arise with urination. However, against the background of coarsening and a decrease in skin elasticity, accelerated wrinkle formation is observed. In half the cases, women experience accelerated weight gain, especially in the abdomen.

Classification for menopausal syndromes

Note that the severity of a panic attack very often depends on how serious the woman’s climacteric syndrome is. So, let’s carry out a detailed classification:

• lightweight form. Usually menopause in this form is registered only in 16% of women. They can feel about 10 hot flashes per day, while the state of the body, well-being, working capacity remain at the same level or almost unchanged;
• The average form. Climax in this form occurs in 33% of patients. A woman feels up to 20 hot flashes per day, and also suffers from dizziness and headaches, from impaired and disturbed memory, sleep, and concentration. Its performance will gradually decline;
• severe form. This menopause occurs in more than half of women. At the same time, disability is practically lost, a woman feels bad and constantly complains about something. In particular, problems develop if menopause occurs early enough – before the age of 43 years. The psychosocial adaptation mechanism is violated, family life does not add up.

It is interesting that doctors, in turn, classify the clinical manifestations of menopausal syndrome, dividing them into three groups.

A typical group. There are practically no complications, the patient will only notice hot flashes, high sweating. A woman begins to gain weight, her skin loses its elasticity, and other age-related changes are also noted.

Complicated group. It often occurs if a woman has concomitant somatic diseases – for example, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, interruptions in the cardiovascular system, diabetes mellitus, endocrinological problems. Hot flashes are more common than in women belonging to a typical group. Attacks are more severe. Often all this is accompanied by sleep and memory disorders, numbness of the extremities, pain in the chest. The presence of hypertension also plays a significant role in complicating the condition.

Atypical group. Disorders of this type are quite rare, mainly this group includes women who have suffered various injuries, operations suffering from mental disorders, as well as those who have been exposed to harmful factors for a long time – for example, they worked in the chemical industry, they lived in poor environmental conditions, came under radiation. It is with this form that panic attacks most often occur. First, the menstrual cycle is disrupted in women, and then menstruation disappears altogether. Efficiency seriously decreases, memory worsens, a tendency to hysterical behavior arises. In addition, other problems arise – brittle nails, hair loss, the formation of age spots. Swelling is formed, excess weight is observed, joint pathologies occur. As a result, bronchial asthma, osteoporosis, hypoglycemia and a depressive state often occur.

The main changes in the body of a woman: physiology and psychology, or how are PA formed during menopause?

In our society there is no established culture of the arrival of menopause and proper behavior in this difficult period. Many women note certain changes in the body themselves, after which they turn to specialists. In particular, for some, changes begin with a violation of the regularity of the menstrual cycle or a decrease in the intensity of menstrual flow, while others begin to have sharp hormonal disruptions, for example, increased sweating, mood swings. Note that with PMS there are similar hormonal “symptoms”, however, with menopause they are several times stronger and more acute.

As a rule, such a transition lasts about 1.5-2 years. Women often at first attribute the changes and their feelings to some other factors – for example, a violation of the vaginal microflora, stress, adaptation or taking some medications. Quite often, gynecologists are also mistaken at first – some attribute such exacerbations to incompatibility in a couple, to the absence of a sexual partner or to some associated gynecological pathologies. The problem is that such information is scarce in the media, respectively, women often think about menopause only at the very last moment.

Many of them until the last do not seek medical help, experiencing all the changes on their own. Gynecologists themselves say that menopause is absolutely normal for a woman, it is a natural physiological process. Nevertheless, in order to exclude or prevent complications, you should still contact specialists. Note that on the Internet you can find a lot of conflicting information. Someone calls menopause as premenopause, menopause, perimenopause, menopause, and so on. Nevertheless, in 1999, the International Menopause Association issued a statement that menopause should be called a complete interruption of menstruation, since the ovaries lose their function – the follicles no longer mature, and the eggs no longer produce ovulation. It is noteworthy that in medical practice, menopause is always determined only on the basis of accomplished factors – so, it is necessary that about 12 months have passed from the date of the last menstruation. If so, then we are talking about menopause. The natural period for menopause is 45-50 years. Up to 40 years of age, the onset of menopause is considered early. Some women may experience artificially induced menopause – for example, as a result of chemotherapy, surgery (for example, after removal of the ovaries), as a result of radiation, strong drugs. As we understand it, this all happens as a result of the treatment of other diseases. It is also important to note that 1-2 years before the cessation of menstruation, women will usually manifest various psychological, physiological and hormonal changes. According to the classification of specialists, this period is called a menopausal transition.

Let’s also deal with the phrase premenopause. Despite the fact that in many texts this term is used as the concept of menopause itself, nevertheless, WHO insists on the separation of these concepts. According to the classification of doctors, premenopause is nothing more than a period from the beginning to the end of menstruation. In turn, menopause is the entire period when the premenopausal period began, and when the menstruation ended. If we take the concept of “menopausal syndrome”, then we are talking mainly about medical symptoms and manifestations of menopause. It would also be nice to deal with perimenopause. In this case, we are talking about the period when the last menstruation was. Its completion begins a year after the last menstruation. Next is postmenopause. This is the period after menopause.