Strange Menopause Symptoms

I think most women are familiar with most of the more common signs of menopause like hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, etc, these are fairly common complaints and widely discussed in articles on menopause. There is a whole category of “weird” symptoms that are also associated with menopause that is not discussed as frequently, they are more rare, but not totally uncommon. It may help to just know that these symptoms are not just “in your head”, they are real.

Some of these less common symptoms include short term memory loss, like forgetting where you left your car keys. Yes, this happens to us all as we get older, but some menopausal women report sometimes feeling overwhelmed by this memory loss. Also, this goes hand in hand with a loss of concentration. Imagine feeling “spacey” for prolonged periods of time. Both of these symptoms cause a lot of women additional anxiety which is also a symptom associated with menopause.

Tinnitus, or ear ringing, is also suffered by some women. The ear ringing may happen off and on, it can be very distracting and result in sleep loss when then exacerbates other symptom. Formication which is the feeling of insects crawling under your skin or a pins and needles sensation is another strange sign of menopause.  Some women may also experience a rapid heartbeat.

What’s important for women to remember while transitioning through menopause is that it is a transitional phase, usually lasting only 1-3 years and once the phase is completed, most of these symptoms will resolve themselves. A lot of women report feeling like they are losing their mind and this can be both frightening and isolating. It’s important to discuss any and all your symptoms with your doctor to make sure that they are indeed related to menopause and not some other underlying medical condition.