Pandemic has exacerbated menopause symptoms, finds survey

Lockdown measures have had a significant impact on women experiencing the menopause, but very few have spoken to their employer about their symptoms.

According to a survey of 2,000 people, seven in 10 women over the age of 40 said England’s second lockdown had increased anxiety among those who are menopausal.

Some 95% had never spoken to the employer about what they were experiencing and 86% had not raised the issue with their GP.

Some 73% of 45 to 54-year-old women said menopause symptoms – which can include chronic insomnia, night sweats, anxiety and racing thoughts – had affected their sleep recently, with 32% of over-40s getting only an average of six hours of sleep a night and one in 10 over-55s waking up at least five times a night, the OnePoll survey commissioned by wellness brand CBII found.

This is despite the NHS recommending that adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.

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“Now menopausal women are caught having to juggle lack of sleep and other menopause symptoms with working from home, home-schooling, the stress of having children at university and not being able to see elderly parents and relatives, as well as all the general concern around coronavirus,” said menopause positivity campaigner Elizabeth Carr-Ellis. “It’s a mental health catastrophe waiting to happen.”

Phoebe White, marketing manager at CBII, added: “These are tough times for all of us. But for menopausal women, it appears sleep issues have a follow-on impact to their mental health as well as their general health.”